The city of Marble Falls has officially locked in $45.35 million from the Texas Water Development Board to build a new wastewater treatment plant. With the funds, construction can begin soon on the $87 million facility, which is the largest project the city has ever undertaken.
The Marble Falls City Council approved four ordinances and two resolutions during its regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 18, putting its official stamp of approval on several batches of funding from the TWDB. The approval was a long time coming, with the city doggedly pursuing money for the project from the state for the past 4½ years, according to Mayor Dave Rhodes.
“We want to do it right because (the new wastewater treatment plant) is going to have to last a long time,” Rhodes told the audience at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Marble Falls’ current wastewater facility was built between 1953 and 1954 and was severely damaged in the flooding of the Colorado River in 2018. In 2019, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ordered the city to upgrade its wastewater treatment capacity to accommodate future growth.
The current plant reached 75 percent of its total operational capacity for three consecutive months in 2019, triggering the need for a new facility or major upgrades under TCEQ regulations. The population of Marble Falls has risen significantly since then, from about 7,000 in 2020 to an estimated 8,300 in 2024, representing an approximate 18 percent increase. City officials are predicting a population of 9,500 by 2027.
“We threw a lot of duct tape, bailing wire, and other things at (the old plant), and we almost lost it in the 2018 flood, which would have been a disaster. And, it is way undersized,” Rhodes said. “We are fast outgrowing it, so we need to build a new one.”
Construction on the plant is expected to begin before the end of the first quarter of 2025. The city recently hired Place 6 Councilor Craig Magerkurth to oversee the project, which should take around three years to complete. Magerkurth recused himself from the council’s Tuesday deliberations on TWDB funding.
The remaining money for the facility will come from a combination of state and federal grants and loans as well as city-issued bonds.
“This financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board represents a major investment in the future of Marble Falls,” City Manager Mike Hodge wrote in a Feb. 19 media release announcing the TWDB money. “These funds will help us advance the construction of the One Water Marble Falls Project.”
The city’s forward thinking on funding paid off, according to the city’s financial advisor, Andrew Friedman of SAMCO Capital, who told the council the total interest to be paid on the $45.35 million from the TWDB is only 1.15 percent. That is significantly lower than the current open market rates of 4 percent to 4.3 percent and would save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I think it’s a really tremendous result,” Friedman said.
The One Water Reclamation Facility will be built on land adjacent to Walmart on U.S. 281 and double the city’s water-processing capacity from 1.5 million gallons a day to 3 million gallons a day, with the possibility of upgrading to 4 million gallons a day in the future.
A major feature of the new plant is the capability to process wastewater for irrigation use and potentially purify it enough to be recycled as drinking water.
The city solidified plans for the new facility in October 2024, setting in motion the acquisition of funding so construction could begin this year.
“Future phases of One Water will include piloting and building an advanced purification plant on the site to treat and recycle water to meet drinking water standards,” read an October 2024 media release from the city. “This will provide the city with an additional water resource, improving resilience against drought conditions and future water shortages.
“This state-of-the-art facility is a key part of the city’s long-term strategy to enhance water management, address growing demands, and ensure the sustainability of our water supply for generations to come,” reads the release.
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