Press Release
Reduced Water Supply during Critical Project Completions
May 7, 2025
Two projects planned and funded to bring about improved reliability and enhanced resiliency are nearing completion and will require a shut down of the 48-inch line to make final connections. This water main delivers approximately 2/3rds of the total water supply to the Cities of Nolanville, Harker Heights, Killeen, Copperas Cove along with the 439 Water Supply Corporation and Fort Cavazos.
On April 24, 2024 a bid was awarded to McLean Construction, Killeen, Texas to construct approximately 5,000 feet of 54-inch steel pipeline parallel and adjacent to the problem riddled section of 48-inch concrete steel cylinder pipe. Since the 48-inch pipe was originally installed in 1975, there have been several main breaks resulting in reduced water supply to the approximate 265,000 population served by this system. All but one line rupture occurred within a 5,000-foot section near North Nolan Road on the east side of the Fort Cavazos Military Reservation. The new steel pipe section is complete except for the connections to the existing 48 inch on either end as shown in Figure 1 below.
The other project is the construction of a 3-million-gallon concrete storage tank a few miles west of the parallel line construction. This bid was awarded to DN Tanks at the April 2024 WCID 1 Board Meeting also. This project also requires a shutdown of the 48 to make the necessary connections to the transmission main as shown below in Figure 2. These projects were planned and managed so that only one coordinated shutdown is being made to accommodate both projects and result in the least impact to water customers.
Please Reduce Water Use
Beginning Monday May 26th at 6pm, WCID 1 will be initiating Stage 3 of its Drought Contingency Plan seeking a 30% reduction in water usage. This curtailment could last up to 4 days while contractors make the critical connections and welds as described herein. We’ll be asking each of our wholesale customers; City of Killeen, City of Copperas Cove, City of Harker Heights, Water Control & Improvement District #3 (Nolanville), Fort Cavazos and 439 Water Supply Corporation to initiate the necessary stage of their drought contingency plan to achieve a 30% reduction in water use. If all customer entities participate as requested, a boil water advisory may not become necessary. However, if water usage depletes storage levels, then a mandatory boil order will be issued for public health and safety and WCID 1 will implement Emergency Water Demand Measures for water delivery as shown in our Drought Contingency Plan. The Pro Rata Allocation from this portion of the Conservation Plan will be used as a guide for reporting reduced usage during the shutdown period.
Updates will be posted to the Bell County Water Control & Improvement District #1 website (www.wcid1.org) daily beginning on Wednesday May 28th until water service is fully restored and the Stage 3 restrictions are lifted.
Several water saving tips are available at www.wcid1.org. For more information contact Bell County WCID #1 General Manager Ricky Garrett at (254) 501-9243 or send an email to [email protected].