SUBJECT: 2020 Contract by and between San Jacinto River Authority and the City of Houston, Texas, relating to the ongoing operation of the Lake Conroe Dam and Reservoir.
RECOMMENDATION: The 2020 Contract by and between San Jacinto River Authority and the City of Houston, Texas, relating to the ongoing operation of the Lake Conroe Dam and Reservoir, be approved.
SPECIFIC EXPLANATION: The San Jacinto River Authority (the “Authority”) and the City of Houston (the “City”) entered into the 1968 Lake Conroe Contract that provided for the City’s participation in the construction of the Lake Conroe Dam and Reservoir (the “Project”), the City’s acquisition of an undivided two-thirds interest in Lake Conroe and in the yield permitted under Water Right Permit 1962 (now Certificate of Adjudication 10-49630, and the terms and conditions for the Authority’s operation and maintenance of Lake Conroe. The 1968 Lake Conroe Contract was amended to address timelines for funding the Project . Under the 1968 Lake Conroe Contract, the Authority maintains the Lake Conroe Dam and Reservoir, and the City pays its proportionate two-thirds share annually of related capital and O&M costs. The 1968 Lake Conroe Contract expired in 2018, and the City and the Authority want to enter into a new contract relating to the ongoing operation of the Lake Conroe Dam and Reservoir.
The 2020 Lake Conroe Contract sets forth the terms and conditions for the parties’ use, disposal, and sale of their respective water yields and the Authority’s operation and maintenance of the Lake Conroe Dam and Reservoir. Changes from the 1968 Lake Conroe Contract include updated metering requirements and more detailed mediation, recourse, and allocation of liability and litigation protocols arising from the Authority’s Hurricane Harvey litigation. The 2020 Lake Conroe Contract outlines when the Authority will provide its annual operating budget for review by the City and approval by the Houston City Council, when annual operating payments are due to the Authority from the City, and what the Authority’s responsibilities are relating to the accounting of impounded and diverted water for both the Authority and the City.
The City has not made annual payments to the Authority since 2018 pending execution of the 2020 Lake Conroe Contract. This item was presented to the Transportation, Technology, and Infrastructure (TTI) Committee on October 1, 2020.
Approval of 2020 Lake Conroe Contract relating to the ongoing operation of Lake Conroe is requested.
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Carol Ellinger Haddock, P. E.
Director
Houston Public Works