LOWELL -- A multimillion-dollar expansion to a water district in Northwest Arkansas that now serves more than 300,000 people is likely to happen in 2031, according to a preliminary update to the district's master plan.
The Beaver Water District, as a water-treatment wholesaler, provides water to Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers. Those cities provide water to residences, businesses and some outlying cities.
The district has been ahead of the curve, said Alan Fortenberry, the water district's chief executive officer.
"That's the position we want to stay in. We don't want to be lagging," Fortenberry said.
District board members heard Thursday from Andrew Hansen, project manager with engineering firm Black & Veatch.
A new line and pumps drawing from Beaver Lake, a 40 million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant expansion, storage expansion and expansion for water-treatment byproducts could cost $76.5 million, Hansen said.
A western corridor expansion that will take water to a location near Willis Shaw Elementary School in Springdale would cost $74 million, he said. Replacement pumps, planned for as early as 2022 to keep the system flowing until improvements can be made, were priced at $4.4 million.
The timeline is an estimate, Hansen said, but the update on costs and needs allows for financial planning.
The tipping point for expansion of water-treatment facilities is when the peak demand reaches 140 million gallons per day. That could be in 2030, according to the Black & Veatch report, which adds that the area may get to 2040 without reaching that level of demand.
Average production during 2015 was about 50 million gallons per day, and peak production was 99 million gallons per day, according to the report.
The two factors that will predict how much water the district will need in the future are average water consumption per person and population growth, Hansen said.
Per-person water use has declined since the 1990s, he said.
"A majority of that decline has been more efficient water use," Hansen said.
Population growth has been estimated at 2.8 percent in Northwest Arkansas and 1.7 percent in the state, Hansen said.
A 2005 plan was much more aggressive in its growth estimate, predicting the expansions now planned for 2031 would need to occur in 2021.
Census data show the region's population increased by about 25 people per day between April 2010 and July 2014, said Rob Smith, communication and policy director for the Northwest Arkansas Council. Between 1990 and 2000, the region was growing by about 30 people per day, Smith said.
Timing is key in any expansion, Fortenberry told the board. Western expansion could come sooner, depending on customer needs.
Another factor could be federal changes to water-quality guidelines, changes in treatment methods or a decrease in lake clarity that prompts a change in water treatment. The plan includes what Fortenberry said was a $55 million estimate for potential water-quality improvements.
Metro on 11/25/2015