Springfield City Utilities took the first step in securing future drinking water from Stockton Lake with an agreement between CU and the Southwest Missouri Joint Water Utility Commission (SWMO).
The Springfield Board of Public Utilities approved the memorandum of understanding at its Dec. 1 meeting, expressing its intent to purchase at least 29,154 acre-feet of water storage. One-acre-foot is the equivalent of 325,851 gallons of water.
“It’s really just a good faith indication to SWMO [Water] that we are serious and we are interested in participating in purchasing some of that water,” Krista Shurtz, CU’s vice president of natural gas and water operations, said at the board meeting.
The agreement is non-binding, and remains contingent on the approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which SWMO Water Executive Director Roddy Rogers said he feels confident will happen.
Once secured, the agreement would help serve water needs in the Springfield area beyond 2060, according to a news release from CU. The typical planning timeline for water projects is 30 to 40 years, according to Rogers.
“You’ve got to look out way far in advance,” Rogers said. “If there's no water, there's no future.”
History of CU’s investment in Stockton
A 30-mile pipeline was constructed to run from Stockton Lake to Fellows Lake — Springfield’s primary source of drinking water — in the early 1990s to supplement CU’s water supply. CU purchased two 25,000 acre-feet allocations of water storage at Stockton in 1993 and 2013, at costs of $4.6 and $7.8 million, respectively.
Springfield City Utilities' 50,000 acre-feet of storage at Stockton is the only currently allocated drinking water at Stockton, according to Rogers.
SWMO Water is requesting a total of 94,750 acre-feet of water storage space from the Army Corps of Engineers, estimated to cost $46 million. CU’s portion is estimated at $15 million. The purchase is not funded in CU’s 2024 budget, according to Shurtz, as CU staff members explore different payment options through negotiations with the Corps of Engineers.
“Water reallocations through the [Corps] are limited, and this opportunity may not present itself again,” Shurtz told the Hauxeda in an email.
Rogers anticipates other utility organizations in southwest Missouri will also sign memorandums of understanding for the remaining 65,596 acre-feet of water storage requested by SWMO Water. If not all of the water is allocated, CU could consider purchasing even more water storage, according to Shurtz.
While CU and other southwest Missouri utilities will generally pay for their respective allocations of water storage, Rogers said SWMO Water and its members will pursue other avenues for funding, including potentially drawing from state and federal resources.
Following approval from the Corps, SWMO Water will negotiate the contract and cost of the water allocation.
“We hope for all that to start happening within the next year,” Rogers said.
