Houston, TX

Houston Area Water Supply System Program Management

Client: West Harris County Regional Water Authority
Our Role: Engineering, Program Management, Construction Management

Overhead view of a completed tunnel section inside a deep, circular construction shaft.

Since 2001, GFT has served as lead engineer and program manager for the West Harris County Regional Water Authority (WHCRWA), guiding one of the most complex regional water infrastructure programs in the country. Serving approximately 630,000 residents across 230 square miles, WHCRWA is required by the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD) to systematically reduce groundwater reliance in response to local land subsidence rates. GFT is embedded within WHCRWA’s governance structure, directing the long-term, multi-phase transition from groundwater to surface water supply. Coordinating with a broad coalition of municipal, civic, and regulatory partners, GFT provides the engineering leadership, program oversight, and strategic direction needed to serve one of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan regions.

Key Features

Managing a $2 billion, multi-phase capital program in coordination with more than 150 municipal utility districts (MUDs), cities, and regulatory agencies, supported by real-time dashboards and a web-based geographic information system (GIS) for program governance, transparency, decision-making, and utility coordination.
Evaluating surface water source options and developing and updating population and water demand projections through 2060 to determine conversion requirements and confirm regulatory compliance, supported by comprehensive hydraulic modeling for system sizing and operations.
Providing technical guidance on contract negotiations with the City of Houston for regional water supply projects, including water supply contracts, the Northeast Water Purification Plant expansion, and the Coastal Water Authority Luce Bayou Project.
Overseeing design and construction of more than 50 completed projects for the existing internal distribution system, including 85 miles of waterline in service, 9 miles under construction, and approximately 20 miles in design, ranging from 12 to 60 inches in diameter.
Planning, routing, and modeling for a concurrent conversion phase, adding over 60 miles of waterline and service to 73 additional water plants, bringing total waterlines in service to more than 145 miles across 142 plants.
Leading delivery of the Surface Water Supply Project (SWSP), a joint initiative with the North Fort Bend Water Authority that encompasses more than 55 miles of 42- to 96-inch-diameter pipeline, 17 waterline projects, three large volume flow-control and metering stations, and two high-service pump stations, ultimately conveying more than 170 million gallons of treated surface water per day through the Houston region.
Executing an integrated right-of-way and easement strategy using standardized routing metrics and cost-benefit analysis, coordinating acquisition agents, legal and condemnation teams, appraisers, engineers, and construction teams to define all required easements and mitigate schedule risk.
Strategically packaging construction contracts from $1 million to $200 million to match market capacity, pre-qualifying contractors for technical expertise, safety performance, and financial stability, and conducting targeted outreach to sustain competitive bidding and address community concerns.
Developing a replicable conversion framework encompassing standard details and specifications, preliminary cost estimates and cash flow projections, and environmental permit acquisition, an approach to groundwater-to-surface-water transition subsequently adopted by others across the region.

Outcomes

Accumulated approximately 40 billion gallons of conversion credits through accelerated surface-water delivery and other credit-earning initiatives, representing more than $500 million in potential avoided HGSD disincentive charges and providing long-term compliance resilience during high-demand or drought conditions.
Met HGSD-mandated groundwater reduction milestones: 30% reduction by 2010 and 60% reduction by 2025; on track for 80% reduction by 2035.
The SWSP was substantially completed in 2026, under its approximately $1.4 billion budget.
Secured more than $1 billion in low-interest loans on behalf of WHCRWA through the inaugural Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT), significantly reducing long-term debt service costs for the authority.
Administered, managed, and facilitated the TWDB loan programs.
Delivered treated surface water to 69 MUD-operated water plants, significantly reducing localized groundwater withdrawals across the service area.
Successfully secured over 1,000 easements across all capital program phases, enabling construction through one of the nation’s most densely developed urban corridors without significant schedule impact.
Underground Infrastructure Conference, 2026, MVP + UI Honors, Water Project of the Year
Construction Management Association of America Houston Chapter, 2025, Project of the Year for Water/Wastewater