Water is golden: Brazos River Authority opens new office in Waco

By MANDY JOHN | Central Texas Edition

Joe Hinton, left, BRA chairman, and Governor Rick Perry attended the Brazos River Authority building dedication held Sept. 23 in Waco. -Staff photo by John

October 3, 2002 -- The Brazos River Authority (BRA) of-ficially opened the doors to its new Waco office on Sept. 23. Governor Perry was on hand to deliver his remarks about the new building during the dedication ceremony.

"The abundance of water makes us thankful to have the Brazos River Authority," stated Governor Perry. "We want to say thank you to the architect and the builder for creating this cathedral of water."

Gov. Perry added that the building shows the commitment Texas has to better water practice in the state for those areas not having an abundance of water.

"The biggest reason for creating the new building was that our employee numbers have grown," explained Judi Pierce, public information officer for the Brazos River Authority. "We went from having seven employees when we originally purchased the building on Sanger Avenue (in Waco) in 1960 to having 82 employees today. Now we have a laboratory and a water resource plant. Before we had to use a make-shift lab."

Pierce said that the architects used only natural Texas resources such as limestone and pickled cypress wood when constructing the building.

"The BRA was chartered in 1929 and we were the first river authority in Texas. We have been located in three buildings before this one. The first place we were located was the Kyle Hotel in Temple. We originally picked Temple because at the time it was centrally located to our area," Pierce said.

Pierce went on to say that they stayed in the Kyle Hotel until 1940 when they moved to the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells. In 1960 they moved to the third building on Sanger Avenue where they stayed until November 2001.

Visitors tour the new Brazos River Authority building to see new offices and laboratories. Here a community water display is reviewed. -Staff photo by John

She stated that the latest venture for the Brazos River Authority is to look into the current desalination plan that Perry addressed in his speech. Perry stated that five months ago a water plan was created to improve water conservation.

He said, "We need to tap into new resources of water. We must be part of the solution. There is no greater potential for new water in the state of Texas. We have got to look now, and not later, for new sources of water. We must secure an abundance of water for all Texans to enjoy. The future is bright. "

Pierce explained, "There are a great number of people in Texas and so we have a high need for water. We seem to be using up a lot of the surface and ground water, so we need to find another alternative. To us, that alternative is desalination water. Texas seems to be using up water faster than Mother Nature can replenish. We must have something to fall back on.

"The Brazos River Authority is the best kept secret Waco has," Pierce added. "One of our functions is to sell surface water from the Brazos River to ranchers and farmers so that they can take care of their land."

Other areas that the Brazos River Authority cover are water treatment and waste water treatment around the Waco area. "Basically, we take care of the dirty water to provide clean water." Pierce said, "Right now the city of Waco takes care of their own treatment, but it's a possibility that Waco will be added to our list."