How Central Texas WSC Fixed a Major Water Line Break Under the Leon River

When a severe storm damaged a main water line at the Leon River crossing in June 2026, Central Texas Water Supply Corporation (CTWSC) faced more than an emergency repair.

The Harker Heights, Texas, water supplier bored beneath the river and installed approximately 900 feet of 24-inch pipe. The new water line is made from a strong, flexible plastic called high-density polyethylene, or HDPE. The line is large enough to meet projected water demand in the area for the next 20 years.

The Storm

In early June, a severe storm brought heavy rain, flash flooding, hazardous winds and hail to Bell County, causing widespread property damage.

On June 6, seven to eight inches of rain fell where the Lampasas and Leon rivers run through CTWSC’s service area. General Manager Lee Kelley said a tree about 70 feet tall came down on the Leon Park side and dragged along the riverbed.

The pipeline there had sat on the river bottom since around 1980: ductile iron pipe laid in a trench and capped with concrete. The tree caught that cap and tore it away.

That line serves far more than one community. CTWSC sells water in bulk to 21 cities and water systems in and around Bell County, and each one is represented on CTWSC’s board. Kelley said 13 rural water systems and cities east of I-35 receive water through the Leon River line.

Water Moving

CTWSC had to keep water moving to its customers while crews worked on a permanent solution.

The first challenge was finding the break. Floodwater covered the area around the crossing, and it took crews 24 hours to locate the leak.

Until crews could get a bypass across the river, the damaged line had to remain open. Kelley said it leaked about 1,000 gallons a minute, resulting in more than 40 million gallons of water lost over roughly 30 days.

“We had pretty good water loss there,” Kelley said.

Crews ran a temporary bypass line that could carry about 2 million gallons a day. A CTWSC well in nearby Little River, produced another million gallons a day. The system moved to Stage 4 water rationing, and towns along the line asked residents to use water only for essentials, which meant no outdoor watering, car washing, or pool filling.

Paying for the Repair

CTWSC covered most of the project cost itself, using reserve funds. But a funding gap remained. The system needed additional financing to get the project across the finish line.

After learning about the emergency, Britton Howe, a Consultant with Communities Unlimited’s (CU) Community Infrastructure Team, reached out to CTWSC to discuss funding options. Howe determined that the storm event had been declared an emergency by the state, which allowed CTWSC to qualify for a lower interest rate on a loan.

Howe worked with CTWSC staff, CU’s Lending Team and Senior Economic Development Loan Officer Chris Ranniger to complete the process for financing as part of Communities Unlimited’s water and wastewater lending work.

With the last of the funding in place, crews finished the new line in late September, nearly four months after the storm.

“Communities Unlimited came in and had just exactly what I needed to finish the project,” Kelley said.

Built for What’s Coming

The damaged line also gave CTWSC a chance to meet a need it had already identified.

The old line was 14 inches wide. About two years ago, CTWSC’s engineers completed a master study showing the area needed a 20-inch line to meet current demand and growth expected over the next decade.

CTWSC went even larger with the replacement. Kelley said the new 24-inch line should meet demand for the next two decades.

“It was a shot in the arm,” Kelley said. “It kept us going and moving.”