Meeting Fort Worth’s Growing Demand: The Integrated Pipeline Project One of the IPL's booster-pump stations.
T
he Tarrant Regional Water District has been providing flood-control and water supply services to the city of Fort Worth, Texas, for nearly 100 years. The rapid growth of Fort Worth and its sister city, Dallas, has necessitated the construction of ambitious new reservoir and pipeline projects. Most recently, Tarrant Regional Water District and the City of Dallas have collaborated on the immense Integrated Pipeline (IPL) project, which is projected to supply 350 million gallons of water per day to Fort Worth, Dallas, and other water users. In this interview, Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill speaks with Alan Thomas, the deputy general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District, and Dan Buhman, the assistant general manager, about the history of the district, the purpose and scope of the IPL, and the challenges of building this historic project.
Alan Thomas: I have a degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington; at the Tarrant Regional Water District, I started out in the accounting department and moved up from there. I took over administration at one point, and in early 1990 I took over operations. That position evolved into the assistant general manager position; later on I became deputy general manager.
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Dan Buhman, assistant general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Dan Buhman: I studied civil engineering at Brigham Young University and then completed graduate studies at Colorado State University. After my graduate work, I was a consultant for about 14 years. For a lot of that time, I worked with Tarrant Regional Water District, doing long-range water supply planning. It was a natural fit to join up with the water district: I joined as the assistant general manager 5 years ago. Joshua Dill: Would you tell us about the history of the Tarrant Regional Water District? Alan Thomas: We were created back in 1924, primarily for flood control and water supply. In 1930, we built MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
PHOTO'S COURTESY OF TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT.
Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your professional backgrounds.
Alan Thomas, deputy general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District.
