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As New Braunfels continues to grow, New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) is taking a step to focus its water system on areas where it can serve customers most reliably and cost-effectively.

On Thursday, the NBU Board of Trustees approved an update to its service boundary, known as a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), allowing the utility to move forward with a request to remove three undeveloped areas.

The CCN is the area where a utility is obligated to provide water service. By refining that boundary now, NBU is helping ensure it can continue to deliver reliable service without placing unexpected, additional costs on existing customers.

Extending water service to undeveloped areas often requires significant investment in new pipelines, storage and treatment capacity. By focusing service within its planned footprint, NBU helps ensure growth pays for growth.

“This is about being responsible with how we grow,” said Ryan Kelso, Chief Executive Officer of NBU. “We’re focusing on areas where we can serve customers reliably and efficiently, while avoiding unexpected infrastructure expansions that could place additional costs on the people we already serve.

The three areas identified for removal are not currently served by NBU. Two are located south of Hoffman Lane and west of FM 306 within Comal County Municipal Utility District No. 5, which is expected to provide water service. The third is northeast of Cambridge Drive near River Chase, where distance and system limitations make future NBU service impractical.

This action does not affect current customers. Water service, reliability and rates remain unchanged.

As growth continues across the region, utilities must plan years in advance to ensure infrastructure can keep pace. In some cases, that means expanding service. In others, it means clearly defining where service will not be provided.

By making this adjustment now, NBU is giving landowners, developers and regional partners greater clarity about where service is planned and where alternative solutions may be needed.

NBU will submit the request to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees utility service areas across the state, for final review.