Water is big business in Houston. The quickly growing population always thirsts for more, so the region needs pumps and pipes to deliver. Then sometimes there's way too much water, so planners need pipes and basins to get it out of people's houses. Add it all up, and public entities dole out tens of millions of dollars in contracts each year to a lush landscape of water engineering firms in the Houston area.

Charles Shumate started engineering Houston water systems in 1985 after graduating from Texas A&M University. He now is regional manager for LAN, a firm specializing in water projects.

Q: What would you most like to explain to Houstonians about the challenges of drainage engineering?

A: It's just a constant effort to catch up with development and get enough detention in place. Detention space is land that the developer has to give up. It doesn't produce any income. Also, there have been truly historic rainfall events in recent years. Nobody could afford a system that would handle them perfectly.

Q: Is there any technology that could reduce the footprint of detention while maintaining the volume?

A: You could dig deeper and install pumps, but I think there's policy against that.

Q: How has understanding of drainage engineering changed since you started in this field?

A: New software helps analyze drainage over large areas. It gives a much more detailed understanding of what's happening at the surface level. It lets you spend dollars more efficiently and to target where the real problems are.

Q: What are the hot topics in water supply locally these days?

A: Projects are being built today that were in the water plan even before my start in 1985. There's the Luce Bayou project, which diverts water 26 miles from the Trinity River into Lake Houston, an expansion of the water treatment plant there and a transmission line into the county. It's extremely significant. There's no bigger projects in water supply for this region.

In Montgomery County they are taking Lake Conroe water to deliver to The Woodlands and the city of Conroe. Those areas use groundwater, and that project is driven by concern over sustainability of the aquifer.

Q: Old infrastructure will eventually need replacement. What is the scale of that task in Houston?

A: If you want dollar numbers for replacement, it is certainly a few billion. There are easier ways to repair pipes instead of replace them today, like a carbon fiber material impregnated with resin that can seal a section of pipe. The oldest lines in Houston come from the East Water Treatment Plant. They're probably halfway through their designed life span. In recent years, a lot of work has occurred along those lines.

Q: What do you think is in store for future water engineers?

A: A big struggle is that the needs for such big projects is diminishing. We've done about all we can in this area. If the population doubles, you've got to make efficiencies in how water is used or recaptured, because there is just not more capacity in the rivers and lakes. The supply is ultimately limited.