Texarkana Water Utilities

Texarkana Water Utilities (TWU) delivers water services across two cities and two states, Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas, creating a complex, multi-jurisdictional operating environment. To manage this complexity, TWU has strategically partnered with NewEdge Services, an Esri Gold Partner, to modernize its GIS, build cloud resiliency, and integrate systems across the organization, all leveraging the power of Esri’s ArcGIS platform.

NewEdge Services is an Esri Gold Partner specializing in GIS consulting, system integration, and cloud-hosted solutions for local governments, utilities, and special districts. With expertise in ArcGIS Enterprise, Utility Network, and system architecture, NewEdge helps clients optimize operations and support long-term GIS growth.

In 2017, TWU engaged NewEdge Services to implement ArcGIS Enterprise, creating a centralized GIS platform capable of managing data across both Texas and Arkansas jurisdictions. The deployment allowed TWU to move away from siloed data systems and establish authoritative datasets to support water utility operations, infrastructure management, and land records.

This GIS foundation became even more critical in 2020, when TWU experienced a cyber-attack that encrypted on-premise systems and disrupted services. Working closely with TWU, NewEdge rapidly deployed a temporary ArcGIS Enterprise recovery environment using AWS EC2 instances, Relational Database Service (RDS), and WorkSpaces following recovery, TWU fully migrated its ArcGIS Enterprise environment into the AWS Cloud, strengthening security, ensuring redundancy, and enabling more flexible data access for staff. Access to outside data sources was also improved. For example, parcel data across both states is now updated nightly through automated services that pull directly from Texas and Arkansas county assessor CAMA systems, ensuring accuracy for planning, billing, and customer service operations.

Although TWU had been using Trimble powered by Cityworks AMS (an Esri partner solution) since 2008, adoption had previously been limited. In 2023, NewEdge Services (a Trimble Platinum Implementation Partner) led a full Cityworks AMS enterprise expansion to include Engineering, Customer Service, and Water and Wastewater Treatment divisions. Today, Cityworks AMS, fully integrated with TWU’s GIS, supports over 33,000 residential and commercial connections through centralized asset management.

This expansion allows TWU to leverage location intelligence throughout the organization, using Esri-powered GIS layers directly inside Cityworks AMS to better manage work orders, infrastructure assets, inspections, and service requests.

As part of the AMS expansion, TWU prioritized integration with its utility billing system (CUSI). NewEdge developed the custom integration allowing GIS, asset management, and billing systems to work together seamlessly.

Key integration outcomes include:

• Elimination of manual data entry between systems
• Real-time synchronization of work orders between CUSI and Cityworks AMS
• Automated validations for improved data quality (e.g. duplicate meters, invalid reads)
• Full digitization of service order processing, eliminating paper entirely

The integration uses secure APIs and cloud-hosted services to synchronize open and closed service orders automatically between systems every few minutes, allowing field crews, customer service staff, and billing teams to work in near real-time.

Through its partnership with NewEdge Services and the Esri ecosystem, TWU has:

• Built a secure, resilient GIS foundation on ArcGIS Enterprise in the cloud
• Integrated GIS directly into business workflows through Trimble Cityworks AMS
• Eliminated paper-based service order processing with fully automated system integrations
• Improved field operations, customer responsiveness, and overall data accuracy
• Positioned GIS as a central platform for long-term digital transformation

TWU continues to expand its use of Esri technology as part of its long-term vision:

• Transitioning parcel management to Esri’s Parcel Fabric for more accurate land records
• Migrating to ArcGIS Utility Network for advanced network modeling and management
• Expanding analytics, dashboards, and mobile solutions using ArcGIS Dashboards, ArcGIS Field Maps, and ArcGIS Experience Builder
• Further automating permitting, document management, and cross-departmental workflows

By fully leveraging Esri’s ArcGIS platform, TWU is transforming operations across departments, strengthening service delivery, and building long-term resilience for the communities it serves.