Odessa's water limit to lower in April
What: Home watering workshop.
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: Sibley Nature Center, 1307 E. Wadley Ave., Midland.
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Call: 498-4071 or 686-4700 for more information.
Starting April 1, the Colorado River Municipal Water District will lower the daily water allowance for Odessa and its other customer cities.
John Grant, general manager of the CRMWD, said Odessa’s limit would be set at 16 million gallons a day. Since the summer, Odessa has had a limit of 22.4 million gallons a day.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” Grant said. “Last year we got essentially no inflow.”
The current lake level as of Monday for J.B. Thomas was listed at 1.32 percent; E.V. Spence at 0.44 percent; and O.H. Ivie listed at 17.64 percent, according to the CRMWD website. Grant said current projections show if the lakes don’t receive any rain, all surface water would be gone by January 2013. By lowering the amount of water the CRMWD allows its customers to use, Grant said they can extend the surface water for about “three or four months.”
Currently, the organization is waiting to award a contract to a contractor for a 45-mile pipeline running from the Ward County well fields to the water district’s storage reservoirs in Odessa. The pipeline would only supply winter-time water needs and is still scheduled for a November or December completion date.
“We’re comfortable that schedule can be met,” Grant said.
