Landowners marketing water
The scattered rains and uncommon snow that have passed through the Permian Basin this winter have done little to improve water levels at the Colorado River Municipal Water District’s surface water sources.
The CRMWD is in the process of constructing two pipelines and a water reclamation plant, but some landowners want to offer up their water-rich land in hopes of adding more to the water district’s supply.
One landowner, Kristie Johnson, has reached out to the CRMWD and has started the Facebook page, “Water Marketing,” to bring more interest to the cause.
Johnson is the owner of Nevill Farms, about 4,480 acres of land just outside of McCamey. The farm sits atop the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer and was once a water provider for McCamey, Johnson said.
“Since everyone is in so much trouble, we thought we’d offer up our water again to any city that might need water,” Johnson said.
Though she first offered her land to cities surrounding McCamey, Johnson found that several cities, including Odessa, were not able to have any other water resources other than the CRMWD. Member cities of the water district, which include Odessa, Big Spring and Snyder, are contracted to have the CRMWD as their lone raw water provider.
Without a direct connection to the cities, Johnson has asked CRMWD officials to investigate her land for a potential water source.
Johnson said so far, she and her family have only drilled two wells and built access roads to those wells. However, Johnson said she does not know how much water her land produces.
“We’re in a dire situation right now with water. It needs to be taken seriously, and it needs to be investigated,” Johnson said. “If they just secured 10 wells, that’s 1,000 gallons of water a minute. That ends up 14 million gallons of water per day.”
But CRMWD General Manager John Grant said even digging test holes and production wells for water investigation is an expensive process (around $1 million to $2 million) that might not yield any water.
Though Johnson is not the only landowner offering up her land to the CRMWD, Grant said the water district is currently not pursuing any projects with landowners.
“If we chased every phone call we got, we’d have to add 10 people to our staff,” Grant said. “We just have to sit back and see what they have to offer.”
If a landowner does approach the CRMWD, Grant said the district needs to see what kind of hydrology studies have been done on the land to make sure it is a viable water source. District officials also need to know if the area has ever been explored, pumped or developed for water.
But right now, Grant said the CRMWD is focused on its pipeline projects and its water reclamation plant in Big Spring.
The CRMWD’s most recent project is a 45-mile pipeline to be built from the Ward County well fields to the district’s storage reservoirs in Odessa. Costing more than $135 million, the pipeline project, which includes drilling more wells and constructing a pump station, is expected to add more than 30 million gallons of water a day to CRMWD’s water supply.
Grant said the district is in the process of signing a contract and holding preconstruction meetings with the Oscar Renda and SJ Lewis pipeline companies. In the next few weeks, Grant said he hopes ground can be broken.
A 4.5-mile connection pipeline running from the Ward County well fields to the CRMWD’s transmission line is expected to be completed early this year after construction began in October.
And the water reclamation plant in Big Spring, which will be able to produce around 2 million gallons of water per day, is expected to be operating by the end of this year.
Johnson said if the CRMWD does not accept her offer, she’d still offer her water to other cities.
She said she is getting in touch with Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, to see what her options are.
“Essentially, if the CRMWD does not incorporate our water into their business, we have to market our water somewhere even farther away,” Johnson said.
Water Restrictions
- Restrictions are voluntary beginning March 1 and mandatory beginning April 1.
- Residents and businesses with even addresses will be allowed to water landscape for two hours between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesdays.
- Residents and businesses with odd addresses will be allowed to water for two hours between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursdays.
- Only hand watering can be done with a hose equipped with a positive shutoff nozzle.
- Hose-end sprinklers and open-ended hoses are prohibited.
- Drip irrigation and soaker hoses are permitted.
- Existing swimming pools can only be filled to replace normal water loss due to evaporation.
- Permits for new above and below ground swimming pools will be delayed until further notice.
- Fountains are prohibited.
- Restaurants may only serve a glass of water upon request by the customer.
- Vehicle washing is limited to commercial and mobile car washing.
- Washing down of sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking lots, streets and gutters is prohibited.
- Washing down of buildings is prohibited, unless for fire protection.
- All water leaks must be repaired within a reasonable time frame.
Source: City of Odessa.
