At Diablo Lease, Well Results Bad for El Paso Water-Import Plan – EPWU Closes on $50-Million Loan to Acquire Dell Valley Land
El Paso Water Utilities has completed a test well on the so-called “Diablo lease” north of Fort Hancock – and, in terms of the city’s plan to import water from the Hudspeth County land, the water planners have found the results not to be promising. The results, EPWU officials say, suggest that groundwater at the property may not exist in sufficient quantities or be of sufficient quality to support a water-import project.
In an email Tuesday (Dec. 8), Javier Camacho, EPWU public information coordinator, said the utility is weighing its options on the Hudspeth County lease.
“The well did not meet EPWU expectations in terms of quality or quantity for a municipal water supply well,” Camacho said. “EPWU continues to evaluate further exploratory drilling locations in the area.”
EPWU leased the land – on the southern edge of the Diablo Plateau and about 15 miles north of McNary – in 2014 from the Texas General Land Office. The utility plans to begin importing groundwater from Dell Valley in 2050. But with persistent drought conditions on the Rio Grande pinching the city’s water supply now, planners looked to the Diablo lease – which is much closer to El Paso than Dell Valley – as a viable near-term project. Water planners thought the city might pipe in 10,000 to 20,000 acre-feet of water a year from the property.
The test-well results may send the utility back to the drawing board. In December 2014, the El Paso city council and the Public Service Board, which oversees EPWU, allocated $5.2 million to drill the test well. EPWU would likely have to petition for more funds in order to launch new exploratory drilling.
Hudspeth County officials have voiced concerns about the Diablo lease project and its potential impact to livestock producers in the area and particularly to the Esperanza water system. Esperanza Fresh Water Supply operates a well near the Diablo lease, and county commissioners said they were worried that well might run dry as a result of a water-import project. Owned by Jobe Materials, the Esperanza system provides drinking water to more than 250 households on the east side of Fort Hancock.
While the Diablo project may be stalled, EPWU has made significant strides in recent weeks to lay the foundation for its long-term project to import water from Dell Valley. Last Wednesday, Dec. 2, the Texas Water Development Board announced that it had closed on a $50-million low-interest loan that will finance EPWU’s purchase of land and water rights in Dell Valley. The funding is coming from Texas’ new State Water Implementation Fund, or SWIFT, which was approved by voters and the state legislature in 2013.
EPWU plans to acquire 26,000 acres of Dell Valley land with the money. Ultimately, the utility will use the holdings to tap into the Bone Springs-Victorio Peak Aquifer, the abundant underground water source that sustains farming in Dell Valley. El Paso plans to begin importing 10,000 acre-feet of water a year from Dell Valley in 2050 – and to increase that amount to 20,000 acre-feet by 2060. The Valley’s farmers are currently pumping 90,000 acre-feet or more of groundwater each year, and hydrologists have estimated that a sustainable pumping level is about 75,000 acre-feet a year.
With the loan deal closed, EPWU is likely to act quickly to acquire the Dell Valley property. EPWU officials said earlier that the land acquisition would likely take place before year’s end, and the Texas Water Development Board may have waiting until the utility had lined up sellers before it agreed to release the money. EPWU Public Information Coordinator Javier Camacho said Tuesday (Dec. 8) that “El Paso Water Utilities has not closed on any land sale thus far in Hudspeth County/Dell City, and a date on any land sale closure has yet to be determined.”
The Diablo lease is not located within the boundaries of a groundwater conservation district – and there is no local entity with the authority to regulate pumping there. In Dell Valley, however, EPWU would be seeking to extract water within the boundaries of Hudspeth County Underground Water Conservation District #1, and the utility would presumable have to follow rules for water development and export set by the district.
Under the rules of the Dell Valley water district, for water to become available for export an irrigating farmer or other “validation permit” holder would have to retire that permit – perhaps after being paid by EPWU. The utility would then need to apply for an “operating permit.” With that permit the utility could pump and export each year up to half an acre-foot of water per acre of land.