El Paso Water Awarded $150-Million Loan for Dell Valley Land Purchases – Utility CEO Balliew Discusses Water-Importation Project
El Paso Water last week was awarded $150 million in state loans to acquire Dell Valley land, as part of the city’s long-term plan to import Dell Valley groundwater for its municipal needs.
Using a loan from the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas, or SWIFT, the utility last month acquired the 27,000-acre CL Ranch, paying $49.7 million for the Dell City-area property. The new low-interest SWIFT loans, announced by the Texas Water Development Board last Thursday, July 21, will fund the purchase of an unspecified amount of Dell Valley acreage. Of the new funds, $100 million will be loaned this year; $50 million will be made available in 2017.
The utility says it has “begun conversations with multiple landowners” in Dell Valley, and real-estate deals could be finalized by September.
El Paso announced plans to import Dell Valley groundwater more than 15 years ago. But the land deals signal that the plan is moving towards reality. The project raises concerns among Dell Citians about the future of their community – which is rooted in a farming economy dependent on the abundant underground water of the Bone Springs-Victorio Peak Aquifer.
In an interview with the Herald Tuesday (July 26), El Paso Water President and CEO John Balliew emphasized the long-term nature of his city’s water-importation project. He said that the city’s land acquisitions will not end farming here in the near-term, and that “even when the importation is going full-steam, there will still be – for those who want to do it – an opportunity to be farming in Dell Valley.”
“If we purchase a piece of property that is under agricultural production, our goal is to maintain the agricultural production,” Balliew said. “That’s what we want to do – we would continue to be part of the agricultural community in the Valley.”
El Paso does not plan to begin importing Dell Valley groundwater until 2050. As the city acquires Dell City-area land that is not in cultivation, the utility will “evaluate the condition of the rangeland and see if it can support livestock,” Balliew said. The city could lease rangeland to livestock producers.
But in purchases this year and next, the city plans to acquire land that currently is being farmed. In those deals, the city will seek either to lease the land back to sellers to continue farming, or to establish custom-farming or profit-sharing arrangements that would keep the land in cultivation.
Balliew noted that El Paso acquired the Armstrong or Diablo Farm, near the Hudspeth-Culberson County line, several years ago; through a lease-back arrangement, the previous owners have continued to farm that land.
El Paso has seen impressive successes in water conservation – even as the city’s population has surged in recent years, total water use has remained constant. A decade ago, the city planned to begin importing Dell Valley water in 2040. The date could be pushed back again if the city is able to meet its water needs in other ways. El Paso County is projected to grow from a current population of 800,000 to 1.4 million in 2070.
With the new $150-million SWIFT loan, El Paso Water expects to complete its land purchases in Dell Valley. But the total cost of the project could reach $600 million. Balliew said the city could construct “one or more large pipelines” to transport Dell Valley water. The project could involve a reservoir and pump station and, potentially, a desalination plant to purify brackish water from the Valley.
“Water importation would start slowly,” Balliew said. “It would be several decades before we start moving any water, and when we start, the rate of water would be slow at first, then perhaps ramp up over time.”
Beginning in 2050, the city plans to import 10,000 acre-feet per year from the Diablo Farm and 10,000 acre-feet per year from Dell City. Importation from Dell City would increase to 20,000 acre-feet in the ensuing years.
Those figures are dwarfed by the current water use for farming in Dell Valley. Valley farmers are estimated to have pumped about 80,000 acre-feet in 2015. Aquifer levels have fallen steadily in recent years. Hydrologists say that 67,000 acre-feet per year would be “sustainable” – and would not deplete the aquifer. Even if El Paso pumped 20,000 acre-feet per year, groundwater could be available for farming operations.
El Paso’s long-term plan includes importing groundwater from other parts of the rural Trans-Pecos. The city owns a property near Van Horn called the Wild Horse Ranch and one in Jeff Davis County, near Valentine, called the Antelope Valley Ranch. Importation would begin from Hudspeth County, and, in the ensuing decades, first the Van Horn land and then the Valentine property could be linked in with the pipeline from Dell City.
Balliew said El Paso Water plans to hold a public meeting in Dell City later this year – likely in September, he said, when additional land acquisitions can be made public. And Balliew said that he or a member of his staff now attends each meeting of the Hudspeth County Underground Water Conservation District #1, the elected body charged with managing Dell Valley’s aquifer. He encouraged local residents to seek him out at those water district meetings if they have questions.
“The important thing we would like to convey to residents in Dell City is that we want to have a healthy relationship,” Balliew said. “Questions are going to arise, and we want to have an open dialogue with Dell City people.”