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Williams leads educational water tour
It was Claytie's water tour. It wasn't wet or wild; its purpose was educational.
Clayton Williams has a plan, and at this point in time it's just that. Part of the plan involves sharing information about water in Pecos County with local officials and citizens.
On June 22, Williams led a tour, showing water shed areas, talking about the geology and hydrogeology of the area, and answering questions.
The realization of Williams' plan, the transport and sale of water to municipalities outside of Pecos County, is perhaps years in the future. But he's already laying the groundwork.
His plan: Water is leaving the area; why not use it?
"If it's not captured, it's wasted to mankind," Williams said. "Unless you use the water, it's gone."
Williams' tour included stops at several locations west and southwest of Fort Stockton, where he explained some aspects of the geology and hydrogeology of the area, and how it affects the flow of groundwater.
Williams also included stops on his land and a visit to the headquarters of Williams Ranch Company. There he further explained water flow patterns with the aid of topographic maps of the area.
Much of Williams' tour reflected information from the preliminary results of a study commissioned by Williams and presented to the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District at its April 15 meeting.
The fundamental conclusion of that study, done by the Thornhill Group out of Round Rock, is that there's plenty of water, for local agricultural and municipal use, and for transport to cities outside of the area.
According to the study, there are about 80,000 acre-feet of water than can be pumped without affecting withdrawals by other users.
Still, much remains unknown regarding how much water there really is, said Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District general manager Paul Weatherby.
"No one ever really knows what Mother Nature has got down there," Weatherby said.
The geology summarized in that study supports Williams. According to the study, geologic and hydrologic features beneath the surface converge in the Leon-Belding area.
The study also holds that much of the recharge for the aquifers comes via subterranean flow from the mountain areas to the south and southwest.
If not captured, water will eventually flow to the northeastern and eastern parts of the county, toward the Pecos River. That water, Williams said, is rendered unusable due to high salinity levels acquired from flowing through sedimentary rocks. Williams said that the city of San Angelo was interested in purchasing water from the Girvin area. The water is at a shallow depth, he said, and there's a lot of it.
But it's salty. The cost of treating the water and transporting it to San Angelo makes the project financially unfeasible.
The good water is the water that's flowing underneath Williams' land west and southwest of Fort Stockton. It can be pumped before it accumulates a high level of salinity.
That's the water that municipalities further east are looking for to meet their present and future needs.
"This is fascinating to me as I continue to learn more about it," Williams said. "But we've got a whole bunch of water."
With Williams plan, there is no contract and there are no hard numbers yet. The infrastructure would need to be built.
Williams envisions a $250 million project to put the infrastructure in place, a pipeline that would deliver about 15 million gallons per day to Midland-Odessa and 15 million gallons per day to San Angelo.
A treatment plant is proposed for Fort Stockton. Land would likely be acquired through eminent domain and Williams estimates it would take two years to construct the pipeline.
Weatherby said any formal proposal from Williams is not likely until the final results of the study by the Thornhill Group are released. He said Williams' plan was not on the agenda for the MPGCD meeting Tuesday.
The water is there, Williams said. It might as well come to beneficial use.
"Water is dynamic," Williams said. "It isn't stable. It doesn't just sit there."
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