Clarendon, Hedley to review drought rules

Greenbelt enters Stage 4 of drought contingency plan

Clarendon and Hedley city councils will be reviewing and updating their policies next week in preparation for going into Stage 4 of their Drought Contingency Plans.

Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority notified its members cities last week that the Greenbelt Board of Directors voted March 18 to go into the authority’s Drought Contingency Plan Stage 4.

In the letter to member cities, Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd said the trigger for entering Stage 4 is when the reservoir reaches an elevation of 2615 feet above sea level.

The lake was at 2614.67 at the time of the letter. As of Tuesday afternoon, Greenbelt was at 2614.55 feet above sea level.

“The Board and I have serious concerns about the availability of surface water from the reservoir without some really substantial rainfall this spring and summer,” Kidd wrote.

In order to come out of Stage 4, the lake will have to get above 2615 for a 30-day period.

The City of Childress activated its Stage 4 plan last week, and Greenbelt expects Crowell and Quanah will be responding soon as well.

Officials with Clarendon and Hedley said they were updating their plans with action to be taken by city councils during their April 11 regular meetings.

In addition to surface water from the Greenbelt Reservoir, the water authority utilizes several groundwater sources near the lake and also purchases groundwater from the City of Clarendon.

Greenbelt purchased 2,800 acres of groundwater rights in northern Donley County in 2017 and has begun an $18 million project to construct three water wells, well field piping, electrical distribution equipment, and a 12-mile transmission line to transport water to its existing water treatment plant.

The City of Howardwick is not affected by Greenbelt’s Drought Contingency. That city receives its water from local wells managed by Red River Water Authority.