Work is expected to begin next week on an $18 million project that will bring new groundwater resources to Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority.
Following a preconstruction meeting last week, Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd told the Enterprise he expects dirt work to begin on Monday, building the roads and clearing well sites to access 2,800 acres of groundwater in northern Donley County.
Kidd said dirt work may take up to 45 days and then the well driller has up to 190 days. Other work also has to be completed to make the project a reality, including construction by Greenbelt Electric Cooperative of a three-phase power line to provide electricity to the well field.
Ultimately, the project will develop four to five wells, which will be connected to the Greenbelt Filter Plant via the construction of a new 12-mile, 16-inch pipeline that will largely follow the State Hwy. 70 right of way.
The project was approved in 2023 but had to be re-bid three times for various reasons. While the project still remains within its budget, there are some items like well-casings and transmission lines that may be impacted by recent tariffs the United States has levied.
The new groundwater is desperately needed to supplement the Greenbelt Reservoir, which is nine percent full and has suffered from a lack of significant rainfall in recent years. Last month, the water authority activated Stage 4 of its drought contingency plan as the lake level fell below an elevation of 2615 feet above sea level.
More rains will help a lot, but part of the basic problem is that Greenbelt historically received much of its water from natural springs that simply aren’t flowing anymore.
“It’s all changed,” Kidd said.
When Greenbelt notified its member cities to activate their own Stage 4 plans two weeks ago, the lake’s elevation was 2614.67 and had fallen to 2514.55 last Tuesday. But in a show of what even a little precipitation can do, the lake came back up to 2614.67 after last weekend’s snow and rain.
“You’ve just got to get above 2615 for 30 days to get out of Stage 4,” Kidd said.
Quanah and Crowell are responding to the drought conditions. Childress implemented its Stage 4 drought plan two weeks ago following Greenbelt’s request, and the Childress City Council has had several called meetings since then to discuss the issue further.
Clarendon and Hedley are expected to enact Stage 4 restrictions this week after those city councils review their contingency plans Thursday night.
“The really sad part is I don’t think any of our cities are really wasting water,” Kidd said. “We don’t use near as much water as we used to.”
Kidd said it’s hard to say how long it will take before water is actually flowing into the system from Greenbelt’s new well field. Greenbelt Board President Phillip Self told Childress officials it will likely be one and half to two years before the wells are online.
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