A special meeting of the Brown County Water Improvement District No. 1 was held on Monday night where board members approved the drilling of a test water well that they hope will find an alternative source of water as levels at Lake Brownwood continue to struggle.
According to BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks, the board approved the low bid received from Stewart Brothers Drilling of New Mexico for $700,300 to drill the test well. This well will be drilled through the Ellenberger Aquifer and down into the Hickory Sands Aquifer with testing of each to determine if either could supply an adequate quantity of water to the district’s customers and if the quality of any found water could be treated for household use at a reasonable price. The amount of water needed is approximately 5 million gallons per day according to Spinks.
“We need to find out the aspects of the groundwater – is it feasible to treat and is it economically feasible to deliver to our customers,” said Spinks.
The test well is being drilled to determine water quality and production rates from aquifers about a quarter of a mile south of the original Hot Wells location in Brownwood. The 41 acre property is owned by Jeff Lemmons.
Spinks stated that the problems expected with the quality of the water more than likely will involve dissolved solids such as salt and other minerals being higher than what the state will allow.
“A lot of wells, even shallow wells in Brown County (past 100 ft.) have hit water, most at 80 feet,” explained Spinks.
He said that testing will be done at every 10 feet of the soil and groundwater to determine the quality and if there are other useable aquifers in the area. From the information the board gathered from consultants DB Stephens and Associates, the Hickory Sands aquifer will likely be worse quality than the Ellenberger, which will be the primary information sought when drilling the test well.
If testing at this well yields positive results, the board will consider the costs of drilling production wells in the same area to help augment the local water supply.
“If we find a better level of water, we’ll study that as well, but it’s not expected to find any other aquifers that have a useable quantity,” said Spinks who explained the Ellenberger and Hickory Sands were the only aquifers of any volume that could possibly have enough water quantity to consider.
He stated that he has seen the state’s information regarding wells drilled in Brown County over the past 100 years and that the Ellenberger and Hickory Sands Aquifers are the only ones expected to have the needed volume of 5 million gallons per day.
Lake Brownwood is currently at 50% capacity, according to Spinks, which gives the area a 2 year supply of water without any additional rainfall. He stated that not much rainfall is expected in the coming months.
“The future for rainfall is looking more and more bleak. Rains keep just missing us,” said Spinks.
“One big rain event could fill up that lake in 24 hours.”
Spinks stated that a rain event south of Comanche produced 10 inches of rain in a short period of time, and if it had been in the Lake Brownwood watershed, could have meant an additional 5’ to the level of Lake Brownwood. Lake Proctor did not receive any of this rainfall and is currently at 70% capacity; however it is a smaller lake which can be pulled down a lot quicker according to Spinks.
Although Lake Brownwood is at a better level than any lake west of Brown County, Spinks explained the serious nature of the Texas drought and its possible local impact if the drought worsens.
“People don’t realize that Brown County and its citizens don’t own the water in Lake Brownwood. All surface water is owned by the State of Texas,” said Spinks. “Currently, Brown County is appropriated use of 29 acre feet of water per year from Lake Brownwood. The state could change that appropriation and the concern is that the state could start moving water around (depending on needs elsewhere within the state),” explained Spinks.
This water movement could be done by pipelines or by release of water from the dam and into waterways to other areas, which would mean a major loss of volume of this released water from absorption into dry river and creek beds and also to evaporation on the way to its destination.
Spinks stated that the major loss to Lake Brownwood currently is evaporation, at a rate of 10-15 thousand acre feet per year as compared to the reduction due to usage, which is an approximately 8000 acre feet per year.
If positive results are found by drilling the test well, the district would consider drilling production wells, and the area would have an additional source of water to depend on, said Spinks. He explained that just because water is found doesn’t mean it guarantees it will be useable.
“Just because you drill a well doesn’t mean you get useable water. The big question is how do you have to treat it,” Spinks said.
Three other bids were received by BCWID, which ranged from $900,000 to as much as $1.9 million. Board members selected Stewart Brothers Drilling, which was the low bid, but also a reputable firm. Spinks stated that Stewart Brothers Drilling has experience in drilling water wells and have completed a large quantity of them and that they have worked with the engineers D. B. Stephens in the past.
“The cost is above what you would normally expect because there will be extensive testing. The district is spending a lot of money, out of our reserves,” said Spinks. “We need to know number one, can we use it and number two, the cost analysis, then we can discuss it with our water customers to decide what is best for the people as a whole.”
Spinks stated that the drilling of the test well will start in approximately two weeks. The rig that will be used is currently in Utah and will make the trip to Brown County soon. Drilling could take up to 60 days to complete the well. Then testing will begin, some of the testing will be done at the Water District but that most will be sent off to the state’s laboratories or those of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) for more accurate results. Then the board can decide what to do for a definitive answer. Spinks estimated that it will be August or September before that decision is able to be considered on moving forward with production wells.
“I hope by the time the well is completed that Lake Brownwood is at a level where we don’t have to be as concerned,” Spinks said. “It seems like droughts in Texas are becoming more commonplace than floods though.”
Although the lake level continues to dwindle, according to Spinks, the customer’s of the district have done well with conservation practices which have helped immensely. The district’s goal of reducing water usage 30% was reached in 2012 and continues to be reduced in 2013. He stated the concern is that the drier it becomes, people will again become worried about preserving their investments in landscaping and yards, using more water than what should be used, but that the district will do their best to continue to monitor and preserve the area’s water as much as possible.
