Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Regional cooperation may be
solution to Big Country water shortage
From Reporter-News Staff Reports
Lingering drought has hit many Big Country
towns with a double whammy.
First, agriculture, on which many small-town
economies rely, has suffered. Lack of water has hurt crops and
pastures, diminishing farmers’ harvests and forcing ranchers
to sell off cattle.
Second, the drought has sent many cities
scurrying to shore up their water supplies.
“If anybody has any water out there,
we will be more than happy to talk to them,” said Steve Bowlin,
public works director for Throckmorton, about 60 miles northeast
of Abilene.
Regional cooperation could be one solution
to the water needs of Throckmorton and other Big Country towns.
Throckmorton is a member of a new organization that is looking
at alternative water supplies, although the organization won’t
be able to solve the town’s immediate problem.
Throckmorton has about a 90-day supply of
water, according to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
Unless rain falls in Lake Throckmorton’s 11-square-mile watershed,
the lake, the city’s primary water source, will soon be too
low to use for drinking water.
The town of about 1,000 people has an $800,000
state grant to build a pipeline, but no place to which it can
be run.
Midway Regional Water wants to help, but
is still in the organizational stages, said Phil Taylor, chairman
of the group and general manager of the Stephens County Rural
Water Supply Corp. Midway’s purpose is to identify and try
to develop alternative sources of water.
Throckmorton and Breckenridge are members
along with the Stephens County Rural WSC, Shackelford WSC, Callahan
County WSC, Westbound WSC and the town of Woodson, which purchases
water from the Stephens County WSC. Other water supply corporations
and towns have expressed interest in joining the group as well.
The state’s regional water planning
group forecasts a decline in population for the area, “but
we’re not seeing that at all,” said Taylor, noting an
increase in the number of water meters in the Breckenridge area.
“We’re in a similar situation
to Abilene,” Taylor added. “Nearly everyone is looking
to the future and trying to identify other water sources.’’
Midway Regional Water doesn’t have
a budget, but will be seeking a grant to assist in its efforts.
One possibility the group is considering
is using an existing water pipeline from Possum Kingdom Lake to
bring water to municipal users. The pipeline transports untreated
water for oil recovery efforts.
Another example of regional cooperation
will land Hamlin a new water supply.
Hamlin is working on an agreement with neighboring
Anson to purchase water. Anson, which gets its water from Hubbard
Creek Reservoir through the West Central Texas Municipal Water
District, will sell water to Hamlin. The water will be pumped
through existing water district pipelines to Abilene, where it
will be treated before being moved to Hamlin.
Hamlin received a $5.5 million Texas Water
Development Board grant to build a pipeline to carry the treated
water from Abilene to Hamlin. Hamlin will pay Abilene for treating
the water, and will no longer operate a water treatment plant.
Hamlin also will no longer need water from
Lake Stamford, which will free up more water for the city of Stamford.
Stamford, meanwhile, is working on another
project to increase its water supply, said City Manager Ken Roberson.
The city is awaiting approval to build a diversion dam on California
Creek. When the creek is flowing, water would be diverted into
Lake Stamford.
Adding the California Creek watershed to
the Lake Stamford watershed would more than double the lake’s
yield, he said.
“I think it will be the answer to our
supply problems for a long time to come,” Roberson said.
A steady water supply is essential to recruiting
new business and industry to keep a town growing.
“A good water supply is probably, if
not the most important issue, certainly in the top five”
concerns in attracting new business to town, said Monty Montgomery,
executive director of the Development Corporation of Haskell.
“One of the first questions I’m
asked when I contact a business outside the area is ‘How
is your water supply?’ ” he said. “We have to prove
that we have an adequate water supply to meet the business’
needs. It’s an extremely critical issue to meet.”
Regional writers Larry Zelisko, Ken Ellsworth
and John Starbuck contributed to this report.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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