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Contact:
Steve Stevens -
Mesa Water
(214)265-4165
Amarillo, TX - 12/30/2002
Mesa Water Group landowners said today that as part of their plan to produce and sell “stranded, surplus” water from the Ogallala Aquifer in the northern Panhandle, they have evaluated building a pipeline through a West Texas corridor all the way to San Antonio. In a presentation to a meeting of the Texas House and Senate Joint Committee on Water Resources, Mesa Water leader Boone Pickens said such a project is the only way that it would be economically feasible for a large part of the water to be used in West Texas.
“In order for a West Texas pipeline to be built,” he said, “San Antonio at the end of the line, and the many cities and towns along the way, would have to be included. Otherwise, the West Texas line is not going to happen.”
Because of the significant costs associated with transporting water over great distances, Mesa Water’s marketing efforts have concentrated on the State’s most populous areas, including North Texas, San Antonio and El Paso – all of which face significant water shortages.
Pickens said that the Mesa landowners had offered to sell their water to the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority (CRMWA) and the City of Amarillo, but had been turned down because there is not enough present or projected demand in the region.
“Due to the topography of our land, mostly rolling hills, canyons and mesas, irrigation is not a factor,” he said. “In fact out of the approximately 2.5 million acres in the four counties in the northeast corner of the Panhandle (Ochiltree, Lipscomb, Roberts and Hemphill), only about 100,000 acres are currently under irrigation – about four percent. So using our water for farming is not an option.
“This means that the vast majority of the Ogallala Aquifer in these four counties is stranded, surplus water that can best be put to use in more populous areas of the State. Moreover, unless it can be used to supply these areas of high demand, our water is in jeopardy of being drained and we will have received nothing in return.”
Pickens said keeping the Group’s water in the Panhandle and West Texas would be “problematical” and that it would “require great effort and cooperation by those who desire such an outcome.
“We’re talking about proactive leadership,” he said. “It isn’t just going to happen by itself. Texas legislators and member of several water authorities will have to come forward and make it happen.”
Pickens said State Water Planning Regions (A) Amarillo, (O) Lubbock and (F) Midland-Odessa would be required to take joint action in order to produce enough demand to justify keeping even a portion of the water in West Texas. “These three areas comprise 74 counties with a population of approximately 1.5 million people,” he said. “But such a combination alone would still be only a fraction of the size of the North Texas or San Antonio markets,” Pickens said.
The three regions could act jointly to make arrangements to utilize a portion of the water from the pipeline to be built from the Panhandle through Lubbock and Midland-Odessa to San Angelo and on to San Antonio. CRMWA already has in place a 322-mile line from Lake Meredith to Lamesa. In addition, the Colorado Municipal Water District has a 600-mile distribution system serving Big Spring, Midland-Odessa and San Angelo.
“While these existing pipelines are now primarily carrying lake water, a new pipeline could be constructed parallel to the CRMWA line extending to Big Spring,” said Pickens. “This network would not only serve current water users, but additional communities within 50 to 100 miles either side of the pipeline. It would also upgrade the quality of delivered water, since all surface water in this areas has to be extensively treated or blended, or both,” he added.
Since its formation two years ago, the Mesa Group has assembled water rights to approximately 150,000 acres in the northeastern Panhandle. The City of Amarillo has purchased water rights to 72,000 acres and CRM
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