San Angelo strikes water pact with Abilene, Midland

SAN ANGELO – The Cities of San Angelo, Abilene and Midland have formed the West Texas Water Partnership, a coalition addressing long-term water needs of the region. The municipalities will share costs and combine efforts to find enough drinking water.

“Nowhere else in the state are cities combining their resources to find a regional solution to their future water needs,” said Leah Mazzarelli, City of Abilene communications and media relations manager. City managers from each community jointly signed the same contract after their respective city council’s approval.

In San Angelo, the $120 million Hickory Well Field provides 6 million gallons daily. In Midland, a public-private partnership has begun delivering about 20 million gallons of water daily to 50,000 homes.

The City of Abilene signed a letter of intent to share existing and to-be-developed water supplies as part of the partnership.

The Abilene City Council has approved $17.25 million for phase 2 of the Hamby Wastewater Treatment Plant project. The council previously authorized $41.4 million for phase 1 of the project, which began in December 2013.

The Cedar Ridge Reservoir project, located at a site 40 miles north of Abilene, could hold as much as 74 billion gallons of water. The reservoir, with a dam beside the Brazos River, could provide water for the Abilene region for 100 years.

The reservoir will provide 23,380 acre-feet per year of water starting in 2020, but The City of Abilene is still in the process of getting the required permits for Cedar Ridge.