By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Members of the Del Rio City Council had a range of questions for one of the city’s administrators following a presentation Tuesday about the effects on an ongoing drought on the San Felipe Springs and the city’s efforts to find alternate water sources.
Assistant Public Works Director Greg Velazquez gave the presentation and told the council the city is now looking at several other water sources, including an existing well off Agarita Drive on the city’s north side and drilling a new well just north of the city golf course.
Velazquez told the council one of the issues with using water from the Agarita well is the need to filter and disinfect the water before it flows into the city’s water distribution system. He said the answer may be to place a temporary water treatment plant at the Agarita well site.
After Velazquez’s presentation, Mayor Al Arreola asked if council members had any questions, and Councilman J.P. Sanchez said, “I’m confused. I’ve heard of a Hamilton well, and the city had made arrangements with Mr. Hamilton to also purchase his water. Is that the same as this Agarita well, or is that different?”
“(The Hamilton well) is on (Highway) 277, right across from the county’s (Precinct 3) yard,” Velazquez replied.
“So we have the possibility of using both those wells simultaneously if we get a portable treatment plant for that?” Sanchez asked.
“You’re on the right track. If the need be, and we wanted to subsidize more of the water to the north side, we could bring that (Hamilton) well online,” Velazquez replied.
“I feel that we are in an emergency situation right now,” Sanchez said.
“That is correct,” Velazquez replied.
“I feel we really need to look into this portable (treatment plant) plan. We might even be able to rent (a portable water treatment system) and be able to get that going. You say you’re already working with TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) to get the provisions. We are in an emergency,” Sanchez said.
“In an emergency situation, and let me clarify that, you don’t need to treat the water. Disinfect and take bacteriological samples. That’s a temporary authorization. You might have to issue some type of boil water notice (to the public), but at least we have water.
“If we wanted to use these sources to subsidize 15 or 30 percent of the water for the north side, it would be ideal to bring those two wells online, have one (temporary) filtration plant, say at the Agarita well, because the Hamilton well is plumbed in and would come in to Agarita, and we could filter (that water). Then we could possibly see about four millions gallons,” Velazquez said.
“It would really help the situation we’re in right now, because we’re not able to use the East Springs at San Felipe Springs,” he added.
“Greg, I thought this (Agarita well) was the well that every time it rains, it gets dirt, sulfur, stuff like that?” Councilman Jim DeReus asked.
Velazquez said whenever it rains on north Del Rio and in areas just north of Del Rio, runoff drains dirt and possible contaminants into wells and below-ground strata carrying water. He said turbidity is considered one of the “number one factors” for the presence of E. coliform and other potentially dangerous bacteria in water. He said there are also areas north of Del Rio that use septic tanks and leaks from some of those systems have leached into the ground, another factor contributing to contamination.
“We’ve talked about this three or four times while I’ve been on council, we’ve run the tests, and we’ve been told, basically, we can’t use (the Agarita well). What would be different with what you’re talking about now as compared to what we’ve talked about previously?” DeReus asked.
“So the difference would be is that you’d be doing exactly the same thing we’re doing at our water treatment plant, ultra membrane filtration, so that filtration system would treat the water, and you would get high-quality water for the constituents,” Velazquez replied.
“You mentioned a portable system Do you know approximately how much those run? Because that’s kind of important,” DeReus asked.
“The ideal thing is for a temporary authorization without filtration or treatment. Just normal filtration, treatment. They’re costly. I don’t have an idea, but they’re costly,” Velazquez said.
“Obviously, if it’s $100,000, we jump at it tonight, but if it’s $5 million or $10 million; well, that takes a lot more planning,” DeReus said.
“Our goal is to do a temporary filtration system, with the long-term goal of an ultra membrane filtration system set up there at Agarita, combining, if we could, both wells (Agarita and Hamilton). . .We have to make sure that whatever treatment we decide to acquire is the right treatment for these wells, based on the characteristics of the water,” Velazquez said.
Sanchez asked, “And all that will be accomplished by the testing of the water?”
“Yes, sir,” Velazquez replied.
“Once you test it, you’ll find out exactly what you have to do in order for it to be consumable,” Sanchez added.
“That is correct,” Velazquez replied.
Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon asked how the tests would be done.
“So . . . you have to do 18 to 24 months continuous testing every 14 days (to be approved as a public water system). It’s a lot. The reason is because Val Verde County, most of the wells are considered GUI (groundwater under surface water influence), and . . . they have to be tested,” Velazquez said.
“And you’ve been doing testing all along?” Arreola asked.
“Yes, but we stopped on Hamilton, we just couldn’t get it to prove out as a solely groundwater source. It’s considered GUI, just like Agarita,” Velazquez replied.
Councilman Jesus Lopez asked where the water from the East Springs went, and when Velazquez said that water went into the San Felipe Creek, Lopez then asked if any of that water could be recovered. Velazquez said it could not because the creek is considered a tributary stream for the Rio Grande and its water is also used for irrigation purposes by users along its length.
Velazquez said, “Optimally, the city would like to find a groundwater source that would be free of surface water indicators (non-GUI) which would only require disinfection and which could then be used to subsidize a great portion of the city’s water supply.
“Unfortunately, there is no currently owned city property with a water well that has passed three consecutive bacteriological sample test requirements that meet such a classification. This means that more than likely any water well that the city uses to source water would need to be filtered and treated by using our current and/or a new water treatment plant. Also, the city would need to find a water well that can produce the volume of water the city would need on a daily basis,” Velazquez said.
He also spoke about spring flow meters on the San Felipe Creek and said the city is working to acquire its own meters to measure spring- and creek flow.
Finally, Velazquez spoke to the council about the San Felipe Springs and possible influences on the water flowing from them.
“Previous data from ABEngineering has stated, ‘Many water wells are located within the recharge area which are capable of affecting the water levels or water quality of the waters emanating from the San Felipe Springs.’ All these wells draw from the Edwards Aquifer, which is our source in Val Verde County.
“Lake (Amistad) elevations: From 1992 to 2002 this region experienced an extended drought period. During this period, the lake levels declined to near 1,060 feet above mean sea level (MSL), in 1996 and to a record low of 1,058.83 MSL in 1998. These low lake level events affected the San Felipe Springs flow rate. Currently, the lake is 28 percent full at 1,050 MSL,” Velazquez said.
After Velazquez finished, Sanchez said, “We are in dire need to find a second (water) source. What this council needs to tell you to do is go drill there at the archery range site, so we can start to find that second source. If need be, we’ll treat (that water), if it doesn’t meet the indicators we need to meet, but it’s right there, close to the treatment plant, but we need to drill that well like, tomorrow.”
Velazquez said the city staff is currently working with a company using seismic and LIDAR technology to determine the best drill site.
“We’ve had the approval to drill last year, but we didn’t go through with it because of the people of Jap Lowe, who didn’t want us drilling in their neighborhood, but if we drill over there by the archery range, that is actually closer to our treatment plant facilities and we can get that water over there and use it, and we also need to look into this (temporary) treatment plant for Agarita in case of an emergency. We need to have somebody on standby so we can get this thing going, because we need to fulfill our obligations to the constituents to supply them with water,” Sanchez added.
“Our staff is spearheading this and we are working with an engineering firm to determine what will be needed for a (temporary) treatment plant, for an emergency situation and with the support of city council and finance, our goal is to finally, at least find a secondary or alternate water source for the city,” Velazquez replied.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
