Abstract
Regional water planning in Texas began with the passage of Senate Bill 1 in 1997. The state was divided into 16 regions for the purposes of developing regional water plans that would eventually be integrated into a single state wide water plan. El Paso lies within the Far West Texas Region (Region E). In 2001, the first regional plan was developed that included demand estimates for through 2050, current supplies, and identified deficits, or imbalances between current supplies and future demands. For El Paso County, the 2001 plan identified the deficits and provided several potential alternatives to meet the increasing demands that had been projected. However, there was no specific plan to meet future demands. During the second round of planning that led to an updated regional plan in 2006, considerable effort was made to develop a specific plan to meet future demands through 2060. El Paso County is currently supplied water from the Rio Grande, local groundwater and reclaimed water. Potential future supplies include imported groundwater from other parts of Far West Texas. The 2006 regional plan includes the development of six alternative integrated strategies that include local surface water, local groundwater, expansion of reclaimed water and imported groundwater. The 2006 regional plan provides for meeting all future non agricultural demands in El Paso County through the adoption of Alternative 6, which includes conjunctive use of local surface and groundwater resources, expansion of conservation, expansion of reclaimed water use, and the importation of groundwater from the Dell City area and from the Capitan Reef Aquifer, located southeast of Dell City. Other potential imported supplies identified in other alternatives in Culberson, Jeff Davis and Presidio Counties will not be used prior to 2060 under the adopted alternative.
Comments
Abstracts of presentations given on Wednesday, 19 July 2006, in session 17 of the UCOWR Conference.