Bastrop, Tx–During a daunting string of 100-plus-degree days over the past month, city officials had a bit of good water supply news when the council met July 14. A second test well in Bob Bryant park appears to have tapped a vein of underground water capable of producing about 400 gallons a minute, said City Manager Mike Talbot.
That’s a marked improvement over an initial test in the park earlier this summer which was rated as capable of yielding hardly more than 100 gallons a minute. After that disappointing test, the council instructed staff to proceed with a second test nearby and if results prove favorable begin planning to link the two sites for possible water production, essentially as a single well.
That planning work is underway, Talbot indicated, even though the city must still await some technical review and formal approvals from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The review process may not be complete before late August, and putting the new wells into production may not be possible before about Oct. 1, Talbot said.
Council Member Joe Beal urged Talbot to speed the process ahead as much as possible.
Talbot also warned the council that unless weather changes come soon it may be necessary to impose water use restrictions as described in the city’s drought contingency plan. Over the July 11-12 weekend water demand in Bastrop peaked at just over 2 million gallons a day, or more than 80 percent of the city’s total production capacity, said Talbot.
If such demand is sustained over an extended period, the recharge capacity of the shallow aluvial aquifers which the city depends on could be impaired, Talbot warned.
“We’re holding our own (in water production),” said Talbot. “But we’re not out of the woods.” He urged residents to restrict water use as much as possible in an effort to stave off stiffer restrictions.