John C. Williams Aqueduct & Wellfield – Phase I & II
The wellfield is designed to improve both the quality and quantity of the water supplied by the Authority by blending high quality ground water with our existing surface water supplies from Lake Meredith. The project included the development of a fifty square mile well field in Roberts County; 36 miles of 54-inch pipeline to deliver water to the Authority’s existing aqueduct located south of Fritch, Texas; 2 transmission pump stations; 27 groundwater wells with capacities ranging from 750 gpm to 3,000 gpm; 2 well field pump stations; groundwater monitoring wells; and 22 miles of well field collection and transmission piping ranging in size from 8 inches to 30 inches. It also included new well field electrical distribution and access road systems, as well as a SCADA system to interact with the the Authority’s existing system. The SCADA system study involved preliminary design for controls and instrumentation for the well sites, four booster stations, and two transfer stations. The study also included radio frequency path analysis using a 900 MHz master and remote radio.
Phase I & II Wellfield Area
Purpose
The Conjunctive Use Groundwater Supply Project developed by the Authority consists of a field of 28 wells, expandable at a later date to as many as 45 wells, located in western Roberts and eastern Hutchinson counties of the Texas Panhandle. A blended mixture of well water and lake water is being delivered to ten of the cities, with Borger receiving its well water directly at its clearwell.
Water rights for the project were acquired on 42,765 acres of rangeland. Depending on the quantity and quality of water available in Lake Meredith, which has varied over the last 10 years from around 300 to 740 milligrams per liter of chlorides, 27,000 to 30,000 acre-feet of water per year will be pumped from the wells. The permit obtained from the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District #3 allows pumping of up to 69,000 acre-feet per year.
The conveyance facilities which deliver the well water to the point where it is mixed with water from Lake Meredith consist of approximately 36 miles of 54″ pipe and two pump stations. The intersection of the old and new aqueducts is located about five miles south of Fritch in Carson County. The collection system in the well field consists of nearly 35 miles of pipe ranging in size from 8″ to 30″. There are two booster stations in this system which deliver the water to the first storage tank.
The John C. Williams Aqueduct and Wellfield Phase I was placed in operation in December of 2001. Phase II consists of two additional wells which were added in mid 2008.
Photo above shows the step drawdown test of our first prototype production well. This well is capable of pumping 2250+ gpm of high quality water!
Photo above shows the installation of 54″ pipe for the John C. Williams Aqueduct & Wellfield.
John C. Williams Aqueduct & Wellfield – Phase III
Beginning in 2004, due to the increasing decline of Lake Meredith, the Authority began acquiring additional water rights in Gray, Hutchinson, Roberts and Wheeler Counties. In 2007, the Authority finished its initial water rights pursuit and has become one of the largest water rights owners in Texas.
The Phase III well field area is located about 18 miles northeast of Pampa, TX. It is comprised of 15 high capacity wells, 12.7 miles of 54″ transmission pipeline, and 13 miles of collection pipelines. The transmission pipeline terminates at Pump Station 21, which is located about 12 miles to the west in the Phase I & II Well Field area.
The well field was constructed in two phases. The first phase consisted of 6 high capacity wells with capacities ranging from 1000 gpm to 2880 gmp and was completed in August of 2010.
The second phase consisted of 9 high capacity wells with capacities form 1200 gpm to 2880 gpm and was completed in March of 2011.
Phase III prototype well being drilled by Henkle Drilling
54″ Transmission Line Staging
Collection Line Installation
