The City of Alpine is declaring an emergency due to an infrastructure failure of one of the city’s municipal water supply wells that serves the town’s west side.
The well’s failure has resulted in a “significant reduction in the available water supply,” according to the city.
“The situation presents an imminent threat to public health and safety, including the potential for reduced fire flow capacity and the risk of boil water notices if system pressure declines further,” city staff wrote in a report to council members.
The well, Roberts #3 located in the Sunny Glen neighborhood, supplies the west side of Alpine. Its failure has led the city to rely more heavily on a well on the east side of town, meaning everyone who relies on city water — including the roughly 300 customers outside of city limits — is being impacted.
The city issued water restrictions earlier this week to help reduce water consumption by 20%. Outdoor watering of lawns and washing of vehicles is permitted only during certain times and filling of pools is prohibited.
“It’s just important that we all conserve,” Mayor Catherine Eaves said in an interview Friday.
Eaves said the Sunny Glen well is “not pumping at the capacity that it should be,” likely due to infrastructure and equipment issues. The well dates back to 1957, according to the Texas Water Development Board. Eaves said the well is experiencing structural issues like crumbling casing.
The city is going to attempt to put a new pump in the Roberts #3 well in the next few days, she said, but is also working on other contingency plans — including using an old well nearby or having water tanker trucks move water from the east side to the west side.
“We can't have people on the west side of Alpine not have water come out of their faucets,” Eaves said.
Council members were planning to meet Friday afternoon to officially declare the emergency and authorize emergency procurement for repair or replacement of the affected well. Eaves said it is very likely that the city will have to drill a new well — a costly project.
She said a new well could run the city anywhere from $400,000 to $600,000 or up to $1.5 million if the city has to put the project out for a bid. The emergency declaration, however, negates the need for a formal bidding process, which can take months, Eaves said.
“We have to drill another well,” Eaves said. “ The city has needed to do this for a while. That can take time. And we need to get it online ASAP, because this is a dire emergency situation.”
She said the drilling of a new water well was not specifically budgeted for and council members still need to figure out how to pay for it.
“ Councils, for the last couple of decades, have known this day was coming, but it's such an expense and they didn't want to spend the money and have to raise water rates or increase taxes or go out for debt,” Eaves said. “So they've just been kicking the can down the road, but we can't do it anymore. Something has to be done.”
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