City, Bliss will work together on water plant

Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
Tuesday, September 4, 2001

El Paso city and Fort Bliss officials said they have agreed to work on a joint desalination plant that will help ensure a steady supply of water for the region's future needs.

The breakthrough was achieved last week after both parties met and decided to abandon separate desalination projects in favor of a single plant. Under the joint proposal, El Paso would be the site of the country's largest inland desalination plant.

"We explored how to harmonize and seek a single, regional approach," said Maj. Gen. Stanley Green, Fort Bliss commanding general. "It is our intent (now) to be able to join with the city of El Paso and work on a joint desalination project, which is larger than either of us anticipated, but which will adequately meet the region's needs."

Before the agreement, the Army post planned to build a $27 million plant that would generate 7.5 million gallons of water a day, and the city's El Paso Water Utilities wanted to build a $52 million plant capable of producing 20 million gallons of water a day.

"If this is really going to happen, then it is something that will benefit all of us," El Pasoan Oscar Gonzalez, 38, said. "I have two young children, and the thought of whether we would run out of water has crossed my mind. I want them to have what we've always had."

Under the proposal, the utility will design, build and operate a plant on Fort Bliss property that will be capable of treating 27.5 million gallons a day. That's about one-fourth of the approximately 112 million gallons of water that El Paso uses each day.

The project is estimated to cost $55 million and would help extend the life of El Paso's underground water supply of fresh water past 2030, about the time the Hueco Bolson is projected to run dry if current use patterns continue.

Mayor Ray Caballero, who met with Green last week, described the development as "a very positive thing for all of us. It's an example of good cooperation between friends, the city and El Paso Water Utilities, and Fort Bliss."

"The proposed plant is a forward-looking project," he said. "I wish we had more such projects in the works."

After last Tuesday's meeting, Ed Archuleta, general manager of El Paso Water Utilities, said he was elated that Green decided to work on a joint plant.

If everything comes together as envisioned, the new plant could be ready within three to four years, officials said.

"It sends a tremendous signal that we're taking a regional approach, and it will mean that water will not be an issue for the future development of Fort Bliss and the city," Archuleta said.

Fort Bliss and city officials hinted at a possible joint venture in April. However, they also stressed then that talk of a partnership was premature. Since then, staffs from the post and the utility have been meeting and exchanging information.

Archuleta said that once everything is taken into account, a joint project would save taxpayers about $13 million.

El Paso's U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, who was instrumental in bringing the military and city together on the project, said he was pleased that the plan they came up with is viable.

"The funding part of it is my job, and I'm confident we can get the money for it because the plant will serve the needs of a military installation that's critical to the nation's defense and the community in the region," he said.

Green said the agreement came after both sides realized that it would be cheaper to build one large plant instead of two separate facilities.

"We ran the numbers, and that's what helped everyone make up their minds," Green said.

The desalination process forces salty water through a series of filters to remove microbes and brackish particles. The utility would blend a certain amount of the desalinated water with an equal amount of lesser-quality water to stretch El Paso's supply of drinking water.

The city gets 39 percent of its water from the Hueco Bolson, 44 percent from the Rio Grande and 17 percent from the Mesilla Bolson. The proposed plant would tap into the large pool of brackish water in the Hueco Bolson that has not been harvested.

How to dispose of the brine produced from the desalination process must still be worked out. City officials said that besides providing the land for the plant, Fort Bliss agreed to conduct the required environmental assessment.

Reyes said he plans to continue working with New Mexico's congressional delegation on reaching agreements over water sources shared by New Mexico and Texas.

"The litigation and confrontational approaches of the past are the reason they came up with the desalination project," he said. "I want to continue working with all the parties so we can come up with solutions that benefit the entire region."

In May, Reyes conducted a water summit that called on water experts to share ideas on the best ways the border region of Juárez, Southern New Mexico and West Texas can be guaranteed a reliable water supply.

"It's important to be able to tell the industries that we want to bring here that there's enough water," Reyes said.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com