CRMWD’s History

In the mid-1940s, Julian (J.B.) Thomas, chief engineer of the newly formed Texas Electric Service Company in Big Spring, realized that quality water was critical for the ongoing growth of West Texas. A reservoir on the Colorado River was identified as the best solution to meet this essential regional need. Big Spring, Odessa and eventually Snyder banded together, and the Colorado River Municipal Water District (CRMWD) was born to complete this and other water-providing projects.

Thanks to the West Texas oil boom, CRMWD rapidly repaid its initial $10 million debt, and in the nearly seven decades since its creation, the District has supplied the region with reliable water during some of the state’s driest decades. Today it continues to provide over 600,000 West Texans with the water they need to live and grow.

Our Key Milestones Include:

  • 1946

    A reservoir on the Colorado River was chosen as the most practical, cost effective solution to meet West Texas’ water needs, and the Colorado River Municipal Water Association was formed to build it.

  • 1949

    Governor Beauford Jester signed legislation officially creating the District on June 8 and CRMWD held its first board meeting on August 15th.

  • 1951

    Snyder officially joins CRMWD.

    Construction began on the first Colorado River dam for Lake J.B. Thomas, named after the District’s founder and completed in 1952.

  • 1952

    The completion of 13 wells and pipelines from Martin County relieved water rationing in Big Spring and Odessa as the cities’ water reserves were reaching empty. The Martin County wells met the needs of those two cities until Lake Thomas water could be pumped.

  • 1965

    Construction began on the E. V. Spence Reservoir and was concluded in 1969. The reservoir was named after its advocate, who unexpectedly passed away before it could be completed.

  • 1969 to 1993

    The District invested more than $30 million to develop a system of side storage and evaporation reservoirs that would divert salty water from municipal water supplies to protect the quality and preserve water.

  • 1971

    The District leased land for a Well Field in Ward County to supplement water needs during a severe drought in the early 70s. This field can supply 15 million gallons of groundwater per day.

  • 1987

    Construction began on the O.H. Ivie Reservoir. It was completed three years later in 1990 and soon after Mr. Ivie retired from close to a half-century of service.

  • 1992 to 1995

    CRMWD completed the largest single pipeline construction project in Texas to date, installing 157 miles of pipeline and seven pump stations to move Ivie reservoir water to the Odessa-Midland area.

  • 2008 to 2012

    West Texas again experiences a severe drought. District supplies were stretched, with two of its three reservoirs effectively empty in 2011 and 2012.

  • 2010

    CRMWD acquired the Ward County North Well Field.

  • 2012

    The District developed the Ward County North Well Field to be able to provide an additional 30 million gallons of groundwater into the system.

  • 2013

    The nation’s first Direct Potable Reuse Facility is built and tested as a promising source of water for West Texas’ future.

     

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