Like the oil well fields, CRMWD’s groundwater well fields provide a different, but equally precious liquid. The District pumps groundwater water from 75 wells in the Pecos Valley Alluvium Aquifer to supplement its surface water supplies.

CRMWD currently operates four groundwater well fields as backup for its surface water supplies and typically pumps only two million gallons a day.

While these fields only provide around three percent of CRMWD’s water today, they play a crucial role in supporting reservoir supplies during droughts. The North Ward County Well Field was completed in less than 18 months to supply an additional thirty million gallons of water per day so the region could avoid water shortages in 2013. Studies have shown that even if the District were to pump the Pecos Valley Alluvium Aquifer at the exponentially higher, full-capacity rate of 45 million gallons per day, the aquifer would still supply steady water for over fifty years.

In total, CRMWD’s groundwater well fields, pump stations and pipelines have the capacity to supply 160 million gallons, or more than 242 Olympic swimming pools, of water every day to ensure that West Texans always have the water they need.