Trucking In Water
By: Doug Shupe, KXAN
Updated: February 1, 2012
Trucks started hauling water into Spicewood, Texas Monday.
The town is the first in the state to go dry during the ongoing, and historic, drought.
Spicewood's wells can no longer produce enough water to meet the needs of the community's 1,100 hundred residents and elementary school.
The Lower Colorado River Authority supplied two truckloads of water Monday.
Pam Simek and her neighbors moved to Spicewood Beach to escape city troubles and enjoy peace in the country.
"It's nice and quiet," said Simek.
But the ongoing drought brought trouble to them when wells could no longer produce enough water for the community.
"As the lake goes down, the wells go down and the lake level has fallen down so much at this point that the small aquifer the well is drilled into has run out of water," said LCRA Manager of Water Operations Ryan Rowney.
Three of the four wells that serve the community are down due to the low water level in Lake Travis.
"This is kind of new territory for all of us. We're not really sure how the lakes are going to react, we're not sure how people's water wells whether it's a system like this or someone's personal water well--if this drought continues, there's going to be ongoing issues," said Rowney.
Monday the LCRA began hauling in at least four truck loads of water per day to keep a 129,000 gallon water storage tank full.
"We're not going to let our customers run out of water," said Rowney.
The community is also under Stage 4 water restrictions.
"Do a rain dance for us--pray for us," said Simek,
In the meantime, the LCRA says it is exploring permanent options, like drilling a new well.
Until it comes up with a solution it will pay for the $2 dollars per 1,000 gallons of water trucked in--along with fuel costs.
And some customers worry that will eventually trickle down to the many fixed income seniors who live in the community.
"It's going to be devastating. It's going to cost somebody a lot of money, and I don't think LCRA is going to flip the whole bill," said resident Riley Walker.
The town is the first in the state to go dry during the ongoing, and historic, drought.
Spicewood's wells can no longer produce enough water to meet the needs of the community's 1,100 hundred residents and elementary school.
The Lower Colorado River Authority supplied two truckloads of water Monday.
Pam Simek and her neighbors moved to Spicewood Beach to escape city troubles and enjoy peace in the country.
"It's nice and quiet," said Simek.
But the ongoing drought brought trouble to them when wells could no longer produce enough water for the community.
"As the lake goes down, the wells go down and the lake level has fallen down so much at this point that the small aquifer the well is drilled into has run out of water," said LCRA Manager of Water Operations Ryan Rowney.
Three of the four wells that serve the community are down due to the low water level in Lake Travis.
"This is kind of new territory for all of us. We're not really sure how the lakes are going to react, we're not sure how people's water wells whether it's a system like this or someone's personal water well--if this drought continues, there's going to be ongoing issues," said Rowney.
Monday the LCRA began hauling in at least four truck loads of water per day to keep a 129,000 gallon water storage tank full.
"We're not going to let our customers run out of water," said Rowney.
The community is also under Stage 4 water restrictions.
"Do a rain dance for us--pray for us," said Simek,
In the meantime, the LCRA says it is exploring permanent options, like drilling a new well.
Until it comes up with a solution it will pay for the $2 dollars per 1,000 gallons of water trucked in--along with fuel costs.
And some customers worry that will eventually trickle down to the many fixed income seniors who live in the community.
"It's going to be devastating. It's going to cost somebody a lot of money, and I don't think LCRA is going to flip the whole bill," said resident Riley Walker.
