CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — City Manager Peter Zanoni toured the Western Well Fields between Bluntzer and Banquete on Friday morning, highlighting a new groundwater project that will pump millions of gallons of water into the Nueces River.
With the governor's intervention, the city received a permit to discharge 4.5 to 5 million gallons of water into the river. Test pumping on the 12 wells, located on a 250-acre site, began on Tuesday.
"This is really a moment in time, where we're bringing on more water now from this very important groundwater project here in Nueces County. What we see behind me is 4.5 million gallons of water; it's just the beginning. Over these next couple of weeks and into June, we'll have a total of 26 million gallons of water coming through those two pipes that you see behind me," Zanoni said.
Zanoni said without the water from these wells, the Nueces River would be very stagnant. The wells increase the river's volume, which increases the flow to the O.N. Stevens Water Plant.
For now, the water will be discharged directly into the Nueces River. Eventually, a 13-mile pipeline will connect the well fields to the O.N. Stevens Water Plant.
After a briefing Friday morning, Zanoni took me on a tour of the site and gave the water his seal of approval after a taste test.
"Yup, that's good water! Little bit, you can taste a little bit but not much," Zanoni said.
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