Orange Grove city leaders declared a local state of disaster during a meeting on Wednesday, April 15, to safeguard the community’s water sources.
The proactive move comes as leaders monitor rising Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS, levels in the water. Officials said the water is still safe to drink, but they want to stay ahead of a growing concern.
"Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor of the city of Orange Grove, Texas. Section one, local state of disaster is hereby declared by the city of Orange Grove," said Orange Grove Mayor Carl Srp.
KRIS 6 News first reported the water concerns in Orange Grove in March when Corpus Christi began pumping from the same aquifer the city has used for decades.
"Our biggest concern is our TDS levels. That’s what scares us the most at this point. And we’ll look at some of the things we learned tonight and check on some other venues and stuff. And see where we have to go next," Srp said.
City Manager Todd Wright said the disaster declaration could help the city move faster and open the door for state assistance.
"What that’s gonna help us do is, hopefully, bypass some of the procurement processes that we’re going to have to go up against. Right now some of our procurement processes will take months at a time for us to go through the normal procurement steps. Which unfortunately we don’t have that time," Wright said.
The city is looking at additional filtration options to prevent water quality from reaching critical levels. Leaders said conservation remains key as they work to protect the water supply for the entire community.
"I want them to know that we are trying to be proactive. We’re trying to move forward. We’re trying to get our water system safe and safer than it already is. We just want to provide the best quality that we can," Srp said.
Leaders also discussed possible next steps to ensure long-term quality drinking water and water stability as they continue to watch conditions closely.
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