The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority experienced another blowout on an aqueduct Monday, officials said.
Kent Satterwhite, General Manager of CRMWA, said the blowout was not weather-related. He attributed the leak to corrosion.
“It was 30 feet from the original blowout,” he said. “It’s probably going to take longer to repair. It’s a complicated repair.”
Satterwhite emphasized water conservation for the cities that are served by CRMWA, as reservoir levels are lower due to the previous leak.
CRMWA provides water to Amarillo, Border, Brownfield, Lamesa, Levelland, Lubbock, O’Donnell, Pampa, Plainview, Slaton and Tahoka.
“The pipeline was built back in the 1960s,” said Aubrey Spear, Director of Water Utilities for the City of Lubbock.
Mike Lamberson, City Administrator with the City of Slaton, said water use was down in the winter for residents to begin with.
“We’re prepared to pump our own wells if we need to,” Lamberson said. “We don’t see any issues at this time.”
“[Lubbock is] in good shape,” Spear said. “We’re able to supply all the water we need to the citizens of Lubbock.”
Spear said about 40 percent of Lubbock’s water was derived from Bailey County and Lake Alan Henry combined, with the remaining 60 percent coming from CRMWA resources.
Jerry Webster, Tahoka City Administrator, said the City was relying on wells to provide water for residents.
Levelland City Manager Rick Osburn said he did not anticipate Levelland being impacted significantly.
“Our wells can keep up as long as there’s no major leaks,” Osburn explained.
“Our storage is in pretty good shape,” he said.
Osburn added that the City of Levelland was encouraging residents to watch water usage.
CRMWA issued the following statement Monday:
The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority experienced another blowout on the 72” main aqueduct Monday, January 11th.
All Authority crews are on-site and working on the repair. This aqueduct supplies water to 9 out of the 11 Member Cities. Because of the blowout that occurred last week, storage reservoirs are low so this leak repair is more time critical. We are unsure at this time what the completion date will be for repair, but a minimum of 1 week will be needed.
All efforts to conserve water would be helpful.
