Apache Junction Water District approves Clear Creek contract to design Superstition Vistas Well No. 10

The Apache Junction Water District on March 18 approved a professional services agreement with Clear Creek Associates to design and provide drilling oversight for Superstition Vistas Well No. 10, authorizing a not-to-exceed payment of $116,773 for design and construction-phase services.

District staff described the agreement as the first step toward drilling a new high-production well to meet growing local demand from new development. "We would like to hire Clear Creek and Associates to do a design and bid for a new well to the South so we can keep up with our water demands," said Mike (district staff). The district estimated later full construction costs for the well at roughly $1.5 million to $2 million when it goes to bid.

The design contract covers subsurface investigation, borehole logging and sampling, aquifer testing, and coordination with the well driller to establish final screen intervals and casing materials. "They'll do a borehole to start with about 12 inches drill down ... we'll airlift water out of there so we can see what kind of water quality we have," Mike said, describing tests for arsenic, fluoride and total dissolved solids and geophysical logs to determine sand, gravel or rock formations.

Why it matters: district staff said the well is intended both to expand treated-water capacity and to support aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) operations that would keep treated potable water in the local aquifer for later use. Staff cited an existing high-producing nearby well that yielded about 2,000 gallons per minute — roughly 3,000,000 gallons per day — and said a well of that capacity could serve about 6,000 homes.

Regulatory steps and operational details explained to the board included the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) permitting process, submittal of drill logs, aquifer transmissivity testing and potential monitoring under Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) water-sampling requirements. "We have to go to the Arizona Department of Water Resources and we have to file for an application with them," Mike said, describing how ADWR evaluates potential impacts to nearby domestic or municipal wells before issuing production or recharge permits.

Staff also discussed expected well life and maintenance: a typical casing life of about 30 years with periodic in-well maintenance every five to 10 years to service pumps or remove sediment. Board members asked about depth (staff said typical depths of 1,000 to 1,200 feet in Apache Junction, with previous wells reaching 1,200 feet) and about security; staff said the site would be secured with an 8-foot block wall and that cameras would be added to sites over time.

Board action and vote: Chairperson Wilson moved to approve the Clear Creek agreement and Vice Chairperson Schroeder seconded. The motion passed on a roll-call vote with yes votes from Board Members Cross, Heck, Johnson, Nusser, Salas, Vice Chair Schroeder and Chairperson Wilson.

What remains: the agreement funds design and oversight only. Staff said drilling and full construction will be bid separately and depend on future approvals and budget allocations. The district will seek required ADWR permits (including any ASR/recharge permits) and ADEQ source-sampling and treatment approvals before placing the well into service.

Clarifying details noted in the meeting include the consultant contract amount ($116,773, approximate), an estimated drilling/construction cost of $1.5 million to $2 million, target production in the neighborhood of 2,000 gallons per minute for a successful high-yield well, typical well casing life of about 30 years, anticipated borehole depths of roughly 1,000–1,200 feet, and an ASR recharge permit example figure of about 2,500 gallons per minute mentioned as a permitting threshold.

The district presented the Clear Creek agreement as a near-term, design-phase action to secure a reliable, locally sited groundwater source to serve recent development and to enable aquifer storage that keeps treated water in Apache Junction rather than sending credits elsewhere.