City hears water‑supply update as groundwater, Evangeline and effluent reuse advance

City Manager Peter Zanoni and interim Chief Operating Officer Nick Winkelman gave City Council a detailed briefing on near‑term moves to expand the city’s water supply, emphasizing groundwater well‑field work, a large San Patricio County groundwater project called Evangeline‑Laguna, and an effluent‑reuse program.

Zanoni opened the presentation by outlining outreach the city has done with ranchers, farmers and neighboring jurisdictions, and said the two well fields are intended to avert curtailment next year. "We have been and will continue to be for these next several weeks in the community as we work on two groundwater projects that are very important to sustaining our water supplies," he said.

Nick Winkelman described the status of the two well fields. He said the Eastern Well Field is fully operational with eight wells and that expenditures to date for that field are approximately $16,100,000. He said the Western Well Field — a larger, roughly 250‑acre site — currently has four drilled wells; design and installation of permanent pumping assemblies are under way, and staff are targeting the Western Well Field to be fully online in May 2026 while hoping some wells will be operational by the end of the calendar year. He told the council the Western field expenditures to date are roughly $9,000,000 and that the city has a $30,000,000 state grant for these groundwater efforts, with paperwork to be presented to council in a future meeting.

Winkelman also described the Evangeline‑Laguna Groundwater Project in San Patricio County, saying the pre‑design and due‑diligence team includes Pete Dawson, Hansen Engineers, HDR and Entera and that the project’s total capacity target is 24,000,000 gallons per day with partial delivery sought in November 2026. He said an independent hydrogeologic review by KT Groundwater confirmed earlier findings about groundwater availability and provided recommendations for well design.

On wastewater reuse, Winkelman said staff are pursuing reuse agreements and conveyance work to supply large users and offset demand. He cited targets of about 3,000,000 gallons per day reclaimed from the Allison plant and another 3,000,000 gpd from the Greenwood plant; a master services agreement for a conveyance design firm was described as coming to council for consideration next week.

Council members asked about generator reliability at the Eastern site, rights and monitoring for nearby well owners, and the timeline and funding for electrical infrastructure at the Western field. Zanoni and Winkelman said staff are monitoring neighboring residential wells (offering to log water levels and quality), are addressing generator warranty issues, and are working with the local electric provider to bring power to the Western field.

The presentation concluded with council members and the mayor thanking staff for the outreach and technical work; staff noted upcoming community meetings in Rockport, Sinton and other neighboring jurisdictions. The presentation provided the council with both schedule targets and concrete cost figures to guide upcoming budget and grant actions.