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Richmond council green-lights test well to evaluate local culinary water capacity
Summary
The council agreed to include a test culinary well at the Park Community Center site in the upcoming budget to measure water quantity and quality and to inform any later production-well plans; testing is expected to take 12–18 months.
The Richmond City Council on May 19 agreed in principle to proceed with a test culinary well adjacent to the Park Community Center to assess the feasibility, pumping capacity and water quality for the city’s west-side distribution system.
Mayor Jeff Young and Councilmember Joel Draxler cited site data showing the aquifer feeding the WDCI well and described the proposed test as a first step to determine whether a production well could later be installed to improve pressure in parts of the city. "The site was a logical location for further exploration," Draxler said as staff summarized maps and prior modeling.
City Engineer Weston Bellon told the council the plan calls for a 6-inch test well with casing and an installed pump. Bellon said tests would measure water levels and pumping capacity and evaluate potential impacts on the local water table; if the test is successful, the city would place a permanent monitoring well in the park while a separate production well and infrastructure would be sited nearby. Bellon estimated the test process would take roughly 12 to 18 months, with a full project completed in three to five years if pursued.
Austin Hinckley, who oversees water operations, said the WDCI well has performed consistently since about 1932 and showed stable levels even in dry years. He noted water quality is "hard" but has not produced sand or silt issues during operation.
Councilmembers discussed footprint and noise concerns; Bellon and Hinckley said the permanent footprint would be small (approximately a 100-foot radius) and that noise from wellhouses has been minimal. The council expressed broad consensus to include the test well in the next fiscal-year budget and directed staff to advance detailed budgeting and scheduling.
Next steps include finalizing the drilling location based on the drill specialist's recommendation, including the test well in Richmond’s water-impact-fee study and incorporating the project into the upcoming capital budget.
