El Paso to Spend Millions on Hueco Bolson Aquifer

Just what is an aquifer? It's essentially water right underneath the surface, and can be accessed by using a well. Here in El Paso we have the Hueco Bolson aquifer.

The city of El Paso just got a nice sized grant to the sum of $4.5 million to invest in aquifer storage and recharge. Gilbert Trejo, the chief technical officer for El Paso Water said:

Currently we take treated wastewater. That's treated to a drinking water standard and we inject that into the aquifer right now.

There are actually two different phases of this of the aquifer recharge project.

• Phase One – Pump station enhancements and a pipeline to move treated river water to existing infiltration basins

• Phase Two – The development of an enhanced arroyo infiltration facility that could accommodate river water, reclaimed water and stormwater and provide a wetland habitat to benefit several listed and endangered species

The first phase alone comes with a price tag of $10 million. The grant the city received for $4.5 million will cover almost half of that. El Paso is going to cover the remaining $5.5 million of that bill. What about phase two? Well, that's down the road because phase one is going to take two years to complete. Trejo added:

It will help with the long-term stability of our aquifer. The Hueco Bolson. And certainly, help with drought resilience moving forward.

CLICK HERE to get more info on the whole project.

If you're seeing the name Hueco and thinking Hueco Tanks, just a heads up, they aren't the same thing. I know. I made that mistake. But, if you'd like to see some of Hueco Tanks, a little over four years ago, The Texas Bucket List headed out to Hueco Tanks to film themselves hiking around the area. So if you've never been out there, or have been out there and would like to relive it, check out their video.