El Paso Water brings $1.3bn-plus Dell City import plan into focus
El Paso Water Utilities, Texas · Meeting date: October 14, 2026 · Published: October 15, 2026
El Paso Water’s Public Service Board has called for continuing oversight of the Dell City groundwater-importation project, whose first 10,000 acre-foot/year phase is included in the state water plan from 2050. Staff said the utility must develop a delivery plan within 14 years if construction is to begin in time.
Key points
- Phase 1 is planned to import 10,000 acre-feet/year of fresh groundwater from Dell City from 2050; Phase 2, scheduled from 2080, would add 10,000 acre-feet/year and require desalination.
- A board member cited planning estimates of about $1.3bn for Phase 1 infrastructure and about $400m, in 2025 dollars, for a roughly 20mgd desalination plant in Phase 2; staff described the figures as high-level estimates.
- El Paso Water has secured 96% of required pipeline easements and 76% of land with validated water rights, against an 80% land-acquisition target.
- Staff said importation would require more than 100 miles of large-diameter pipeline, wellfields, booster stations, power supply, concentrate management and major distribution infrastructure within El Paso.
Full report
El Paso Water has begun positioning its Dell City importation project as a nearer-term governance and infrastructure-planning issue, despite its first supply being scheduled in the regional state water plan for 2050.
At its 14 October meeting, the Public Service Board received a detailed briefing on the project, which is intended to reduce reliance on the Hueco Bolson aquifer and form part of the utility’s diversified supply portfolio. Directors asked staff to institutionalise regular reporting so the project remains visible through future changes in board and utility leadership.
The first phase would produce and import 10,000 acre-feet/year of fresh groundwater from properties near the Carlsbad Highway. The second phase, planned from 2080, would import a further 10,000 acre-feet/year from the Dell Valley area and would require desalination. Staff said the second-phase desalination facility could be about 20mgd, slightly smaller than the utility’s Kay Bailey Hutchison desalination plant.
One board member cited an approximately $1.3bn capital requirement for the Phase 1 wells, pipeline and booster stations, plus a high-level estimate of about $400m in 2025 dollars for the Phase 2 desalination plant. The water resources manager confirmed that those concepts were included in planning, while cautioning that the estimates carried substantial contingency and that the full cost had not been discussed in detail. The same director said future briefings should include construction-cost information.
The project would require a large-diameter pipeline running more than 100 miles from Dell City to El Paso, two wellfields, booster stations, a power supply capable of supporting desalination and long-distance pumping, concentrate disposal, and regulating reservoirs. Staff also stressed that substantial pipelines would be needed within El Paso to integrate the new supply into a system not originally designed to receive water at the anticipated eastern entry point.
Gilbert Trejo, vice-president of operations and technical services, said the utility has about 14 years to develop the delivery plan before construction would need to begin. He said construction, commissioning and associated issues could then take five to seven years. “Diversification over desperation” was the utility’s guiding strategy, he said.
El Paso Water has been acquiring project assets for more than two decades. It began purchasing Phase 1 properties in 2003-04, started further acquisitions near Dell City in 2014, and has included the scheme in state water planning since 2006. The water resources manager reported that the utility has obtained 96% of the pipeline easements it needs, excluding university land where it will seek a permit closer to construction. It has acquired 76% of land with validated water rights, below its 80% target.
Staff said the Dell Valley’s estimated recharge is 60,000-100,000 acre-feet/year, while Phase 1 properties receive an estimated 10,000-20,000 acre-feet/year. The project lies across the Hudspeth County and Culberson County groundwater conservation districts, whose rules are intended to maintain sustainable groundwater levels. Under the importation concept described to the board, water exported to El Paso would replace the consumptive-use portion of existing irrigated agriculture, while allowing remaining farmers to continue operating.
The president/CEO said the 2050 timing could be adjusted through the five-year state water-planning process, particularly if continuing Rio Grande drought conditions create a need to advance the project. He added that an early public-private-partnership process could help determine how best to deliver the scheme, while noting that El Paso Water already controls pipeline right-of-way and water-rights property. The board asked staff to return with a regular reporting framework and an approach for initiating that process.
This summary was generated by AI based on the source document and may contain errors.
Source: Public Service Board Meeting, El Paso Water Utilities