Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Water exploration efforts improve city's resourses

After initial test pumping at Dogtown Well No. 2 with poor results, city officials have determined the well might prove more productive with some type of stimulation.

Patch Karr, owner of Barbie Drilling based in Williams, has been on site since Feb. 5 with a rig crew and a pump field service engineer from Central Lift in Oklahoma City, Okla.

He said pumping got underway Feb. 10 using a rental pump from Central Lift, which has a 100-gallon per minute capacity.

“So far the well has had rapid draw down and slow recovery,” Karr said. “However, we are getting water, which tells us we’re in the water-bearing aquifer.

“At this point, we need to try to open up the well bore by some type of stimulation.”

Karr outlined the scenarios for doing so.

“The options are using a hydrochloric acid wash, which is pumped into the formation,” he said. “Another method is going with some type of fracturing process utilizing either explosives or high pressure pumped fluid.”

Karr said if all goes as planned, explosives will be used some time this week.

“This type of fracturing has been very successful,” Karr said. “It was used on the last Woody Mountain Well in Flagstaff and is a very common practice in the water well industry.”

At its Jan. 25 meeting, Williams City Council awarded Barbie Drilling a $19,880 contract to test pump Dogtown Well No. 2, with another $17,580 allotted to pull the pump and equipment should the well not prove worth developing.

In September, crews from United Drilling, based in Roswell, N.M., began drilling the well on city-owned property about a half mile west of Dogtown Lake. In October, after drilling to 4,000 feet with minimal water present, council voted to move drilling efforts to the rodeo grounds. However, since that time water has accumulated in the Dogtown 2 borehole, which caused council to pursue test pumping there.

Water adequacy

Dennis Dalbeck, city manager, outlined where Williams stands as a result of water exploration efforts.

“With the Dogtown No. 1 Well, the Rodeo Ground Well and the Santa Fe Well, we do not have enough water to meet our summer demands of a million gallons a day if we do not have water in our reservoirs,” he said. “We are hoping Dogtown No. 2 will be successful and will know that within the next two weeks.

“In terms of growth, we still have to move cautiously.”

Dalbeck stressed the need to have an adequate groundwater supply to counteract dry conditions resulting from fluctuating weather patterns.

“We’d like two more wells producing 200 gallons a minute each,” he said. “Once that level is attained, we can look at growth potentials.”

Dalbeck said there is enough remaining from the $3 million water exploration bond issue, approved by voters in May 2000, to cover infrastructure at the rodeo grounds and Dogtown No. 1 and 2.

“For future water exploration, we need another funding source,” he said. “We have requested monies from the U.S Bureau of Reclamation and also are considering the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as another possible source.”

Dalbeck had high praise for city council’s stance on growth.

“Our present and previous councils have directed the city wisely by being conservative when it came to development that would impact our resources,” he said. “They have taken extreme risk on the water well exploration and we are realizing a more reliable water source because of those risks.

“Over the next few years, I imagine we will continue our water exploration progress and will be better off than we’ve ever been before.”

Dogtown No. 1

Dalbeck underscored the need to secure Dogtown Well No. 1 permanently.

“Dogtown No. 1, produces 240 gallons per minute but is costing the city $1,400 per day to run a portable generator,” he said. “In the latter part of a last year, the generator ran out of fuel causing the wellhead to freeze as well as the Dogtown waterline to the city system.

“Besides the daily cost to operate the system, it is subject to weather elements and is not utilizing the most effective and non-polluting power.”

Dalbeck said the well currently supplies Williams with 70 percent of its water but requires considerable maintenance and manpower to keep it operational. The well is on Forest Service land about a mile and a half southeast of Dogtown Lake. The city currently has a temporary use permit, which expires March 31. He estimated the city’s investment in this well at $1.6 million to date.

“We need to finalize our permitting with the Forest Service and make this well a permanent water source for the City of Williams,” Dalbeck said. “With electric power the cost to operate it will be minimal.”

Rodeo grounds

He said the well at the rodeo grounds, which has yielded as high as 280 gallons a minute is not currently being pumped because it is not yet tied into the city water system.

“Engineering is underway to tie the waterline from the well to the east side of the Grand Canyon Railway track where it crosses Rodeo Road,” Dalbeck said. “That’s where the existing Kaibab line is that goes from the lake to the city system.”

He said the city has the water report back from the lab and is satisfied with its water quality.

“This water is a little lower in pH than Dogtown No. 1 and higher in arsenic, which can be blended and treated with our other water sources at our water treatment facility,” he said. “The well is not being pumped because we’re finishing the engineering and obtaining Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) approval on the infrastructure.

“The package with engineering and the water quality report will be submitted to ADEQ within the next two weeks for review.”

Santa Fe Well

Although it produces substantially less than other city wells, Dalbeck said the Santa Fe Well will be hooked up to the 1 million gallon storage tank atop Third Street within 30 days.

“Santa Fe Well produces between 25 to 40 gallons a minute,” he said. “A line has been installed under Fourth Street and up the hill to the storage tank, but we still need a line attached to the top of the tank.”


Donate Report a Typo Contact