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Fort Stockton Main Water Line Threatened by Cracking Ground
Fort Stockton Main Water Line Threatened by Cracking Ground 7/17/12
“The force of the ground separating could break the main water line to the City of Fort Stockton,” said Paul Weatherby with The Middle Pecos Ground Water District, “Plus there are major transmission lines running through this part of the county.
Weatherby says the ground near their main water source started cracking a couple of weeks ago.
The crevices stretch a few miles long, and are 15 feet deep in some places.
As of right now, The City of Ft. Stockton says it’s their only source of water.
“We ruptured this line about two years ago and it almost shut us down,” said Councilman Billy Jackson, who the first to discover the mysterious cracks.
“We were surveying some feral hog damage when we came across this crack in the ground,” he said.
The city then called in the U.S Geological survey and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The NRCS believes it comes down to two different types of soil, clay and limestone gravel. When it heats up after a major rain, they separate.
“We’ve had one large rain through here, which causes these crevices to increase in size,” Weatherby said.
The water district says there is no indication that it is a fault line, but says the crevices are rapidly spreading by the day, crossing through roads, the railroad and two points of the water line.
TxDot and the Rail Road Commission are now involved.
“See all of this,” Jackson points to the cracks, “This is pretty new.”