SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The Texas Water Development Board approved a request on April 6, from the City of San Angelo for $13,415,000 for the Hickory Aquifer project.

Previously, the city was approved for a $66 million low-interest loan from the TWDB, but adjustments to the loan placed it at $56,075,000.  It was later determined that project costs fell short of the loan amount by $13 million, thus the TWDB financial assistance was awarded today.

The Hickory Aquifer is estimated to be able to pump up to 10.8 million gallons of groundwater per day from Melvin, Texas, to San Angelo, which will provide another option to respond to future or continued droughts.

The current system gathers and filters 8 million gallons of water per day but will increase to 12 million by 2024.