Water Is Scarce in Ector County — Know Your Source Before You Buy

An Odessa kitchen tap has a long backstory. The city water plant buys raw water from the Colorado River Municipal Water District. It treats surface water, mainly from Lake Ivie, and sometimes from Lake Spence and Lake Thomas. In warm months it also uses Ward County groundwater. The city then moves treated water through almost 800 miles of lines to about 46,000 customers.

Outside that city pattern, the question gets local fast. Ector County water planning separates Odessa, Ector County Utility District, Greater Gardendale WSC, and smaller systems. The 2021 Region F plan flags Greater Gardendale WSC as a smaller sole-source system. For that kind of provider, drought or supply trouble can bite harder than it does for a large system with several sources.

That does not mean a rural tract is dry. It means water should be near the top of the due-diligence list. Ask whether the address uses a public system, a private well, an interconnect, or a hauled-water backup. TWDB's emergency examples for small systems include wells, trucked water, nearby imports, and interconnects. The useful question is simple: which one serves this address?