By Scott Schumaker | East Valley Tribune
Amid drought and uncertainty on the Colorado River, the city plans to bolster its groundwater access with two new wells in southeast Mesa.
On Feb. 27, City Council signed off on a $3.4 million contract with Yellow Jacket Drilling Services for two 24-inch diameter wells, near Ellsworth and Elliot and Guadalupe and Signal Butte, respectively. Earlier it approved five drilling companies for as-needed services for well improvements and new wells up to $4 million each.
“The last decade or so was really a lot of attention on plant expansion and transmission mains and the wells largely did not have a lot of investment,” city Water Resources Director Chris Hassert told council. “Now we’re going into a point where we have to catch up with that investment.”