FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2005
CONTACT: Chris Paulitz
SENATOR HUTCHISON ADDRESSES FT. BLISS DESALINATION GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY
EL PASO, TX -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, today delivered remarks at the ground breaking ceremony for a desalination plant to be constructed jointly by El Paso Water Utilities and Fort Bliss. Sen. Hutchison helped secure $29 million in Fiscal Year 2002 to 2005 for the desalination project.
“Residents, businesses, our local service members and their families rely on a safe water supply. This joint project is a true service to the community, providing a new reliable water source which will improve the health, economy and quality of life for the area,” Sen. Hutchison said. “The Fort Bliss community received great news last week from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. It is slated to gain 11,501 new personnel and their families, making this water project even more critical with thousands of new people moving to the area in the coming years.”
The El Paso Water Utilities/Fort Bliss partnership was formed to build the world’s largest inland desalination plant, which will produce 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily for Fort Bliss and the City of El Paso. It is the largest product of its kind in the country involving the Department of Defense and local community.
The plant will treat brackish “salty” water pumped from the Hueco Bolson Aquifer to provide a new reliable source of water for the area. It will treat the water using reverse osmosis technology to produce fresh water to over 160,000 households, 10,000 businesses and 18,000 troops and their families.
#