Amarillo’s Water Supply: Sitting on a Shrinking Aquifer
Amarillo, Texas draws most of its drinking water from the Ogallala Aquifer, the massive underground formation that stretches from South Dakota to Texas and supplies roughly 30 percent of all irrigation water used in the United States. The problem is that the Ogallala is being depleted faster than it can recharge — and what remains isn’t always clean.
The city also pulls water from Lake Meredith via the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, though drought conditions have reduced that supply significantly over the past two decades. That leaves groundwater as the backbone of Amarillo’s water system.
The Pantex Problem
About 17 miles northeast of downtown Amarillo sits the Pantex Plant, the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary facility for assembling, disassembling, and maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. Pantex has operated since 1942 — first producing conventional bombs during World War II, then shifting to nuclear weapons work in 1951.
Decades of operations left contamination in the soil and groundwater beneath and around the plant. The primary contaminants of concern include:
- High explosives (HE) compounds — RDX and HMX detected in the perched aquifer beneath the plant
- Perchlorate — used in rocket propellants and explosive components, found in groundwater samples
- Solvents — trichloroethylene (TCE) and other chlorinated compounds from degreasing operations
- Heavy metals — chromium and other metals associated with industrial processes
The DOE has operated groundwater remediation systems at Pantex since the 1990s, including pump-and-treat systems targeting the perched aquifer. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and EPA both maintain oversight. Pantex is listed on the DOE’s Environmental Management cleanup priority list, though not on the EPA’s National Priorities List (Superfund).
Monitoring data from DOE reports shows that contamination has largely been contained within the perched aquifer at the plant boundary. The deeper Ogallala Aquifer, which Amarillo taps for drinking water, sits below a thick clay layer that has so far prevented significant migration. But “so far” does a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
Agricultural Contamination
Nuclear facilities aside, the bigger day-to-day threat to Amarillo’s water quality comes from agriculture. The Texas Panhandle is one of the most intensively farmed regions in the country, with massive cattle feedlot operations and irrigated cropland surrounding the city.
This means:
- Nitrate contamination — fertilizer and animal waste leach into the aquifer. Several rural wells in the Panhandle region have tested above the EPA’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 mg/L for nitrate.
- Pesticides and herbicides — atrazine and other agricultural chemicals have been detected in Ogallala monitoring wells across the Panhandle.
- Bacterial contamination — concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) generate enormous volumes of waste that can infiltrate shallow groundwater.
The City of Amarillo’s water treatment plants are designed to handle these contaminants at the levels typically found in source water. Annual Consumer Confidence Reports have generally shown compliance with federal drinking water standards. But the source water itself carries more contamination than it did 50 years ago, and the treatment burden keeps growing.
Emerging Contaminants
Like cities across the country, Amarillo faces questions about contaminants that weren’t regulated when its water infrastructure was built:
- PFAS — Military installations in the region, including the former Amarillo Air Force Base (now Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport), used aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for firefighting training. PFAS contamination from AFFF use has been documented at military sites nationwide. The former Amarillo AFB was listed as a BRAC facility and has undergone environmental assessment.
- Uranium and radionuclides — Naturally occurring uranium and gross alpha radiation have been detected in some Ogallala wells in the Panhandle at levels approaching EPA MCLs. This is a geological issue, not anthropogenic, but it adds to the treatment challenge.
What Aquifer Depletion Means for Water Quality
Here’s something most people don’t consider: as the Ogallala drops, water quality can get worse. Pumping from deeper zones can mobilize minerals and dissolved solids that were previously locked in rock formations. Declining water tables also concentrate whatever contaminants are already present in a smaller volume of water.
The Texas Water Development Board projects significant declines in the Ogallala’s saturated thickness across the Panhandle through 2070. Amarillo has invested in alternative supply projects, but the long-term picture requires careful management of both quantity and quality.
What Amarillo Residents Can Do
If you’re on city water, Amarillo’s treatment plants should be bringing your tap water into compliance with federal standards. Check the latest Consumer Confidence Report from the City of Amarillo for specific test results.
If you’re on a private well in the Panhandle — especially near agricultural operations or the Pantex facility — regular testing is essential. TCEQ recommends testing private wells annually for bacteria and nitrates at minimum.
For residents concerned about emerging contaminants like PFAS or trace-level radionuclides, a certified water treatment professional can test your water and advise on point-of-use treatment options. Reverse osmosis systems are effective against most of the contaminants of concern in this region.
Sources: U.S. Department of Energy Pantex Plant Environmental Reports; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; Texas Water Development Board Ogallala Aquifer studies; EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System; City of Amarillo Consumer Confidence Reports.