PLAINVIEW, TEXAS -- The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority or C.R.M.W.A. took the next step Wednesday in the expansion of well fields in Roberts County.

The C.R.M.W.A. board voted to give general manager Kent Satterwhite the authority to sign contracts after bids come in around April 21st, to complete the project.

The Texas infrastructure program was authorized back in 2007 but was never funded, this program would have provided 23 million dollars towards the 49 million dollar total, to complete the entire project. Since this program is still not funded, despite C.R.M.W.A.'s placement on the list, the board decided that they can no longer wait for the additional funding. They will have to move forward and pay the entire 49 million dollar price tag by selling bonds.

"The cities need the water, especially on the assumption that the lake continues to drop, you have to figure the worst case when you're planning for something like this, but if the water in the lake does continue to drop we're going to need this extra capacity, we're going to need every bit of it and we'll need it by next summer," said Kent Satterwhite, General Manager, C.R.M.W.A.

"It's critical that we keep moving on this project, we just can't delay," said Satterwhite.

The project has already seen 6 wells drilled that are undergoing test pumping, after the test pumping is over then they can then order pumps and motors which could take a year to get in. The bids for the pipeline portions of the project will go out April 21st, the C.R.M.W.A. board believes that right now the bids will be better since work flow for these companies is slow.

The entire well field expansion project should be completed by mid 2010, and will help offset any shortfalls in supply from Lake Meredith.