Emergency Well Repair Financing Kept Water Flowing in Gober, Texas

For 63 years, a single well has supplied water to all 167 connections served by the Gober Municipal Utility District (MUD) in Fannin County, Texas. With no backup source, the district could not simply take the well offline for an extended inspection or rehabilitation.

On July 10, the well stopped pumping. Jan Johnson, president of Gober MUD’s board, immediately began searching for the cause.

“Normally, when something like that happens, it’s either the motor or the pump,” Johnson said.

A Well That Ran Dry on the Inside

Workers pulled and replaced both. The well ran for a minute, then stopped again.

They lowered the pump next, thinking the water level might have dropped. That did not work either. Finally, a camera was sent 1,700 feet down the casing, revealing the real problem: The screen that allows water into the well was packed solid with six decades of silt. The water was still there, but it could no longer reach the pump.

By the time the district identified the problem, it had already spent $43,000 diagnosing the failure. Johnson had been working on a grant application for a second well before the emergency occurred. She knew a single well that old was one bad day away from failing. The bad day came first.

A Small System With Little Room to Absorb a Six-Figure Emergency

Established by the Texas Legislature in 1997, Gober MUD is governed by a five-member elected board. It serves a stretch of southeastern Fannin County about 75 miles northeast of Dallas, where the median household income is $72,295 and nearly one in five residents lives in poverty.

A system serving 167 connections had little room to absorb a six-figure emergency, especially after the district had already depleted its reserve fund.

Hauling Water While Negotiating Down the Cost

With the well offline, Gober began hauling water from the nearby city of Ladonia. The first hauler charged $10,000 per day, but Johnson negotiated the cost down to roughly $3,000. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) stepped in to cover the hauling expenses, though the district still pays for the water itself.

Gober has continued managing the emergency locally, something Johnson considers a win for local control. Customers were placed under a boil water notice, and the board raised rates to cover the mounting costs.

A Referral to Communities Unlimited

Johnson contacted the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which referred her to Communities Unlimited (CU).

“TCEQ told us CU specializes in these situations,” Johnson said.

Around July 15, she applied for financing and began working with Chris Ranniger, a Senior Economic Development Loan Officer on CU’s Lending Team. The district closed on a loan through CU’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) fund on July 30, just 20 days after the well failed.

CU operates the largest CDFI water and wastewater systems work loan fund of its kind in the country. The fund is designed to respond quickly to emergencies like Gober’s, rather than leave small systems waiting months for state or federal assistance.

Financing the Fix and Rebuilding the Reserve

Johnson determined that the district needed enough financing to pay the contractor’s diagnostic bill, complete the estimated repairs and cover about 30 days of hauled or purchased water as a buffer.

Repairing the well will require either removing the blocked screen and installing a new one or using a sand pump to remove the silt load by load. Either method could take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Ten percent of the CU loan will also be placed in a savings account, helping rebuild the emergency reserve the district had already spent.

Once the screen is cleared or replaced, the district expects the existing well to return to normal operation.

“It will be a huge relief,” Johnson said.

Looking Toward a Second Well

Johnson is still pursuing a grant for a second well so the district will not remain dependent on a single 63-year-old water source. She credited CU’s quick response and affordable financing with helping Gober move toward a solution.

“With a catastrophic event like this, it’s almost impossible for a small system to save enough to cover everything while still keeping water rates affordable. This loan allowed us to do that. This has given me peace of mind. I’m very grateful. Communities Unlimited has been awesome.”