DENVER, Colo., Nov. 4, 2002 -- Southwestern Water Exploration Co. said it has reached the next level in bringing into service the large fresh water reservoir it discovered deep underground in Colorado.
The Southwestern Water discovery could lead to a significant increase in the amount of fresh water available for homes, farms and industry in a region of Colorado hard hit by drought and chronic water shortages.
In March 2002, Southwestern Water's outside drilling team and independent engineering consultants, following the completion of a test well, confirmed the existence of a large fresh water aquifer at depths previously not thought to contain deposits of potable water. The water is of high quality, meeting all EPA primary standards for fresh drinking water, and so can go directly from reservoir to tap without any additional purification other than state required chlorination, the company said.
Southwestern Water's engineering consultants, the leading firm of Knight Piesold, has now completed its full review of this new water reservoir. The Knight Piesold estimate is that the Southwestern Water reservoir contains at least 300,000 acre-feet of water. The reservoir can produce, according to the same engineering analysis, 3,000 to 6,000 acre feet of water per year, enough to supply the water needs of a town of around 10,000 people. At this rate of production, the Southwestern Water reservoir will last for a minimum of 100 years.
The price of water in this region of Colorado is currently averaging $15,500 per acre-foot for Colorado Big Thompson (CBT) delivery.
Southwestern Water, to bring this reservoir more rapidly into production, has now retained the services of independent water appraisers and water brokers to sell the production on an annualized basis.
Southwestern Water is also now actively investigating the potential of two additional aquifers the company has located underground in Colorado. These are expected to contain deposits of fresh water similar or greater in size to the earlier discovery this year.
In addition, Southwestern Water also recently completed a private placement of 100,000 shares of its treasury stock (Rule 144) at a price of $1.50 per share. The purchaser also received warrants to purchase an additional 600,000 shares at $2.50 per share over the next three years. These funds will go toward Southwestern Water's planned development of a large underground water aquifer in south Texas.
Southwestern Water is a firm in the exploration and development of new sources of fresh water in the American West. Unlike other publicly quoted water companies, Southwestern Water is wholly focused on discovering new large aquifers, and concentrates on the location of fresh water at deep depths underground. To do so, the company makes use of its proprietary imaging and modeling software and database.
