Friday's Internet Edition, July 30, 2010. Water News By Lee Sweeten, G.M. Real Edwards Conservation & Reclamation District - Another week has come and gone and once again it is Sunday morning and time to write a bit of news. Recently, I have had a few individuals contact me relating to potential new changes in the way Well Permits are issued and that the State may be taking over this process and it may become impossible to drill a well. Well there are some changes ahead; however those are the ones we have been talking about for the last few years and do not include the loss of local control over permits. For a good while, we have written about the State requirements relating to the “Desired Future Conditions” or DFC’s of the aquifers. We have written about the Groundwater Planning areas (GMA’s) and how these multi county groups have been working to establish long term goals for the aquifers within their management areas. We have talked about this District’s participation in this process in GMA 7. We have also for several years been writing about well registration and the need to register your existing well in order to help us determine the current amount of water use in our two counties and to document your well and show historical use of that well. We have said that the DFC’s must be established by the GMA’s by September 1, of this year. So, what happens when the DFC’s are set? The first thing will be that the Texas Water Development Board will take those DFC’s and then based upon models will determine how much water is available in each county within the GMA area. This available water number will be what each District will use in planning for water use through 2050 and beyond. Will it become more difficult to drill a well? First, it depends upon the type of well, the potential use of the water and the location of the well. If the well is to be used as a domestic or livestock well and is on a tract of more than ten acres and is the only well on that tract of land, the change will be hardly more than minimal. These wells require an application for registration before drilling and not a permit. A permit is required when the well is used for a use other than domestic and/or livestock or the well or wells are capable of producing more than 17.3 gallons per minute (gpm). Some examples of wells requiring permits would be an irrigation well, a well used to supply a camp ground, a public water supply well, etc. Will these permits be harder to obtain? Again, it depends upon several factors including but not limited to; the potential use of the water, the amount of water requested, the amount of available water in that area, other water available for use, etc. These are things the District has and will continue to review during all Permit requests. However, as Permits are issued and the amount of water use within the District increases and closes in on the amount of available water set by the TWDB, it is likely that permits will be harder to obtain and will be monitored closely by the District. It is also possible that current permit holders may be cut back on the amount of water they can pump. So what about small household/domestic and livestock wells? Will it become harder to file an application and drill one of these wells? As mentioned earlier, initially we do not believe there will be much change. However once the total water use in the District closes in on the amount of available water set by the TWDB, then yes it may become more and more difficult to drill these wells also. Is it possible that owners of existing wells that have not been registered with the District to lose their water? Nothing is impossible and no one has the ability to see the future. However, as we have said for numerous years, if your well is not registered with the District and we have no knowledge of its existence, the District cannot set aside water for your use. Again, as we have said and will continue to say, registering your well will not only protect your water rights it will greatly aid us in determining the amount of water left that may be used. Earlier in this article, we mentioned that once the DFC’s are established and the TWDB has determined the amount of water available for use and furnished those numbers to the Districts that these numbers will be used in planning by the Districts through 2060. While that is correct, it should also be pointed out that this will be an ongoing process and that the Districts and GMA’s will continue to gather data and the process will began again. As this data is accumulated and better models are developed the DFC’s will be revisited and are likely to be changed. If this article has been difficult to follow, I apologize. Establishing the DFC’s has been a long tedious and technical process and trying to summarize it is not easy. If you would like to know more about this issue please call or email the District and our staff will be happy to visit with you. Earlier this week, I received a call from an individual near Barksdale who wanted to talk with me regarding this whole issue. At the time of the call, I was on the other phone and I thought the recorder picked up his message as I heard his voice through that device. However, when I went to check the message and return the call, I discovered that the machine had not saved it. So, if you are the person that called regarding this issue, please call back. We are not ignoring you and would like to visit with you. As always if you have questions and/or comments relating to this article or other District activities please contact our office at (830) 597-3322 or email recrd@swtexas.net “Do Your Part: Register Your Well and be Water Smart.’

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