Listen live 
High Plains News
Groundwater management system under review
AMARILLO, TEXAS
(hppr) -
Mark Haslett: In Texas, the use of groundwater is usually managed by a sub-regional entity known as a groundwater conservation district. Most of the Panhandle's groundwater falls under the stewardship of two such districts: the Panhandle GCD, headquartered in White Deer, and the North Plains G-C-D, which is administered from Dumas. The North Plains Groundwater Conservation District has scheduled a public hearing today. General Manager Steven Walthour explains.
Steven Walthour: Well, on Tuesday, we're having a public hearing regarding some proposed rule changes. Currently, we have a two-acre-foot-per-acre rule that you cannot exceed within our district. We're reducing that to one-and-a-half acre feet- that's a big move for us, because it's actually cutting the allowable water use in our- water production in our district- about 25 percent, down to one-and-a-half acre feet per acre.
Haslett: Another proposed rule change would allow producers to accumulate a type of credit for staying underneath the annual limit. The amount of allowable water not used in one year could be applied to a future year's totals.
Walthour: For example, if someone were to only pump one acre foot per acre. And an acre foot is about 325,851 gallons. But if someone were to pump one acre foot (an) acre and they did not pump up to one-and-a-half acre feet, they could save that half an acre foot that they didn't pump and use it in future years, when you have a really dry year.
Haslett: Walthour says that such a measure would eliminate the "use it or lose it" dynamic of annual limits and could encourage conservation in his district. Meanwhile, down in Austin, the existing groundwater management system itself will be a topic of discussion in this year's legislative session. State Senator Kel Seliger's district includes the North Plains GCD. Seliger says he supports the existing groundwater districts, but that lawmakers will be looking at the big picture- with an eye toward crafting the most effective conservation system possible.
Kel Seliger: We have some things that are going to be very, very broad, sweeping measures, too. We're looking at a piece of legislation- I've been studying the details about creating an Ogallala Aquifer Authority. Not unlike the Edwards Aquifer Authority, because we have a very large part of the State of Texas that overlies the Ogallala Aquifer, which is a system in and of itself, and we're looking- how do we address that system with a systemic conservation mechanism?
Haslett: Seliger pointed out that while the Edwards Aquifer Authority might provide inspiration for the Ogallala region, the Edwards Authority would not necessarily serve as an organizational model. Seliger said that any region-wide governance for the Ogallala would take into account the particular realities of groundwater in West Texas.
Seliger: (The) Edwards Aquifer can generally be described as kind of a bathtub full of water. The Ogallala Aquifer has been described as a bathtub full of sponges. In the Edwards Aquifer, what happens in Uvalde affects what happens in Austin. Well, that's not true when we look at the Ogallala- what happens, say, in Terry County doesn't necessarily affect what happens in Lipscomb County. And so we have to take into account the hydrologic differences and things like that.
Haslett: Under the current model, the various districts overlying the Ogallala are not obliged to adopt the same policies. For example, the Panhandle GCD has a policy of planned depletion known as the 50-50 plan: having a goal that at least 50 percent of existing water remains in 50 years. The North Plains G-C-D differs. In the eastern part of the North Plains District, around Perryton, the plan calls for 60 percent of existing water to remain in 50 years. But in the western part of the district, around Dalhart, the plan allows for 40 percent of current supplies to remain in 50 years. The pros and cons of such intra-regional discrepancies will be under review during this legislative session. This is Mark Haslett, High Plains Public Radio News.
© Copyright 2009, hppr
(2009-01-20)
null
Steven Walthour: Well, on Tuesday, we're having a public hearing regarding some proposed rule changes. Currently, we have a two-acre-foot-per-acre rule that you cannot exceed within our district. We're reducing that to one-and-a-half acre feet- that's a big move for us, because it's actually cutting the allowable water use in our- water production in our district- about 25 percent, down to one-and-a-half acre feet per acre.
Haslett: Another proposed rule change would allow producers to accumulate a type of credit for staying underneath the annual limit. The amount of allowable water not used in one year could be applied to a future year's totals.
Walthour: For example, if someone were to only pump one acre foot per acre. And an acre foot is about 325,851 gallons. But if someone were to pump one acre foot (an) acre and they did not pump up to one-and-a-half acre feet, they could save that half an acre foot that they didn't pump and use it in future years, when you have a really dry year.
Haslett: Walthour says that such a measure would eliminate the "use it or lose it" dynamic of annual limits and could encourage conservation in his district. Meanwhile, down in Austin, the existing groundwater management system itself will be a topic of discussion in this year's legislative session. State Senator Kel Seliger's district includes the North Plains GCD. Seliger says he supports the existing groundwater districts, but that lawmakers will be looking at the big picture- with an eye toward crafting the most effective conservation system possible.
Kel Seliger: We have some things that are going to be very, very broad, sweeping measures, too. We're looking at a piece of legislation- I've been studying the details about creating an Ogallala Aquifer Authority. Not unlike the Edwards Aquifer Authority, because we have a very large part of the State of Texas that overlies the Ogallala Aquifer, which is a system in and of itself, and we're looking- how do we address that system with a systemic conservation mechanism?
Haslett: Seliger pointed out that while the Edwards Aquifer Authority might provide inspiration for the Ogallala region, the Edwards Authority would not necessarily serve as an organizational model. Seliger said that any region-wide governance for the Ogallala would take into account the particular realities of groundwater in West Texas.
Seliger: (The) Edwards Aquifer can generally be described as kind of a bathtub full of water. The Ogallala Aquifer has been described as a bathtub full of sponges. In the Edwards Aquifer, what happens in Uvalde affects what happens in Austin. Well, that's not true when we look at the Ogallala- what happens, say, in Terry County doesn't necessarily affect what happens in Lipscomb County. And so we have to take into account the hydrologic differences and things like that.
Haslett: Under the current model, the various districts overlying the Ogallala are not obliged to adopt the same policies. For example, the Panhandle GCD has a policy of planned depletion known as the 50-50 plan: having a goal that at least 50 percent of existing water remains in 50 years. The North Plains G-C-D differs. In the eastern part of the North Plains District, around Perryton, the plan calls for 60 percent of existing water to remain in 50 years. But in the western part of the district, around Dalhart, the plan allows for 40 percent of current supplies to remain in 50 years. The pros and cons of such intra-regional discrepancies will be under review during this legislative session. This is Mark Haslett, High Plains Public Radio News.
© Copyright 2009, hppr
