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Water on the High Plains
Northwestern Panhandle seeking 40-50 water goal
Janet Guthrie: House Bill 1763- that was passed two sessions ago- tasked the Groundwater Districts within a Groundwater Management Area to get together and decide in setting a Desired Future Condition for the aquifer within that Management Area by September 1st 2010.
Haslett: The Hemphill District is one of four Districts located in Area One, which is composed of 18 Texas Panhandle counties. The other three districts in GMA One are the North Plains District, headquartered in Dumas, the Panhandle District, administered from White Deer and finally the High Plains District, which has offices in Lubbock but in Area One includes parts of Randall, Potter and Armstrong Counties. The Desired Future Conditions goal mentioned by Guthrie is usually expressed by a percentage, specifically: What percentage of existing Ogallala Aquifer reserves should remain in 50 years? At the moment, it looks like that number will vary depending on locality. C.E. Williams is the general manager of the Panhandle District.
C.E. Williams: A proposal was put out to have 40% in the northwestern four counties of the Panhandle, 50% through the majority of the rest of the area- left in 50 years- and 90% left in Hemphill County at the end of 50 years.
Haslett: That proposal would allow for Dallam, Hartley, Sherman and Moore counties to have as little as 40 percent of existing groundwater left by 2060. All four counties are within the North Plains GCD. General Manager Steven Walthour explains.
James Walthour: Well first of all, when we think about 50-50, 40-50 or whatever the numbers are, we look at this thing and most people think, well this is just one big bathtub and that means that number should be the same everywhere.
Haslett: Walthour says that the saturated thickness of the aquifer in the four-county area is greater than in other parts of the Panhandle.
Walthour: Now, within those four counties, something to think about is that currently according to the Texas Water Development Board estimates, in just those four western counties alone, there's about 67 million acre feet of water in those four counties today.
Haslett: Walthour says that by comparison, the southern counties in GMA One have a total of 77 million acre feet- only 10 million more than the four-county area. He also says that the 40-50 number reflects the current high rate of water usage there.
Walthour: We have a lot of industry that's tied to that- our agricultural economy for the entire Panhandle- a big chunk of it happens in just those four counties. And even in 50 years, we're still going to have a lot of water left in those four western counties. To make reductions any more than what we're planning on right now, we think may hurt the economy and we actually are partnering with the agricultural community to figure out what those economic impacts will be in the future if we do need to reduce our pumping limits even more.
Haslett: The four Districts in GMA One will vote on Desired Future Conditions when the Panhandle Water Planning Group meets again on February 20th in Amarillo. All areas and districts are administered by the Texas Water Development Board in Austin. This is Mark Haslett, High Plains Public Radio News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
(2009-01-27)
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AMARILLO, TEXAS
(hppr) -
Mark Haslett: In Texas, understanding the system for regulating groundwater means understanding the difference between a Groundwater Management Area and a Groundwater Conservation District. The state of Texas is broken up into 16 large groundwater conservation areas. Each area is further divided into groundwater conservation districts. The model works like this: Districts set local policy, but are supposed to work with other Districts in the Area. Janet Guthrie is the General Manager of the Hemphill District in Canadian.
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Janet Guthrie: House Bill 1763- that was passed two sessions ago- tasked the Groundwater Districts within a Groundwater Management Area to get together and decide in setting a Desired Future Condition for the aquifer within that Management Area by September 1st 2010.
Haslett: The Hemphill District is one of four Districts located in Area One, which is composed of 18 Texas Panhandle counties. The other three districts in GMA One are the North Plains District, headquartered in Dumas, the Panhandle District, administered from White Deer and finally the High Plains District, which has offices in Lubbock but in Area One includes parts of Randall, Potter and Armstrong Counties. The Desired Future Conditions goal mentioned by Guthrie is usually expressed by a percentage, specifically: What percentage of existing Ogallala Aquifer reserves should remain in 50 years? At the moment, it looks like that number will vary depending on locality. C.E. Williams is the general manager of the Panhandle District.
C.E. Williams: A proposal was put out to have 40% in the northwestern four counties of the Panhandle, 50% through the majority of the rest of the area- left in 50 years- and 90% left in Hemphill County at the end of 50 years.
Haslett: That proposal would allow for Dallam, Hartley, Sherman and Moore counties to have as little as 40 percent of existing groundwater left by 2060. All four counties are within the North Plains GCD. General Manager Steven Walthour explains.
James Walthour: Well first of all, when we think about 50-50, 40-50 or whatever the numbers are, we look at this thing and most people think, well this is just one big bathtub and that means that number should be the same everywhere.
Haslett: Walthour says that the saturated thickness of the aquifer in the four-county area is greater than in other parts of the Panhandle.
Walthour: Now, within those four counties, something to think about is that currently according to the Texas Water Development Board estimates, in just those four western counties alone, there's about 67 million acre feet of water in those four counties today.
Haslett: Walthour says that by comparison, the southern counties in GMA One have a total of 77 million acre feet- only 10 million more than the four-county area. He also says that the 40-50 number reflects the current high rate of water usage there.
Walthour: We have a lot of industry that's tied to that- our agricultural economy for the entire Panhandle- a big chunk of it happens in just those four counties. And even in 50 years, we're still going to have a lot of water left in those four western counties. To make reductions any more than what we're planning on right now, we think may hurt the economy and we actually are partnering with the agricultural community to figure out what those economic impacts will be in the future if we do need to reduce our pumping limits even more.
Haslett: The four Districts in GMA One will vote on Desired Future Conditions when the Panhandle Water Planning Group meets again on February 20th in Amarillo. All areas and districts are administered by the Texas Water Development Board in Austin. This is Mark Haslett, High Plains Public Radio News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
