Drillers Meeting Held at PGCD Offices

On February 18, Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District (PGCD) hosted an informational meeting for area water well drillers. This meeting provided a great opportunity for PGCD to discuss many topics about the groundwater district with the drillers, and also stressed the importance of the driller’s practices to PGCD’s operations.  

PGCD’s General Manager C.E. Williams began the meeting by welcoming all the drillers in attendance, explaining the District’s goals concerning groundwater, and emphasized the need for team work between the drillers, landowners and PGCD when drilling a new water well. In the past the only requirement for drilling a well was to meet the District’s spacing requirements; however, since 2004 in addition to meeting spacing rules all permits are given a one acre-foot per contagious acre allotment, and a meter is required if the well produces more than 265 gpm.

Later in the presentation, Permitting Clerk Anita Haiduk went over the current registration and permitting rules, and clarified that PGCD will be requiring landowner signatures on all permitting applications. A driller will only be able to sign a permitting form if the driller possesses a power of attorney from the landowner. In addition to the current permitting rules, Haiduk also provided information on well configuration for meters. Since March 24, 2010, all new wells drilled must be constructed with a sufficient run of 10 pipe diameters upstream and five pipe diameters downstream of the meter. This rule was put in affect to allow enough space for the meter to be installed correctly and read accurately.

After discussing the importance of the District’s rules when drilling a well, Amy Crowell, PGCD hydrologist, presented on how the technical information from the logs provided by the drillers are used. Well logs are used to pick redbed depths, which are used to make a saturated thickness map, which in turn is used to evaluate depletion, and excess depletion can result in production limitations. The logs are also used to evaluate formation to determine the type of aquifer or aquifers the well is drilled in. The information on the well logs plays an essential role in determining the characteristics of the District, and information including color, texture of formation, water level, water use and correct location that is notated on the logs is helpful.

The meeting concluded with lunch, and PGCD provided a packet of information to the drillers for a quick reference guide. If you have any questions regarding permitting please contact PGCD at (806) 883-2501. Thanks to all the drillers in attendance, and thank you for your future cooperation on permitting within the district.