Rules and Management Plan Changes Made

Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District (District) amended the district rules and management plan after a hearing on April 4, 2012. Many of the rule changes were required by statute because of legislation enacted in 2011.  Among those required changes is the addition of Groundwater Management Area (GMA) hearings to the hearing procedures in Rule 10, clarification of the District’s role in the GMA planning in Rule 12, clarification in Rule 15 that the District’s existing 50/50 Management Standard is adopted as the Desired Future Condition (DFC) of the Ogallala in this area and the addition of DFC’s for the minor aquifers in the area including a 50/50 DFC for the Blaine Aquifer, and a decline of no more than 30 feet in 50 years for the Dockum Aquifer.

The other major changes are regarding wells that are classified as exempt use because of their oil and gas exploration status. Those wells will now be required to meet spacing rules because many of them, once abandoned by the oil and gas companies, are returned to the landowners for other uses. Also, those wells will now be required to install a meter and report water use annually. Since the GMA and Regional Planning processes require the District to have good estimates of water use, this new reporting of oil and gas water use is critical to make these estimates more accurate within the District.

As the oil and gas exploration continues to expand and use more water in the District, and the GMA and Regional Planning processes require the District to have better estimates of water use, this reporting is more critical for the District.

The management plan was updated in order to capture the DFC’s and update the water use and supplies information required by the Texas Water Development Board. This plan outlines 13 goals that guide the District’s actions over the next five years. The guiding principle of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District is still the 50/50 Management Standard, and the amendments to the rules and management plan serve only to strengthen that goal.