Update 5-23-24: The District has reduced the Drought Stage to Stage 3 and reduced the Mandatory Drought Water Reductions from 15% to 10% for 2024.
If you have any further questions, please contact the District office at 512-756-4900.
Previous:
District Issues Mandatory Drought Water Reductions for 2024
The Board of Directors on December 15, 2023 voted to impose mandatory reductions for permitted users of a 15% decrease from the total annual permitted production volume for non-exempt permit holders effective January 1, 2024 until December 31, 2024, or until terminated.
If your well and/or operating permit requires a meter, the production reporting for the year 2024 is due to the District by May 1, 2025, as is standard.
The Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District adopted a drought management plan for the purpose to conserve, preserve, protect, and recharge the groundwater resources of Burnet County, and to prevent waste and degradation of quality of those groundwater resources.
The various drought stages will be initiated by the District’s Board of Directors (the Board) during a monthly board meeting, utilizing the Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI) or other factors including requests from local citizens and water users as deemed appropriate by the Board. The District may also utilize its various monitor wells to determine if aquifer levels are declining and may take action as deemed necessary. Each drought stage will last a minimum of 30 days and renew automatically unless changed by Board action.
Provisions of the plan shall apply to all Burnet County wells and all persons or organizations, public or private, owning or operating wells within Burnet County, regardless of purpose of use, size, capacity, date drilled, ownership, or the exempt or non-exempt status of a well.
The Drought Management Plan will rely primarily on voluntary compliance, except where otherwise noted for permitted users in drought stages 3 and 4. The District encourages the voluntary reduction measures outlined in the plan to achieve a desired level of conservation and reduced impact to the aquifers. However, the plan does not exclude the District from exercising authority of its civil penalties policy in the District’s Rules regarding wasteful use of water.
Palmer Hydrological Drought Index