The Executive Director has
completed the
Updated Evaluation for the Central Texas - Trinity Aquifer -
Priority Groundwater Management Study Area report and
recommendations for the following counties: Bell, Bosque, Brown,
Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Eastland, Erath, Falls, Hamilton,
Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan, Mills, and Somervell. The
report and recommendations were filed with the TCEQ's Chief Clerk
on January 9, 2008. The
Notice of PGMA Report Completion and Availability gives a
summary of report findings and recommendations and indicates where
copies of the report may be obtained or inspected. The matter will
be referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a
public hearing to be scheduled at a later date. Notice of the
hearing will be provided in accordance with 30 TAC
§294.42.
The Executive Director has completed the
Updated Evaluation for the North-Central Texas - Trinity and
Woodbine Aquifers - Priority Groundwater Management Study Area
report and recommendations for the following counties: Collin,
Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hood, Hunt,
Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Montague, Navarro, Parker, Red River,
Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise. The report and recommendations were
filed with the TCEQ's Chief Clerk on June 26, 2007. The
Notice of PGMA Report Completion and Availability gives a
summary of report findings and recommendations and indicates where
copies of the report may be obtained or inspected. The matter will
be referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a
public hearing to be scheduled at a later date. Notice of the
hearing will be provided in accordance with 30 TAC
§294.42.
Additional PGMA Information
Overview
To enable effective management of the state’s groundwater
resources in areas where critical groundwater problems exist or may
exist in the future, the Legislature has authorized the TCEQ, the
Texas Water
Development Board 
, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department to study, identify and delineate priority
groundwater management areas and initiate the creation of
Groundwater Conservation Districts within those areas, if
necessary.
What Is a Priority Groundwater Management Area?
A PGMA is an area designated and delinated by the TCEQ that is
experiencing, or is expected to experience, within 25 years,
critical groundwater problems including shortages of surface water
or groundwater, land subsidence resulting from groundwater
withdrawal, and contamination of groundwater supplies.
Since the ultimate purpose of designating a PGMA is to ensure
the management of groundwater in areas of the state with critical
groundwater problems, a PGMA evaluation will consider the need for
creating groundwater conservation districts and different options
for doing so. Such districts are authorized to adopt policies,
plans, and rules that can address critical groundwater
problems.
If a study area is designated as a PGMA, the TCEQ will make a
specific recommendation on groundwater conservation district
creation. State law authorizes the citizens in the PGMA two years
to establish a GCD. However, if local action is not taken in this
time frame, the TCEQ is required to establish a GCD that is
consistent with the original recommendation. Under either scenario,
the resultant groundwater conservation district would be governed
by a locally elected board of directors.
For more information about PGMAs, see Texas Cooperative
Extension publication B-6191, Priority
Groundwater Management Areas: Overview and Frequently Asked
Questions.
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Rules
The PGMA process provided in Chapter 35 of the Water Code is
implemented by TCEQ rules that outline procedures for the
designation of PGMAs and address issues related to the creation of
GCDs in areas which have been designated as PGMAs. These TCEQ rules
are contained in Title 30, Texas Administrative Code, §293.19
and §§294.41–294.44.
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Legislative Report
Priority
Groundwater Management Areas and Groundwater Conservation
Districts, Report to the 80th Legislature: Published
January 2007, this report provides information to the legislative
leadership on activities undertaken during the preceding two years
relating to the study and designation of priority groundwater
management areas (PGMAs), the creation of groundwater conservation
districts (GCDs), and the operation of districts. This report has
been prepared by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ) and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), with
assistance from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), the
State Auditor's Office (SAO), and the Texas Cooperative Extension
(TCE). The report fulfills the requirements of Texas Water Code,
Section 35.018.
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Studies, Study Areas, and Designated PGMAs
As of December 2006, 18 PGMA studies and three update studies
have been completed.
Six
study areas were determined to have, or were expected to have,
critical groundwater problems and were designated as PGMAs:
- Bandera, Blanco, Gillespie, Kendall, and Kerr and parts of
Bexar, Comal, Hays, and Travis Counties—the Hill Country PGMA
(Study Areas #2 and #17 combined);
- parts of Reagan, Upton and Midland Counties—the Reagan,
Upton, and Midland Counties PGMA (Study Area #3);
- Swisher and parts of Briscoe and Hale counties—the
Briscoe, Hale, and Swisher Counties PGMA (Study Area #4);
- parts of Dallam County—the Dallam County PGMA (Study Area
#9); and,
- parts of El Paso County—the El Paso County PGMA (Study
Area #13).
Map of Priority Groundwater Management Areas
(pdf)
Summary Description of Priority Groundwater
Management Areas (pdf)
Ten study areas were determined not to be PGMAs:
- Lower Rio Grande Valley Area (Study Area #7),
- Fort Bend County Area (Study Area #10),
- Orange-Jefferson Counties Area (Study Area #12),
- Wintergarden Area (Study Area #14),
- Southernmost High Plains Area (Study Area #15),
- North Texas Alluvium and Paleozoic Outcrop Area (Study Area
#16), and
- Hudspeth County Area (Study Area #18).
- Williamson and Parts of Adjacent Areas (Study Area #1),
- East Texas Area (Study Area #6), and
- Trans-Pecos Area (Study Area #8).
An update study is currently ongoing to evaluate the Central
Texas (Waco) Area (Study Area #5).
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PGMA Reports (Since 2004)
Each of these reports is available in PDF format. (Help with PDF.)
- East Texas Priority Groundwater Management Study
Area: Updated Evaluation, June 2004.
- Trans-Pecos Priority Groundwater Management Study
Area: Updated Evaluation, March 2005.
- Hudspeth County Priority Groundwater Management Study
Area: March 2005.
- Part 1: Table of Contents, Executive Summary,
and Introduction (cover–page 8)
- Part 2: Geology, Physiography, and Groundwater
Resources (pages 9–20)
- Part 3: Natural Resources; State-Owned Lands;
Water Use, Demand, Supply, and Availability; Stakeholder
Participation; Area Water Concerns and Identified Management
Strategies; Existing Water Planning, Regulatory, and Management
Entities; Administrative Feasibility of Groundwater Management;
Summary; Conclusions and Recommendations; and References
(pages 21–77)
- Williamson, Burnet, and Northern Travis Counties
Priority Groundwater Management Study Area: Updated
Evaluation, November 2005.
- North Central Texas - Trinity and Woodbine
Aquifers - Priority Groundwater Management Study Area:
Updated Evaluation, June 2007.
- Central Texas - Trinity Aquifer - Priority
Groundwater Management Study Area: Updated Evaluation,
December 2007.
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Districts Created in Designated PGMAs
Since 1987, nine GCDs have been created through local initiative
and confirmed by the voters in two of the designated PGMAs. Eight
of the districts were created by legislative action; one, by the
TCEQ based on landowner petitions. Landowners within two of the
other designated PGMAs have petitioned to join adjacent districts
and large portions of those areas have been incorporated into
existing districts. Local actions to establish a GCD have been
defeated by the voters on multiple occasions in two of the
designated PGMAs.
No GCD-creation activity has been undertaken in the El Paso
County PGMA, and areas remain in each of the other designated PGMAs
where no district has yet been created. These areas include Swisher
County and parts of Briscoe, Comal, Dallam, Midland, Travis, and
Upton Counties.
Map of District Creation Status in the Designated
PGMAs
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