The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has completed a Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) recommendation for the Dallam County Priority Groundwater Management Area and prepared a draft report. As stated in the mailed notice, TCEQ released the draft report on August 11, 2008, and will now welcome written comments received by September 25, 2008. All written comments received will be placed in TCEQ's official files.

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 TCEQ, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) , and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)  to study, identify and delineate Priority Groundwater Management Areas (PGMAs) and initiate the creation of GCDs within those areas, if necessary.

• Map of Priority Groundwater Management Areas (Apr 2006, pdf)
• Summary Description of Priority Groundwater Management Areas (Mar 2008, pdf)

Additional PGMA Information

• What Is a Priority Groundwater Management Area?
• Rules
• Legislative Report
• Studies, Study Areas, and Designated PGMAs
• PGMA Reports (Since 2004)
• GCDs Created in Designated PGMAs

What Is a Priority Groundwater Management Area?

A Priority Groundwater Management Area (PGMA) is an area designated and delinated by 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, TCEQ will make a specific recommendation on groundwater conservation district creation. State law authorizes the citizens in the PGMA two years to establish a Groundwater Conservation District (GCD). However, if local action is not taken in this time frame, 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 AgriLife Extension Service (TAES, formerly the Texas Cooperative Extension (TCE)) 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 Texas 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 (TAC), §293.19 and §§294.41–294.44.

• 30 TAC §293.19 
• 30 TAC Chapter 294 Subchapter E 

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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 PGMAs and the creation and operation of GCDs. This report has been prepared by TCEQ and TWDB, with assistance from TPWD, the State Auditor's Office (SAO), and TAES. The report fulfills the requirements of Texas Water Code (TWC), Section 35.018.

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Studies, Study Areas, and Designated PGMAs

As of June 2008, 18 PGMA studies and three PGMA update studies have been completed, and two PGMA update studies are on-going. 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).
  

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).

The status of the two on-going PGMA update studies is:

• 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 (TCEQ Docket No. 2008-0099-MIS). 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 was referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) and a contested case hearing was held in Waco on May 1, 2008 (SOAH Docket No. 582-08-1502).

• 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 (TCEQ Docket No. 2007-1012-MIS). 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 was referred to SOAH and a contested case hearing was held in Austin on May 13, 2008 (SOAH Docket No. 582-07-3917).

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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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GCDs Created in Designated PGMAs

Since 1987, nine GCDs (or "districts") 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 and one by TCEQ based on landowner petition. 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 GCD Creation Status in the Designated PGMAs

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