Prior to this, the district declared stage D-3 since fall of last year. D-2 still requires 20% mandatory curtailment for well users with operating permits and those with nonexempt domestic wells. It also pushes for 20% voluntary reduction in well water use from exempt well users.
The board will continue to monitor the status of drought in the area as rainfall continues, General Manager Lane Cockrell said. Based on recent rainfall, Cockrell said he expects drought conditions could improve to D-1 or possibly D-0.
“We saw most of the district improve to D-2 conditions in June, and as of the most recent map, we’ve been at D-2 in 100% of the district for three consecutive weeks,” Cockrell said.
A closer look
The creation of new nonexempt wells will likely be limited starting Oct. 1 in Southwestern Travis County during extreme drought, following discussion of new rules at the July 9 meeting.
Wells for domestic use under 10,000 gallons a day are considered exempt wells, alongside wells for livestock, natural resource production monitoring or fire fighting. Nonexempt wells include any wells that fall outside of those guidelines, and require and operating or general permit, according to SWTCGCD documents.
The new rules apply for nonexempt well permits requested during D-3 and D-4 drought, representing extreme and exceptional drought conditions, respectively.
“This would effectively prohibit new nonexempt wells, and new operating permits, during those two drought stages,” Cockrell said.
Applicant amendments to increase production under existing permits will not be accepted by the board, unless the proposal would reduce threats to public health and safety, board documents state.
The revisions proposed at the July 9 meeting were a draft, and SWTCGCD staff will incorporate adjustments to the rules made during the meeting prior to final approval in September.
What else?
Additional update suggestions were made to the district’s rules to limit the amount of water that can be used by nonexempt domestic well users to 500,000 gallons annually. It also limited the amount of water that can be used under limited production permits to 500,000 gallons annually, rather than 1 million gallons.
“The motivation for adding a limit is that without one, we could easily, and have received, applications for [nonexempt domestic use] permits for a larger annual volume than some operating permits,” Cockrell said. “We think the proposed changes will make these categories more effective.”
The changes also revise the definition of “recreational use” by removing amenity ponds and water used for conservation of scenic areas primarily used for entertainment that are not otherwise used for wildlife management.
The background
Since October, the Archangel Catholic School of Austin has been making efforts to receive an operating permit from SWTCGCD, which would allow the use of a nonexempt well for 9.5 million gallons of groundwater annually for irrigation use.
Additionally, discussions have been ongoing surrounding The Backyard in Bee Cave, which has requested a permit to increase its groundwater use from 1.14 million gallons to 3.7 million gallons for a water feature and irrigation on the property.
