Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District opens public comments for subsidence study

The Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, the entity responsible for managing groundwater and its usage in Montgomery County, opened a 60-day public comment period on Jan. 26 following a stakeholder meeting to evaluate its subsidence study.

Residents who wish to offer a public comment should email [email protected] with the subject line “Subsidence Study Phase 2 Public Comments.” Comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. March 25.

Subsidence, which the U.S. Geological Survey defines as the sinking of land due to excess groundwater pumping, has been tracked in Montgomery County for decades, according to previous Community Impact Newspaper reporting and data from the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, a special-purpose district devoted to water conservation.

Subsidence was addressed in the creation of the 2022 desired future conditions for Groundwater Management Area 14, which includes the LSGCD. However, during the drafting process for the DFCs, the LSGCD opposed making a subsidence metric mandatory, and GMA 14 approved conditions that made enforcing subsidence optional Jan. 5.

LSGCD General Manager Samantha Reiter told Community Impact Newspaper that the district would enforce the subsidence metric following the Jan. 5 vote, when she voted to approve the DFCs.

The subsidence study, first approved in July 2019, is expected to release a draft report in May following the public comment period, according to the LSGCD's website. The study is being conducted by the Round Rock-based Thornhill Group, Denver-based LRE Water and Houston-based Advanced Groundwater Solutions.

At the Jan. 26 meeting, Reiter said the study is intended to provide monitoring “just for Montgomery County.”