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June 27, 2022
Partners working together to manage groundwater
By Christina Ryrholm
Special to the Prophet
“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” ~ Jacques Yves Cousteau
The common word here is groundwater. What exactly is groundwater?
On Tuesday, June 21, the members of Groundwater Management Area 9, which encompasss nine counties, met in Boerne at the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District (CCGCD), to discuss and develop goals to implement within five years.
There are two types of water - ground water and surface water. Surface water is what you see in seas, lakes, rivers, streams and oceans. Groundwater is what you do not see as it has seeped down through the soil/ground until it reaches the spaces between the rocks.
Groundwater districts are charged by the state “to manage groundwater by providing for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharging and prevention of waste of resources within its jurisdiction.”
That being said, water used here does not necessarily have its source here as water is a fluid substance, flowing downward, evaporating in one area and falling as rain somewhere else. This creates a need to work with partners.
The 254 counties of Texas are divided into 16 groundwater management areas. The counties within our area are Kerr, Bandera, Kendall, Medina, Bexar, Comal, Hays, Travis and Blanco.
The nine groups represented at the meeting were Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District/Micah Voulgaris, Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District/David Mauk, Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District/Paul Babb, Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District/Allan Brown, Hays-Trinity Groundwater Conservation District/Charlie Flatten, Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District/Monica Thibodeaux, Medina County Groundwater Conservation District/David Caldwell, Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District/Amanda Malakis and Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District/Lane Cockrell.
After groundwater, the second key word is management and the need to work with others. One of the management goals is to determine the Desired Future Conditions (DFCs) and to achieve that end it is necessary to develop models based on accurate data.
Per the Texas Water Development Board’s website, “Groundwater availability models include comprehensive information on each aquifer, such as recharge (amount of water entering the aquifer); geology and how that conveys into the framework of the model; rivers, lakes, and springs; water levels; aquifer properties; and pumping. Each model is calibrated to ensure that the models can reasonably reproduce past water levels and groundwater flows.”
Each GMA is working on a state mandated deadline to develop, approve and implement these goals by 2027.
The next scheduled GMA 9 meeting will take place Aug.15 in Boerne, at the CCGCD office, on Toepperwein Road.
The common word here is groundwater. What exactly is groundwater?
On Tuesday, June 21, the members of Groundwater Management Area 9, which encompasss nine counties, met in Boerne at the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District (CCGCD), to discuss and develop goals to implement within five years.
There are two types of water - ground water and surface water. Surface water is what you see in seas, lakes, rivers, streams and oceans. Groundwater is what you do not see as it has seeped down through the soil/ground until it reaches the spaces between the rocks.
Groundwater districts are charged by the state “to manage groundwater by providing for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharging and prevention of waste of resources within its jurisdiction.”
That being said, water used here does not necessarily have its source here as water is a fluid substance, flowing downward, evaporating in one area and falling as rain somewhere else. This creates a need to work with partners.
The 254 counties of Texas are divided into 16 groundwater management areas. The counties within our area are Kerr, Bandera, Kendall, Medina, Bexar, Comal, Hays, Travis and Blanco.
The nine groups represented at the meeting were Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District/Micah Voulgaris, Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District/David Mauk, Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District/Paul Babb, Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District/Allan Brown, Hays-Trinity Groundwater Conservation District/Charlie Flatten, Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District/Monica Thibodeaux, Medina County Groundwater Conservation District/David Caldwell, Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District/Amanda Malakis and Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District/Lane Cockrell.
After groundwater, the second key word is management and the need to work with others. One of the management goals is to determine the Desired Future Conditions (DFCs) and to achieve that end it is necessary to develop models based on accurate data.
Per the Texas Water Development Board’s website, “Groundwater availability models include comprehensive information on each aquifer, such as recharge (amount of water entering the aquifer); geology and how that conveys into the framework of the model; rivers, lakes, and springs; water levels; aquifer properties; and pumping. Each model is calibrated to ensure that the models can reasonably reproduce past water levels and groundwater flows.”
Each GMA is working on a state mandated deadline to develop, approve and implement these goals by 2027.
The next scheduled GMA 9 meeting will take place Aug.15 in Boerne, at the CCGCD office, on Toepperwein Road.