Panhandle Water News, July 2003 Page: High Impact
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HIGH-IMPACT PRODUCTION PERMIT REQUESTS
C E Williams, General Manager
In recent months, 133 landowners in Roberts and Gray counties of the
Texas Panhandle, have submitted applications to Panhandle Groundwater
Conservation District for High-Impact Production Permits (HIPPs). The permits
would allow landowners to produce large quantities of groundwater, which they
want to transport to municipalities somewhere in the state. The requests are for
permits similar to the ones the District issued, on May 15, 2002, to T. Boone
Pickens and eight other landowners in Roberts County, collectively known as the
Mesa Group. These permits stipulate that the landowners have five years to
"provide the District the appropriate documentation of one or more Destination
Users," or these permits will expire. These permits will become valid only when
Destination Users are identified. Another stipulation is that they must file
conservation and drought contingency plans with the District, prior to any
production.
The big difference between the recent requests, and the Mesa Group's, is
that they have no formal agreement binding them together, as Mesa did.
Individually, all the requests are deficient, and will have little or no chance of
meeting all the requirements of the District's Rules and the Texas State Law. In
addition, these 133 applicants have not provided the District with documentation
authorizing any persons or entities to represent them, either individually or as a
group. State law, or the District Rules, would allow the District to issue an order
consolidating these individuals' applications to produce groundwater, unless these
individual landowners, by agreement, consolidated their ownership rights of
groundwater into one legal entity themselves.
At a meeting in my office, I explained this fact to one ofthe 133 applicants,
who represented that he had spoken with other applicants. He suggested that the
District proceed to process all the applications individually. On further study, the
District staff found that, ifit followed this suggestion, it would result in the rejection
of approximately half of the applications. The District's Board explained this to
those present at a Board of Directors meeting on June 25, 2003. Some applicants
present at that meeting then requested special guidance as to how to form a legal
entity that would allow all 133 applicants to consolidate their applications, in order
to make it more likely that all applicants would receive permits, as long as other
District Rules are met. The District immediately offered to provide this assistance
and send a letter to the applicants, in this regard.
The Board tabled all the HIPPs at the June 25, 2003, Board meeting, and
is contemplating how to address them. The Board and staff is committed to
working with the landowners to help them understand what is needed to achieve
compliance and also meet the District's charge to preserve and conserve the
Ogallala aquifer, and to meet the District's 50/50 Rule.
Average change in the water table
Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District
From To
(Year) (Year) net elevation change, in feet
2002 2003 -0.1
1998 2003 -0.5
1993 2003 -1
1983 2003 -3
1973 2003 -9
1963 2003 -31
Includes measurements from wells in Armstrong, Carson
Donley, Gray, Potter, Roberts, & Wheeler counties.
Total area in the District is about 4,000,000 acres.
2003 WATER LEVEL AVERAGES
The average changes in depth to water for the counties in the
District are shown in the tables, maps and charts. The county averages are
for those wells measured in 2003 and provide a generalized trend only.
Individual wells and areas will have different rates and amounts of change.
The maps have contours indicating the area where the average decline is
constant. The estimated decline for a particular spot may be determined by
referring to the elevation of the contour line nearest the desired location, or
by locating a nearby well as a point of reference. Some wells have the
section number indicated in the chart for reference as well. The county
tables have the history of the wells measured for the previous 5 and 10
years. The District wide level shows the average changes for each aquifer
by county, during the past five years.PRECIPITATION ENHANCEMENT FACTS
Grassland: $25,600
Irrigated: $97,920
Grassland: $1.19
Irrigated: $4.59County Average
Dry-land: $72,960
Avg. Home Value: $35,340
PEP Portion, Per Section*
Dry-land:$3.43
Avg. Home: $1.65 per home*The PEP portion is the tax amount per 640 acre section or household
used to fund the program.
DISTRICT WATER QUALITY PROGRAM IN PROGRESS
PGCDbeganits annual water qualityprogram, bycollecting water samples
from around the District, during the week of June 9th. The program will continue
until about September 1, when the last sample is collected and tested. Some 275
samples will be tested for nitrates, sulfates, iron, fluoride, ammonia, chloride,
alkalinity, hardness, specific conductivity, total dissolved solids, and pH.
Since this is the 2003 season, wells in the program that have odd state well
numbers, or any well that exceeded a state secondary drinking water standard in
years past, will be sampled. Depending on whether the water well ever exceeded
a state standard, the District will test the same well on an every year, or every other
year, basis. Knowing the water came from the same well and water source enables
the District to compare past results to the newly gathered data.
If you are not on the list for regular Water Quality monitoring, and would
like to have your well water tested, please call us at 883-2501, and we will set up
an appointment at your convenience. Last, but not least, please remember to
conserve water. Future generations are counting on it." Program Impacts
Decrease irrigation water demand in the irrigated farm areas
Benefits all involved from farmers and ranchers to cities
Downwind areas from seeded clouds have increased rainfall over long
term
Cloud tops decrease in size, thus decreasing risk of damaging winds or
tornadoes
Increase lateral size of cloud area, thus increasing rain coverage
Overall increase on return investment for increased rainfall is substantial
" History
Colorado River Municipal Water District began in 1971 and has had a 25-
35% increase in total rainfall in the target area benefiting farmers,
ranchers, and cities. In the Texas double-blind tests (38 candidate clouds
over 1,984 km), the seeding effects appear to produce more rain volume in
seeded clouds versus non-seeded clouds by 29%. For mean floating
targets, rain volumes increased over 2.5 hours after initial seeding by 45%.
* Seeding Concepts
Seed vigorous super-cooled clouds having high water content
These ice crystals grow much faster than raindrops, thus preventing
evaporation
This fast conversion of cloud water into ice crystals enhances the release
of latent heat, which in turn increases cloud buoyancy
In return, this invigorates updrafts and acts to spur additional cloud growth
and/or support growing ice crystals produced by the seeding operation
These processes result in increased precipitation from the seeded clouds,
which merge or interact with other clouds to cause new or additional
rainfall
The net effect being increased rainfall over the target area
" Other Information
The Panhandle Gioundwater Conservation District owns all equipment
necessary to operate this program and will be able to continue the program
through District funds without increasing taxes.
* Active Influence & Scientific Management Assessment for 2002
Program
AISM, under contract with the Texas Department of Agriculture, assessed
our program using archived radar imagery to compare initially like seeded
and unseeded clouds to calculate the increases of rainfall produced in
seeded clouds. The assessment methodology has been presented to the
National Academy of Sciences for their review. AISM's results are as
follows:
* Cloud Lifetime Increased 23%
SCloud Area Increased 8%
- Precipitation Mass Increased 21%
* Precipitation Enhancement Program Cost (Ag Use Values Assessment
per acre)
The following shows the per section (640 acres) assessed value per acre of
grassland, dry-land cultivated cropland, and irrigated land, along with the
average taxable home value.
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Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District. Panhandle Water News, July 2003, periodical, July 2003; White Deer, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth641643/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.