By Megan Wehring
Stage II drought enforcement procedures were discussed by the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District on Thursday, Dec. 10 using a Zoom video conference.
The district’s board previously declared a Stage II Alarm Drought at its meeting on Thursday, Dec. 8. The Lovelady Monitor Well passed below its drought trigger in late September and only one of the two triggers needed to be reached for a drought declaration.
“We don’t hit the ground running in throwing down the hammer from month one,” said District General Manager Vanessa Escobar. “We actually try to work with our permittees and let them get into the rhythm of curtailing. We haven’t been in drought for two years so this is a new thing for some permittees but it’s also just getting reacquainted with making adjustments.”
Non-compliant permittees will be notified of their overpumpage and level of non-compliance. The notice will include a drought management fee amount if a fee is assessed without an equivalent credit.
Staff generates a list of non-compliance permittees based on permitted volume and percentage over-pumped: Tier One permitted pumpage is less than 12,000,000 gallons per year, Tier Two is between 12,000,000 and 120,000,000 gallons, and Tier Three is 120,000,000 gallons.
Escobar told the district board that they would continue monitoring non-compliance numbers as the drought months continue. Aqua Texas, city of Buda and city of Creedmoor are among the Tier Two and Tier Three permittees that have gone over their target.
“I think that’s just an adjustment,” Escobar said. “I think their systems really do need to rely to the full extent on their permits so they’re trying to stay as close to their target as possible. But I think we will see some adjustments there.”
