What
does "draw-down" resulting from groundwater pumping look like
on a map? As you may know, the Desired Future Conditions are
established in terms of the draw-down, in feet, of aquifers in Bastrop
and Lee counties and throughout the District.
Recently, Environmental Stewardship obtained visual images based on the
Groundwater Availability Model (GAM) used by the Lost Pines Groundwater
Conservation District to evaluate the impact of proposed pumping from
current permit applications on the Simsboro Aquifer. Draw-down,
measured in feet, is indicated on the contour lines of the maps
below. Click on Maps below to Enlarge
NOTICE: Please keep in mind that the images below (except for
Image 1) are for the PROPOSED permits ONLY (124,226 acre-feet/year) and
DO NOT include EXISTING permits (45,365 acre-feet/year).
Image 1. PERMIT THIS
- The draw-down, in feet, expected when the Adopted Desired Future
Conditions (DFC) are met in Bastrop and Lee counties. The dark area in
Burleson County is from Post Oak Savannah GCD pumping. Click on
Map to Enlarge
Image
2. NOT WATER BANKRUPTCY - The draw-down,
in feet, expected if ALL current applications are approved and pumped
to the maximum permitted. Notice the red area in Lee county where
draw-down is 1000 ft, and orange area in Bastrop County where draw-down
is 750 ft. Click on Map to Enlarge
Image
3. WATER BANKRUPTCY - The majority of draw-down, in feet, in Lee
County is from the proposed Forestar well field. Click on Map to
Enlarge
Image 4. WATER BANKRUPTCY - The majority of draw-down, in
feet, in Bastrop County is from the proposed End Op well field, which
is directly below Houston Toad habitat. Click on Map to Enlarge
PERMIT THIS:
If
permitted at all, individual permits
should first be reduced to levels actually supported by the
application and then all permits reduced overall as necessary to
an aggregate level that, including existing permits, protects the
Adopted Desired Future Conditions. In summary, if permitted at
all, Forestar and End Op qualify for less than 5% of the
water they are seeking. In addition, the district needs to factor
in the impact of existing permits before issuing any new permits. This
has not been done. (See Image 1).
Image 5. This image depicts Forestar pumping reduced to 25% of
requested pumping volume but DOES NOT include existing permits.
Click on Map to Enlarge
Image 6. This image depicts End Op pumping reduced to 25% of
requested pumping volume but DOES NOT include existing permits.
Click on Map to Enlarge
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