Regular Production Permit – Needmore Water LLC (Well D)
Summary of Board Decision
On December 12, 2019 at 4pm at the Travis County Manchaca Fire Hall during its Regular Meeting, the Board of Directors denied the request from TESPA for a rehearing of the Needmore Water LLC permit. The permit is granted and considered final and appealable effective as of December 12, 2019. A press release was issued with statements from Director Mary Stone and President Blayne Stansberry.
On July 29, 2019, at 4pm at the City of Buda City Council Chambers the Board convened a special called meeting to hold a public hearing on the conversion of the Needmore Water LLC Temporary Permit to a Regular Permit. View the staff presentation here.
The Board voted to grant Needmore a Regular permit with special provisions in the amount of 289,080,000 gallons; the motion passed 5-0. This amount is the maximum production capacity that Needmore was eligible to request under the statutory requirements of HB 3405. Needmore is required to comply with the drought curtailments of a Historical Trinity Production Permit as well as the terms outlined in the proposed Special Provisions.
The special provisions approved by the Board are a set of response measures, conditions, and requirements that are designed to be protective of aquifer conditions and to avoid unreasonable impacts to existing well owners. The Board and staff believe that these management strategies and safeguards will serve to protect all wells owners and the aquifer. The Special Provisions focus on the following areas:
- Collecting real-time data from the Amos well to monitor water level depths over time;
- Implementing pumping reductions (up to 100% curtailment) indexed to levels in the Amos well. If unforeseen circumstances occur and unreasonable impacts cannot be avoided through temporary production curtailments, The Board may amend the permit to consider the following actions: permit amendment and hearing, temporary cessation, permit reduction, or voluntary mitigation
Summary of Special Provisions
The District has the ability and authority to set special permit provisions that serve to protect private property rights of all groundwater users by conserving, protecting, and managing the groundwater resources within the District. Special provisions are critical management and policy tools that incorporates elements of adaptive management and allows the District to more effectively respond to new data and information using best available science. The District’s management tools include production permit phases, compliance monitoring plans, avoidance and mitigation measures, index wells with water level triggers, and drought curtailments.
Through its own scientific evaluations (Aquifer Testing & Modeling) the District found that at full production capacity, and during severe drought conditions, drawdown from Needmore Well D is modeled to cause well interference on surrounding supply wells. Because of the potential for unreasonable impacts to wells, the General Manager recommended special provisions in the permit that serve as a set of response measures, conditions, and requirements that are designed to be protective of aquifer conditions and to avoid unreasonable impacts to existing well owners. The Board and staff believe that these management strategies and safeguards will serve to protect all wells owners and the aquifer.
The special provisions of the Needmore Water LLC permit require an index well with permit compliance levels. The District has designated a primary index well (Amos Well) to serve as the sentinel well for the area, and continues to grow the monitoring efforts in the area . The District has set water level thresholds on the primary index well (Amos Well) that trigger mandatory pumping curtailments as the drawdown in the index well increases. The trigger levels are set so that adequate water levels are maintained, essentially ensuring that existing wells and the aquifer are protected.
You can view real-time data for the Amos Monitor Well below.
Monitor Wells and Aquifer Data
Learn more about additional ways the District monitors the Edwards and Trinity aquifers and groundwater levels
