PLUM CREEKCONSERVATION
DISTRICT

Plum Creek Conservation District
N E W S L E T T E R
N O V E M B E R

1 8 ,

2 0 2 12021 Flood Control Major Projects Recap
INSIDE THISISSUE:

2021 Flood Control
Major Projects
Recap
Page 1
Water Saving Tip:
Winterizing Your
Water
Page 2

As promised in our last newsle er, several of the District’s 28 dams have had structural
improvement projects begun or completed in 2021. Below we break down a few more details oneach of the three projects that have kept PCCD staﬀ busy this year.
Site 23, located just a few miles southeast of Lockhart, underwent a, “Repair,” majority‐fundedby the Texas State Soil & Water Conserva on Board, in the spring of 2021. The primary purposeof the project was to re‐shape the plunge basin, line the basin withrip‐rap, and addi onally to remove the asbestos containing toe‐drain
Site 23 “before”
pipes and replace.
Site 23 “during”

2020 PCCD
Groundwater Use
Page 3Site 23 “after”

2021 Water Levels
Page 3

Dewatering of Site 10 on October 7, 2021

Site 10, located within Buda Extraterritorial
Jurisdic on, has the designa on of a “Rehabilita on.”Funding will come from the federal level and fromthe Texas State Soil & Water Conserva on Board.
Natural Resource Conserva on Service will beproviding the Project Inspector. This dam will become
PCCD’s second dam with a concrete spillway, but
unlike Site 6’s labyrinth weir, Site 10 will receive aRoller Compacted Concrete (RCC) spillway.

Site 2, also known as “Lake Kyle,” is undergoing a major
overhaul. The scope of work will be similar to Site 10(including an RCC spillway addi on), but its technicaldesigna on is an “Upgrade.” Though primarily state
funded, a private company, AECOM, designed and will
be inspec ng the year‐long project. Work is an cipatedto begin in mid‐November.

Both Site 10 and 2 will be retrofitted with RCC
spillways; an example of which is shown here

PAGE2

WATER CONSERVATION TIP:
Winterizing your water—An ounce of prevenƟon is worth a gallon of cure“I survived the Great Texas Freeze of 2021!” If you are reading this, that means you did aswell—although some of us did so with more consterna on than others. Relevant to this news‐le er, individuals’ water supplies were disrupted during the freakishly cold storm. As I write
this, in the first week of November, the temperatures are dipping into the low 40s—a goodreminder that winter is not far oﬀ and that we cannot know if ol’ Jack Frost has somethingsimilar in store for us this go‐round.
During the Great Freeze, lots of folks dependent on municipal water supplies lost water pres‐sure, perhaps completely, and upwards of a week. Certainly some domes c well owners werecaught oﬀ guard, having failed to properly insulate their well’s plumbing. On the other hand, afew people—thanks to frozen and burst pipes—actually experienced an abundance of unex‐
pected but very much unwanted water in places such as their living room!
While there may not be much a person can do about a city’s water plant going oﬄine in astorm, there are preventa ve measures homeowners can take to help ensure they have wa‐
ter where they need it, namely coming from their faucets and not from their ceiling.
One of the first things homeowners can do as winter sets in is to close the cut‐oﬀ valves tooutdoors, faucets. Then you will want to open the faucet to drain the remaining water. Next,
outdoor faucet covers should be applied. These covers come in Styrofoam as well as insulat‐
ed fabric.
Similarly, any above‐ground, water‐transpor ng component associated with a well should beinsulated. Pressure gauges are also par cularly vulnerable to freezes. Insula ng can be donewith specifically designed products such as split‐foam and aluminum tape or, more DIY mate‐rials like fiberglass a c insula on, tarps, duct tape; even blankets or towels.
As many of us learned last February, it gets a lot harder to maintain a func oning water sup‐ply without electricity. Thus, for well owners, installing a solar panel—at least as a backup
power source for your pump—is an a rac ve idea. Having a pumphouse (preferably insulat‐ed) makes it much easier to keep components from freezing—par cularly with the addi on ofa kerosene heater. For homeowners, having non‐electric hea ng and/or power sources, in‐cluding generators, may make the diﬀerence in ending up with busted pipes.
One other important way to prep ahead of me is to have emergency water supply on hand.
Not all this water need be potable. For example a simple rain barrel could be used for tasks
like washing clothes or dishes. However, since you never know the length of the emergency,
the more potable water you can have, the be er. Many op ons exist for potable water inemergency situa ons. Obviously, bo led water is easy to find and keep on hand. Survival
gear companies also sell large bladders that can be filled before loss of water.
When a big cold‐front finally hits, keeping your faucets running at a drip will keep lines fromfreezing. Make sure to run BOTH the hot and cold lines.
The Home Depot has an online ar cle detailing 1) how to prevent frozen pipes 2) how to de‐tect frozen pipes and 3) the proper way to thaw frozen pipes. Addi onally, wellowner.org’s,“Winterizing Your Well Southern style,” elaborates beyond what this is allowed here. Both ofthese ar cles are linked on PCCD’s homepage (www.pccd.org).

PAGE

2020 PCCD GROUNDWATER USE
PCCD permi ees reported using 1593.45 acre‐feet of groundwater in 2020. This is 9.1% of thetotal permi ed 17,504 acre‐feet. (Several non‐public supply permi ees failed to report us‐age.) The first two graphs below compare water usage‐by category in the last two years. The
lower graph show the permi ed water amounts‐by category for 2019. The permi ed
amounts by category remain unchanged for 2020. For more informa on, request a copy ofPCCD’s 2020 Water Use Report.

2021 WATER LEVELS
The table below shows water levels for 7 wells measured between January 1, 2021 and November 3, 2021,
along with corresponding lowest recorded water level. If you are interested in finding out the water levelin your well and how it compares to other wells in the area, contact us to schedule a me to measure yourwell. Complete water level data can be found on our website at www.pccd.org
Well2020 Levels

2021 Levels

Lowest Recorded Level

Kosarek

-47.1

-47.5

- 50.8Larsen-20.2-20.85- 22.8

Lipscomb-87.1-88.55- 93.9Lockhart #8-79.0-75.95- 108.0McCormick #2-66.4-65.7- 71.0

McCormick #1-69.7-69.9- 71.8Collier-65.2-65.65- 70.63

James A. Holt Jr., President, Kyle
Peter Reinecke, Vice-President, Luling
Lucy Knight,, Secretary-Treasurer, LockhartFred Rothert, Kyle
Tom Owen, Lockhart
Vacant, Luling

1101 W. San Antonio St.

Lockhart, Texas 78644

PO Box 328

1101 W. San Antonio St.

Plum Creek Conservation District

With last year’s passing way of Mr. Ben Twidwell, avacancy for the City of Luling representative board
member became vacant. To date, Caldwell CountyCommissioners have not appointed a replacement.

Web Site: www.pccd.org

PCCD’s enabling legislation states that two board
members reside in Hays County—one from within
Kyle and one representing rural Hays. Four members
come from Caldwell County—one each from the cities
of Lockhart and Luling, and two rural Caldwell county
representatives.

UPDATE ON BOARD MEMBER VACANCY:

E-mail: info@pccd.org

Fax: 512-398-7776

Phone: 512-398-2383

Lockhart, Texas 78644

PO Box 328

DirectorsPlum Creek Conservation District

HereStampPlace

info@pccd.org or by calling (512) 398-2383.

The Plum Creek Conservation District’s Newsletteris available via email. If you or someone you know
would like to receive our Newsletter via email rather
than US Mail then contact our office atDaniel Meyer, Executive Manager
Alan Burklund, Staff Member
Matt Shaw, Staff Member
Karen Bassett, Secretary
Robert Wilson, Consulting Attorney
Wm Feathergail Wilson, PG, Consulting Geologist

Staff