Plum Creek Conservation District

PLUM CREEKCONSERVATION
DISTRICTN E W S L E T T E R
V O L U M E

1N U M B E R

Halloween
INSIDE THISISSUE:

Halloween Flood
AftermathPage 1

2013/2014 Winter
Water Levels
Page 2
Tips around the
WellheadPage 2On October 31st , 2013, areas in ourDistrict
experienced
severeflooding. Some areas received up to
10 inches of rainfall. Fortunately,
all of PCCD’s dams performed asthey were designed to function. It
was events such as this that gave
rise to the establishment of PCCD.
In 1957 PCCD was created by aspecial act of the Texas Legislature
under the authority of what is
known as the Conservation
Amendment
in
the
Texas
Constitution. Its area covers thewatershed of Plum Creek and liesin parts of both Hays and Caldwell
Counties. During the 1960s andearly 70s, twenty-eight earthen
dams were built along the6

S P R I N G

2 0 1 4

Flood Aftermath

tributaries of Plum Creek from
Site #1 at the headwaters of Plum
Creek in Kyle, down to site #38
in Luling. These dams were
designed and constructed under
the Soil Conservation Service
National and State criteria basedon 25 year frequency rainfall
amounts. During a normal rain
event, PCCD dams impoundwater in their reservoirs up to acertain level (elevation). Water isthen released at an engineered
rate through its principal spillway
and then into the plunge basin. A
plunge basin is designed to catchand dissipate flow, minimizing
erosion before releasing water

BEFORE: Site # 6 - June 2, 20112013 PCCD
Water Use
Page 3

Regional
Groundwater
Planning
Page 3

AFTER: Site # 6 - November 1, 2013

downstream. In cases of an
extreme rain event, excess
flood waters can be conveyedaround the dam via theauxiliary
spillway.
An
auxiliary spillway has a muchgreater capacity than theprincipal
spillway.
The
capacities
of
PCCD’sSpillways range from 850
Cubic Feet per Second( CFS)
for Site #3 up to 18,747 CFS
for site # 14. During theHalloween flooding, Sites#11, #12, #14 and #16 hadfloodwaters flow around theirauxiliary spillways. Many of
our sites had considerable
amounts of debris wash into
them and, unfortunately, a few
dams sufferedstructural
damage. Currently, PCCD isin the process of applying for
financial assistance through
FEMA in order to clean up
and repair the effected dams.

PAGE

Winter 2013/2014 Water Levels

2

The table below shows water levels for 10 wells that were measured in the Winter of 2013/2014 along with theircorresponding lowest recorded water level. If you are interested in finding out the water level in your well and how
it compares to other wells in the area, contact us to schedule a time to measure your well. A complete listing of
PCCD water levels can be found on our website www.pccd.org

Well

Winter 2013/2014 Levels- 44.5

CargileLowest Recorded Level- 66.00

WinterKosarek- 50.6- 50.82013/2014

Larsen- 22.65- 22.3

Water Levels

Lipscomb- 91.57- 93.9McCormick #1- 72.45- 73.00

McCormick #2- 68.0- 71.0Moore- 66.75- 70.6

Platt- 122.1- 122.35

Lockhart #8- 76.0- 108.0

Wells- 81.2- 90.35

Tips for Wellhead Protection
Because each well provides a direct route to the aquifer, you will need to take special
precautions to protect the wellhead .

Do not store or use chemicals near the wellhead.



Do not mix pesticides, rinse tanks, or store gasoline within 150 feet of a well.



If the wellhead is in a storage shed or well house, do not store contaminants suchas fuels or pesticides in it.

If backflow-prevention devices are not installed on hoses, reduce thepotential for backflow when mixing chemicals. First fill a “nurse” tank(mobile storage tank) with well water; then use that water to fill the chemical
sprayer away from the wellhead

Build livestock holding areas at least 150 feet away and downslope of the wellhead
and direct stormwater runoff away from the wellhead. Runoff from livestock holding
pens and pastures can contaminate groundwater with bacteria, nitrates, andveterinary drugs.

Inspect the wellhead every month, and address any breakage,soil disturbance by burrowing animals, or flooding of the wellhead.
The well owner can repair and maintain the wellhead pad; a licensed
Contractor should repair casing breakage.

For more info check out the AgriLife Extension Website: http://twon.tamu.edu/* source: “Texas Well Owner ‘s Guide to Water Supply”, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension

VOLUME

1NUMBER

PAGE

52013 PCCD Water Use
In 2013, 1,560 acre-feet of water was used by PCCD’s

ChartWater
Title Use by Category
Percentage of PCCD

permit holders. An acre foot (325,851 gallons) is a volume of water that will cover an area of one acre to the depthof one foot. Permits currently fall into one of three water

use categories: public supply, irrigation, or poultry pro-

137.1
9%

duction. To the right is a pie chart which indicates the per-

200.5
13%

1222.678%

centage of total water use shown by category. Complete
water use records will be available in PCCD’s upcoming

Public Supply

2013 water use report.

Poultry
Irrigation

Groundwater Management Planning
Currently, PCCD is involved in groundwater regional planning with two Groundwater Management Areas- GMA 10
and 13. There is a total of 16 GMAs in the state of Texas. GMAs were the result of legislation passed in 2002 and2005 for the purpose of regional planning, and to develop Desired Future Conditions (DFC). DFCs are defined as"“the desired, quantified condition of groundwater resources (such as water levels, spring flows, or volumes) within amanagement area at one or more specified future times as defined by participating groundwater conservation districts
within a groundwater management area as part of the joint planning process." A DFC, in essence, is a management

goal that addresses how an aquifer should be managed. A DFC answers the question- what do you want your aquifer/s to look like in the future? For example, a DFC could be based on spring flow or, perhaps, on water levels. The
process for determining DFCS, involve running computer models (developed by the Texas Water Development
Board) which simulate the effects of pumping an aquifer. After running a model through several iterations of various
pumping from high to low, one will be able to see a range of impacts. During the 83rd legislative session, Senate
Bill 660 added additional requirements for GMAs to consider when developing DFCs. Unfortunately, the resources
for completing these new requirements were not included in the bill and were left up to the GMAs. Every 5 years a
GMA must propose and adopt DFCs. The deadline for this round is May 1, 2016. It is anticipated that DFCs will be
proposed sometime in 2014 for both GMA 10 and GMA 13. All groundwater districts in a GMA, including PCCD,
will hold local public hearings on these newly proposed DFCs. Once DFCs are adopted, the TWDB issues Modeled
Available Groundwater (MAG) numbers which are required to be considered by Groundwater Conservation Districts
when granting permits. A MAG is the amount of water that may be produced on an average annual basis to achieve a
DFC. The aquifers concerning GMA 10 planning are the Trinity, Fresh Edwards, Saline Edwards, Leona, Buda andAustin Chalk. In GMA 13 aquifers include the Wilcox, Carrizo, Edwards, Yegua-Jackson, Queen City, Reklaw,
Sparta, and Weches. Learn more about these aquifers by visiting our website and going to the Geological Information
link. Below is a table listing our current DFCs.

GMA

Aquifers

Adopted DFC

Adoption Date

10

Trinity GroupA regional average well drawdown during average
recharge conditions that does not exceed 25 feet(including exempt and non-exempt well use)

August 23, 2010

Saline Edwards

Well drawdown at the saline-freshwater interface(the so called Edwards “bad water line”) in thenorthern subdivision of GMA 10 that averages nomore than 5 feet and does not exceed a maximumof 25 feet at any point on the interface.

August 4, 2010

Carrizo-Wilcox, etal

In Reference to scenario 4 (GAM run 09034), and an average drawdown of 23 ft., for
the Sparta, Weches,Queen City, Reklaw,
Carrizo, and Wilcox Aquifers.

April 9, 2010

10

13

3

James A. Holt Jr., President, Kyle
James O. Lipscomb, Vice-President, Lockhart
Peter Reinecke, Secretary-Treasurer, Luling
Ben Twidwell, Luling
Lucy Knight, Lockhart

PO Box 328

Lockhart, Texas 78644

Phone: 512-398-2383

Fax: 512-398-7776

E-mail: info@pccd.org

Lockhart, Texas 78644

PO Box 328

1403 FM 20 East

Plum Creek Conservation District

Here

Stamp

Place

Wm Feathergail Wilson, PG, Consulting Geologist

Robert Wilson, Consulting Attorney

Korey Schuelke, Field Technician

Daniel Meyer, Assistant Manager

Karen Bassett, Secretary

Johnie Halliburton, Executive Manager

Staff

The Plum Creek Conservation District’s Newsletter is available via email. If you or someone you know would like toreceive our Newsletter via email rather than US Mail then contact our office at (512) 398-2383.

Web Site: www.pccd.org
Fred Rothert, Kyle

Directors

1403 FM 20 East

Plum Creek Conservation District