PLUM CREEKCONSERVATION
DISTRICT

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

2 8 ,

2 0 1 9LATEST SITE-WORKS REACH COMPLETION; MORE ON TAP
INSIDE THISISSUE:

Latest Site-Works
Near Completion;
More On Tap
Page 1
Hays County Dams
Receive Flood
GaugesPage 2Districts,
Permittees Work
Together to Learn
About Carrizo
Page 2
New Staff &Director
Page 3
Water
Conservation Tip
Page 42019 Water Levels
Page 42018 Groundwater
UsePage 5

Well Monitoring
Program Goes
Techy
Page 5Sites 11 and 16 are located in the Niederwald area and both are listed as “high-hazard” by
the TCEQ, based on potential for loss of life and or property, should the dam fail. The Sites
received similar work this summer—primarily rip-rap placement along the earthen, upstream
face of the dams. Funding for the Site 16 work came from a federal program, while Site 11
work
wasfinanced
predominately by stateand federal sources.
The factors necessitating
the work differed. Site 11
sufferedwave-action
erosion during Hurricane
Harvey and thus received
partial funding through aNationalResources
ConservationServiceProgram as well as state
aid from the Texas State
SoilandWater
Conservation
Board(TSSWCB) covered themajority of the bill, and theDistrict was left to match
just 0.5% of the total
project cost. Meanwhile,
Site 16 work was aRemediation
Project—
different from both EWP
work and Rehabilitation(such as Site 6 underwent in 2018).

Neatly laid rip-rap extends the length of the berm at Site 16 andwill prevent wave erosion from future Harvey-like storms.

The District anticipates only a brief reprieve before solicitation for bids begins on the next
tandem of site-works, which will both be Rehabilitations. Site 10 is set to become only thesecond PCCD dam to utilize a concrete spillway. Dual-auxiliary Site 28 will receive a secondriser, an increase in the diameter of the primary spillway pipe, and the widening of one of
the auxiliary spillways. Sites 12 and 21 are other high-hazard dams which have beenprioritized for Rehab. At present, no definitive dates have been set for these projects.

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2HAYS COUNTY DAMS RECEIVE FLOOD GUAGESThe District will now be able to remotely track stage levels
in real-time for five of its Hays County flood control
structures. PCCD was approached by Hays County
Emergency Services (HCES) with the idea to place floodgauges (left) on high-hazard PCCD dams in the Kyle area.
Hays County had already secured grants to pay for theinstallation of the gauges at the time they approached
PCCD. Additionally, HCES agreed to cover any future
Operations and Maintenance costs.
The flood gauges will allow District Staff to know how fulldams are, even during the most intense precipitation
events. In times past, flooded roads prevented Staff frombeing able to physically get to the sites to see the waterlevels. Furthermore, data can be viewed at intervals
ranging from three days to three months (right). This
allows the District to detect inflow patterns, which is

becoming increasingly important withincreasing development near thesedams.
HCES Interim Director, Justin McInnis,
delivered an informationalpresentation regarding the floodgauges to the District Board ofDirectors at the October Board
Meeting.

DISTRICTS, PERMITEES WORK TOGETHER TO LEARN ABOUT CARRIZOA multi-entity monitor well drilling project is underway in the Carrizo Aquifer. Spearheadedby Gonzalez UWCD and funded by their major water supply permit holders (one of which
also holds permits with PCCD), PCCD and Guadalupe County GCD were invited to play a rolein the project which will ultimately see up to 19 monitoring wells implemented in all three
involved districts’ boundaries.
The end goal of the project is to better understand the characteristics of the Carrizo Aquifer(namely estimating the saturated thickness) in the northern extent of GMA 13 and to monitor the Desired Future Condition (DFC) for the Carrizo, which is maintaining 75% of the aquifer’s saturated thickness.
PCCD opted not to enter contractually into the project, but did agree to provide geologic
consulting services. The District’s geologist, William Feathergail Wilson, has preformed lithology analysis on each of the wells completed to date.

PCCD WELCOMES TWO NEW STAFF

Alan Burklund is a native of Lockhart. Alan is mechanically inclined and has a strong background inrange management. Alan earned his bachelors degree in Agriculture from Tarleton State University.

After serving in the Marine Corps, Matt Shaw andfamily relocated to the Kyle area where Matt completed his Geography-Water Resources Management degree at Texas State University.

Alan and Matt will be handling field work and technical duties. Matt and Alan bring different, but
valuable skillsets and experiences to the District. Matt and Alan have enjoyed working with one
another and for PCCD. They look forward to continuing to serve the residents of Plum CreekConservation District.

WELCOME NEW DIRECTOR—TOM OWEN
On January 15th , 2019, Mr. Tom Owen, was sworn
in as member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Owen
will be representing the rural Lockhart area for
Plum Creek Conservation District.
Mr. Owen has been a lifelong resident of Caldwell
County, a graduate of Texas A&M, and is currently
employed in the agricultural industry as an Area
Business manager for Bayer Crop Science,
representing the Dekalb and Deltapine brands in
Texas and Oklahoma. Mr. Owen also owns,operates and manages a family farm in theMcMahan area. In his spare time Mr. Owen enjoys
time working with his cattle and Sacred HarpSinging.
The District welcomes Mr. Owen and looks forward
to his service as a Board member.

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WATER CONSERVATION TIP
While the need to subdue unruly brush may not be anything new to landowners in Central Texas,
potential impacts to water resources from brush removal may be something that has been largely
unconsidered. Water–loving plants, or phreatophytes, can consume substantial quantities ofgroundwater, thanks to long tap roots. Mesquite, huisache, salt cedar, cottonwoods, and willows arecommon Central Texas phreatophytes. Though not considered a phreatophyte, invasive ashe juniper
thickets consume far more water than the native grasses they choke out.
On the heels of a 2015 Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) study regarding
impacts of brush removal on recharge rates over the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer Outcrop, PCCD undertook
several major brush clearing projects in Fiscal year 2018. Although the District’s primary purpose in
the removals was to ensure proper functioning of flood control structures, several of the cleared
areas overlaid aquifer recharge zones, and thus may have a beneficial secondary purpose.
While the District funded removal projects via grants from TSSWCB’s Flood Control Operation &Maintenance Grant Program, financial assistance is available for private property owners through
TSSWCB’s Water Supply Enhancement Program (WSEP). A similar initiative exists at the federal levelin the Natural Resource Conservation
Service’s Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP).
For more detailed information on theDistrict’s management activities in FY
2018, Request a copy of PCCD’s
Brush Control Report.

Site 24’s plunge pool area before (left) brushmanagement, and after (right). Site 24 resides on
the Wilcox Aquifer Recharge Zone.

2019 WATER LEVELS
The table below shows water levels for 8 wells that were measured between July 18, 2019 and August
1, 2019, respectively, along with their corresponding 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 toschedule a time to measure your well. A complete listing of PCCD water levels can be found on ourwebsite at www.pccd.org
Well2019 Levels

Lowest Recorded Level

Kosarek- 46.5- 50.8Larsen- 18.8- 22.8

Lipscomb
Lockhart #8
McCormick #2- 88.1- 95.1- 66.0- 93.9- 108.0- 71.00

McCormick #1- 69.8- 71.75

Collier- 64.4- 70.6Wells- 82.65- 90.35

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52018 PCCD GROUNDWATER USE
PCCD permit holders used 1,706.1 acre-feet, or approximately 10%, of the 17,504 acre-feet of
permitted groundwater in 2018. This year saw the District expanded permit use categories toinclude Agriculture as well as Irrigation & Livestock, as reflected in the 2018 Water Use-by
Category pie graph (below, right). Comparing 2018 water use to use five years prior, we seethat livestock, agriculture, and irrigation percentage decreased, likely due in part to 2018 being a relatively wet year. Poultry operations seem to be expanding within the district, or atleast relying more on groundwater to meet their needs. Finally, the charts show a slight decrease in the proportion of permitted water being utilized for Public Supply. This trend may become to abrupt end, as large-scale production has been permitted in the Carrizo Aquifer inthe southeast extent of the District. The water produced from these new wells, which arescheduled to come online in 2021, will be exported to communities along the I-35 corridor.
For more information, you can request a copy of PCCD’s 2018 Water Use Report.

WELL MONITORING PROGRAM GOES TECHYIn order to 1) increase data regarding water level
fluctuations throughout the District and 2)reduce
manhours and expenses associated with manualwell monitoring, the District increased its inventoryof Eno Scientific Well Watch 660 Sonic Water Level
Meters (“Enos”; right, top) in summer 2019. Having
purchased an initial acoustic-sounding device in2018; taking time to familiarize Staff with operation;and being satisfied with the monitor’s accuracy
compared to manual e-line well readings, PCCD invested in three additional units. While these meters can be used fora one-time level reading, the greater use is to leave them in place tolog at specified intervals. The Eno also gives the District an alternative to its HOBO system, which, though available conveniently as aBluetooth cellphone app, can only be used on an open well. The only limiting factor to the Eno’s logging capability is battery life. Withthis in mind, District Staff designed and fabricated weather-proof,
solar-powered battery cases (right, bottom). Contact the District
office if you are interested in having one of these technologies applied to your well.

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