Besides a possible connection to the Possum Kingdom Reservoir and a cloud seeding program, the council also heard a presentation on aquifer storage. David Bell, director of the West Central Texas Municipal Water District, answered council questions about a study of an aquifer in Jones County. The aquifer could be used as a giant underground storage tank, Bell said. The advantage of aquifer storage, Bell said, is that underground water does not evaporate. Bell said preliminary estimates show the aquifer could provide as much as 11 million gallons of water a day, if the city filled the aquifer during wet times and drew from it during droughts.
Some questions are still unanswered.
Texas has no law regarding underground water rights, meaning any landowner can sink a well into the aquifer and draw from it. Bell also wanted to assure farmers in the area that the water district would not drain the aquifer if it could connect to it. E.W. Scripps Publications , All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement . We also have a Privacy Policy .