District Mission Statement

The Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District (the District) will develop, promote, and implement management strategies to provide for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharging, and prevention of waste of the groundwater resources, over which it has jurisdiction authority, for the benefit of the people that the District serves.

Time Period for this Plan

This plan becomes effective July 15, 2010, upon adoption by the Board of Directors (the Board) of the District and remains in effect until a revised plan is approved or until July 15, 2015, whichever is earlier.

Guiding Principles

The District was formed, and has been operated from its inception, with the guiding belief that the ownership and pumpage of groundwater is a private property right. The Board has adopted the principle of “education first” and regulation as a last resort in their effort to encourage conservation of the resource. As a result, the rules of the District were designed to give all landowners a fair and equal opportunity to use the groundwater resource underlying their property for beneficial purposes. If, at the request of the constituents of the District, more stringent management strategies are needed to better manage the resource, these strategies will be put in place after an extensive educational process and with the perceived majority approval of the constituents. The District will continue to monitor groundwater quality and quantity in order to better understand the dynamics of the aquifer systems over which it has jurisdiction.

This document is intended for use as a tool to provide continuity in the management of the District. District staff will use the plan as a guide to insure that all aspects of the goals of the District are accomplished. The Board will refer to it for future planning and as a document to measure performance of the District staff on an annual basis.

Conditions can change over time that may cause the Board to modify this document. The dynamic nature of this plan shall be maintained such that the District will continue to best serve the needs of the constituents. At the very least, the Board will review and readopt this plan every five years.

One’s goals, management objectives, and performance standards must be set at an attainable level in order to be realistic and effective. Lofty ideals penned in an effort to be “all things to all people” can be the first step toward disaster. Unreasonably elevated objectives foster potentially damaging results when the objective cannot be met due to a lack of resources; fiscal or technical. One’s goals can also be set too low. Simplistic ideals can foster mediocrity. In both cases, the mission of the goal setting entity is thwarted and the benefactors of the same slighted. Although well meaning, when the failure to attain a goal is realized by those measuring performance, the initial response is to assume that those setting the goals were negligent in performing their duties when, in truth, the goals were unattainable from the start.

In the opinion of the Board, the goals, management objectives, and performance standards put forth in this planning document have been set at a reasonable level considering existing and projected fiscal and technical resources. Conditions may change which could cause change in the management objectives defined to reach the stated goals. The following guidelines will be used to insure that the management objectives are set at a sufficient level to be realistic and effective:

• The District’s constituency will determine if the District’s goals are set at a level that is both meaningful and attainable; through their voting right, the public will appraise the District’s overall performance in the process of electing or re-electing Board members.
• The duly elected Board will guide and direct District staff and will gauge the achievement of the goals set forth in this document.
• The interests and needs of the District’s constituency shall control the direction of the management of the District.
• The Board will endeavor to maintain local control of the privately owned resource over which the District has authority.
• The Board will evaluate District activities on a fiscal year basis. That is, the District budgets operations on a October 1 - September 30 fiscal year. When considering stated goals, management objectives, and performance standards, any reference to the terms annual, annually, or yearly will refer to the fiscal year of the District.

General Description, Location and Extent

The District was created on May 24, 1991, when Governor Ann Richards signed HB 530, 72nd Legislature, into law. The District was confirmed, the Initial Board elected, and an ad valorem tax rate cap of $0.02/$100 valuation was set in an election held in November 1998. Table 1 lists the current Board of Directors, office held, occupation, and term.

Table 1: Board of Directors of the South Plains Underground Water Conservation

The jurisdictional extent of the District is the same as Gaines County and covers approximately 1525 square miles of the Southern High Plains of Texas (Figure 1). Seminole (pop. 6765), the county seat, is the largest municipality in the District. Seagraves (pop. 2421) and Loop (pop. 315) are the other incorporated communities in the District. 
 
The District is bordered on the north by the Sandy Land UWCD(Yoakum County) and South Plains UWCD(Terry and Hockley Counties), on the east by Mesa UWCD(Dawson County), on the south by Andrews County, and on the west by the State of New Mexico. 

The economy of the District is supported predominately by row crop agriculture and oil and gas production. The 330,000 plus acres of irrigated cropland (out of total row crop acreage of 650,000) affords economic stability to the area. The major crops cultivated within the District include cotton, peanuts, grain sorghum, wheat and corn; and, to a lesser extent, watermelons, sunflowers, alfalfa, and cucumbers.

Gaines County has long been known as the number one producer of oil and gas in the state. In 2009, companies produced over 26,000,000 barrels of crude oil in the county.

Topography and Drainage

The land surface in the District is a nearly level to very gently undulating plain. Deep, moderately permeable, sandy soils predominate the region.
Land surface elevation drops from 3700 feet above sea level in the northwest corner of the District to 2935 feet above sea level in the southeast corner of the District.

Several relic drainage ways cross the District from northwest to southeast. These “draws” (Sulfur, McKenzie, Wordswell, Seminole, and Monument) are shallow and usually dry, seldom carrying runoff surface water.

Cedar Lake and McKenzie Lake are the largest salt lakes in the District. In periods of normal rainfall, McKenzie Lake occupies approximately 1,500 acres, and Cedar Lake, approximately 3,500 acres. The lakes are bordered by calcareous soils that support various salt – tolerant sedges and grasses. The soils around the lakes and in the lake bottoms are strongly affected by alkali and are not conducive to agricultural activities.

Playas, or shallow wet-weather lakes, are common in areas where fine sandy loam and sandy clay loam soil types prevail. Playas range in size from 2 to 10 acres and are important vectors for local aquifer recharge.

Groundwater Resources

The District has jurisdiction over all groundwater that lies within the District’s boundaries. Three aquifers, the Ogallala, the Cretaceous, and the Dockum occur within the District. The following is a description of geological formations that may be beneficial to District constituents by providing useable quantities of groundwater.

Ogallala Aquifer

The Ogallala Aquifer is the primary source of groundwater in the District (Fig. 2). Saturated sections range from less than 10 feet to more than 130 feet in the area covered by the District.

The formation consists of heterogeneous sequences of clay, silt, sand and gravel. These sediments are thought to have been deposited by eastward flowing aggrading streams that filled and buried valleys eroded into pre-Ogallala rocks. A resistent layer of calcium carbonate-cemented caliche known locally as the “caprock” occurs near the surface of much of the area (Ashworth and Hopkins, 1995).

Water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer are primarily influenced by the rate of recharge to and discharge from the aquifer.  Recharge to the aquifer occurs primarily by infiltration of precipitation falling on the surface.  To a lesser extent, recharge may also occur by upward leakage from underlying Cretaceous units that, in places, have a higher potentiometric surface than the Ogallala.  Generally, only a small percentage of water from precipitation actually reaches the water table due to a combination of limited annual precipitation (15.8 inches per year), high evaporation rate (60 – 70 inches per year), and slow infiltration rate.
 
Groundwater in the aquifer generally flows from northwest to southeast, normally at right angles to water level contours.  Velocities of less than one foot per day are typical, but higher velocities may occur along filled erosional valleys where coarser grained deposits have greater permeabilities.
  
Discharge from the Ogallala aquifer within the District occurs through the pumping of wells; primarily irrigation wells.  Groundwater pumpage typically exceeds recharge and results in water-level declines (Ashworth and Hopkins, 1995).

The chemical quality of Ogallala groundwater varies greatly across the District. Electrical conductance (EC) varies from less than 1.0 dS/m to over 4.0 dS/m. Generally, groundwater in the eastern and southeastern parts of the District exhibit the highest EC. Isolated occurrence of high EC values elsewhere in the District may be due to pollution through oil field salt water disposal pits or upward leakage and mixing from the underlying Cretaceous aquifer.

The suitability of groundwater for irrigation purposes is largely dependent on the chemical composition of the water and is determined primarily by the total concentration of soluble salts. Some farm acreage in the District is already limited to certain varieties of salt tolerant crops due to limiting or damaging total salt levels.

Cretaceous Aquifer

The Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) aquifer, commonly referred to as the Cretaceous Aquifer, underlies the Ogallala Aquifer in the northern half of the District (Fig. 3). In some areas of the District, the Cretaceous and Ogallala Aquifers may be hydrologically connected. Groundwater in the Cretaceous is generally fresh to slightly saline. Water quality deteriorates where Cretaceous formations are overlain by saline lakes.

Recharge of the Cretaceous occurs directly from the bounding Ogallala formation. Some upward movement of groundwater from the underlying Triassic Dockum formation may occur (Ashworth and Hopkins, 1995). As mentioned earlier, in many places the potentiometric surface of groundwater in the Cretaceous Aquifer is higher than the Ogallala Aquifer, resulting in the upward leakage from the Cretaceous Aquifer. Movement of water in the Cretaceous is generally east to southeast.

Figure 1: Location of the Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District




Figure 2: Extent of the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas
(Adapted from Ashworth and Hopkins, 1995)






Figure 3






Figure 4









Dockum Aquifer

The Dockum Aquifer underlies the Cretaceous and Ogallala formations throughout the District (Fig. 4). The primary water-bearing zone in the Dockum group, commonly called the “Santa Rosa”, consists of up to 700 feet of sand and conglomerate interbedded with layers of silt and shale (Ashworth and Hopkins, 1995). Aquifer permeability is typically low and well yields normally do not exceed 300 gal/min.

Water quality in the Dockum is the main limiting factor when considering its use within the District (Ashworth and Hopkins, 1995). EC values for Dockum groundwater range from 15.0 dS/m to over 50.0 dS/m. Even the most salt tolerant row crops grown cannot withstand such levels of salinity.
Thus, the only practical use of Dockum groundwater may be for make-up water in secondary recovery operations of crude oil. By using water from this aquifer, oil companies could reduce their use of Ogallala and/or Cretaceous groundwater, thereby relieving some pumpage pressure from the freshwater sources.

Surface Water Resources

The only fresh surface water occurring within the District are playa lakes. The playas play an important role in aquifer recharge and support some wildlife when rainfall events are significant enough to cause runoff to accumulate in these naturally occurring depressions. Playas are rarely, if ever, used to support irrigation activities.

As previously mentioned, Cedar Lake and McKenzie Lake are naturally occurring salt lakes within the District. Each of these naturally occurring impoundments support limited wildlife populations, primarily migratory waterfowl and associated opportunistic predators.

Source: TWDB GAM Run 09-018



Table 4: Aquifer Flow

Source: TWDB GAM Run 09-018: *Volume expressed in acre-feet per year

Total Amount of Groundwater Being Used

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) estimated in 1990 that the total recoverable amount of groundwater underlying Gaines County, Texas, was approximately 13.63 million acre-feet (Peckham and Ashworth, 1993). The total useable amount of groundwater underlying the county in 1990 was, of course, dependent on the category of use because of quality limitations. That is, several areas within the county were thought to have had groundwater quality problems severe enough to preclude its use for any purpose. However,
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for the purposes of this plan, to meet the requirements of 36.1072(e)(3)(A), Texas Water Code, and until more accurate data becomes available, we will assume that all of the groundwater underlying the county was useable in 1990 even though we suspect that not to be the case. Please note that the information shown should be used only as a guide, and becomes less and less representative of actual conditions the farther one looks into the future.

Historical Groundwater Use

For the purposes of this plan, the following estimations (Table 5) of the historical quantity of groundwater used in Gaines County will be used as a guide to estimate future demands on the resource in the District. It should be emphasized that the quantities shown are estimates.

Recharge of the Aquifer System

Recharge of the aquifer system in the District mainly occurs in two ways: 1) infiltration of precipitation runoff in and around playa lakes and 2) direct infiltration of precipitation into the coarse eolian surfical deposits.

The TWDB Southern Ogallala GAM Run 09-018 estimates recharge to be 93,272 ac-ft/yr. The models do not consider recharge to the underling units due to the presence of the overlying Ogallala Aquifer.

Projected Groundwater Supply and Demand

As mentioned earlier, the District’s Board of Directors understands that, currently, the usage of groundwater exceeds recharge and water levels are declining. However, the Board also realizes that declining water levels have reduced the ability to produce as much groundwater. Consequently, it is estimated that the projected usage of groundwater is likely to decrease over time. While the cycle of groundwater usage typically has highs and lows, the trend is likely declining, In fact, some previously irrigated farms have been converted to dryland farms during recent years.

Water Management Strategies

“Irrigation has unmet needs. There are no irrigation Water Management Strategies (WMS (s)) for this Water User Group (WUG) and this WUG has an exception for WMS(s). This WUG’s need was not met with WUS(s) because a WUS is not feasible”
Source: 2007 State Water Plan Volume lll, Regional Water Planning Group Database 2007
The management strategy for the Seagraves municipal supply need is local groundwater development. The City of Seagraves may need to purchase or develop additional local groundwater rights. The City of Seminole plans to implement a water conservation strategy to save approximately 1000 acre – feet by 2060.

Management of Groundwater Resources

The District will endeavor to manage groundwater resources over which it has jurisdiction in order to conserve the resource while seeking to maintain the economic viability of the District’s constituents. A water level monitoring network will be established in order to track changes in the total volume of groundwater in storage each year. Likewise, a water quality monitoring network will be established in order to track water quality changes each year. The District willemploy all technical resources at its disposal to monitor and evaluate the groundwater resource. Programs to encourage conservation of groundwater will be designed and implemented as need dictates.

In October 1999, the Board, after notice and hearing, adopted the rules of the District. The rules address conservation of the groundwater resources of the District through: well permitting, well spacing, well registration, well completion, pumping limitations, open well capping, and standards for plugging wells. As conditions dictate, and with the approval of the constituents of the District, the Board will consider the modification of the rules to further the mission of the District. When considering modification or enforcement of the rules, the Board will base its decisions on the best technical evidence available. All constituents will be treated equally and fairly when applying the rules of the District.

Estimate of Managed Available Groundwater

“Estimate of Managed Available Groundwater”
The Desired Future Conditions for the aquifers located within the District boundaries and within Groundwater Management Area 2 have not been established; therefore, an estimate of the managed available groundwater is not available at this time. The District is actively working with the other member districts within Groundwater Management Area 2 towards determining the desired future conditions for each aquifer located within the district. Once these are established an estimate of the managed available groundwater will be determined. The District will amend the management plan at that time.”

Drought Contingency Plan

Drought is a normal, recurrent feature of climate, although many erroneously consider it a rare and random event. Drought is also a temporary aberration, and differs from aridity, which is restricted to low rainfall regions and is a permanent feature of climate (“What is Drought?, National Drought Mitigation Center”). The Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District is in an arid region that also experiences drought. However, even in the midst of a drought, rainfall at crucial times of the growing season may significantly reduce irrigation water demand.

Drought response conservation measures typically used in other regions of Texas (i.e. rationing) cannot and are not used in this region due to extreme economic impact potential. In the District, groundwater conservation is stressed at all times. The Board recognizes that irrigated agriculture provides the economic stability to the communities within the District. Therefore, through the notice and hearing provisions required in the development and adoption of this management plan, the Board adopts the official position that, in times of precipitation shortage, irrigated agricultural producers will not be limited to any less usage of groundwater than is provided for by District rules.

In order to treat all other groundwater user groups fairly and equally, the District will encourage more stringent conservation measures, where practical, but likewise, will not limit groundwater use in anyway not already provided for by District rules.
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Actions, Procedures, Performance and Avoidance for Plan Implementation

The District will implement the provisions of this plan and will utilize the provisions of this plan as a guidepost for determining the direction or priority for all District activities. All operations of the District, all agreements entered into by the District and any additional planning efforts in which the District may participate will be consistent with the provisions of this plan.

The District will adopt rules relating to the permitting of wells and the production of groundwater. The rules adopted by the District shall be pursuant to TWC § 36 and the provisions of this plan. All rules will be adhered to and enforced. The promulgation and enforcement of the rules will be based on the best technical evidence available.

The District shall treat all citizens with equality. Citizens may apply to the District for discretion in enforcement of the rules on grounds of adverse economic effect or unique local conditions. In granting of discretion to any rule, the Board shall consider the potential for adverse effect on adjacent landowners. The exercise of said discretion by the District Board shall not be construed as limiting the power of the District Board.
The District will seek the cooperation in the implementation of this plan and the management of groundwater supplies within the District. All activities of the District will be undertaken in cooperation and coordinated with the appropriate state, regional or local management entity.

Regional Planning

The Board of Directors recognizes the regional water plan requirements listed in Ch. 36, TWC, 36.1071. Namely, the District’s management plan must be forwarded to the regional water planning group for their consideration in their planning process, and the plan must address water supply needs such that there is no conflict with the approved regional water plan. It is the Board’s belief that no such conflict exists.

The Board agrees that the regional water plan should include the District’s best data. The Board also recognizes that the regional water planning process provides a necessary overview of the region’s water supply and needs. However, the Board also believes it is the duty of the District to develop the best and most accurate information concerning groundwater within the District.

Legislative Activity

The 75th Texas Legislature officially recognized groundwater districts as the preferred method of managing groundwater resources (36.0015, Texas Water Code). Since its inception, the District has attempted to communicate with national and state lawmakers to ensure that the property rights and other groundwater related interests of its constituents are protected. The Board will continue to support the District’s participation in the legislative process, to the greatest extent fiscally possible, to ensure that the interests of the District’s constituency are represented. The District will attempt to keep the constituents informed of legislative activities through news releases, newsletters, and public speaking engagements.
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Weather Modification

Since 2000, the District has participated in a weather modification program. Beginning 2002, the District is a participant in the Southern Ogallala Aquifer Rainfall Enhancement (SOAR) program, which is administered by the Sandy Land UWCD. Currently, the program contains two groundwater conservation districts: Sandy Land UWCD and the Llano Estacado UWCD.

The Llano Estacado UWCD Board of Directors believes that weather modification is a management tool that can help relieve some pressure from our groundwater resources. Rainfall at crucial points of the growing season may mean significantly less groundwater used for irrigation. Additionally, the Board hopes that the benefits of convective cloud seeding will contribute to enhanced recharge of the groundwater resources.

The Board understands that State funding for weather modification has been cut and hopes that local funding remains sufficient for continued participation.

Goals, Management Objectives and Performance Standards

Method for Tracking the District’s Progress in Achieving Management Goals
The District Manager will prepare an annual report of the District’s performance achieving management goals and objectives. The report will be prepared in a format that will be reflective of the performance standards listed following each management objective. The report will be presented to the Board within 60 days of the end of each fiscal year. The report will be maintained on file in the open records of the District.

The District will actively enforce all rules of the District in order to conserve, preserve, protect and prevent the waste of the groundwater resources over which the District has jurisdictional authority. The Board will periodically review the District’s rules, and may modify the rules, with public approval, to better manage the groundwater resources within the District and to carry out the duties prescribed in Chapter 36, Texas Water Code.

Goal 1.0
Implement management strategies that will protect and enhance the quantity of useable quality groundwater by encouraging the most efficient use.

Management Objective-Water Level Monitoring
1.01 Annually, measure the depth to water in the District’s water level monitoring network; record all measurements and/or observations; enter all measurements into District’s computer database; file all field notes in District’s filing system; maintain a network of measurement wells of 172 or more wells.

Performance Standards
1.01a Number of water level monitoring wells for which measurements were recorded each year
1.01b Number of water level monitoring wells for which field notes were written describing reason for inability to attain measurements each year
1.01c Number of data records entered into District’s data base each year
1.01d Number of water level measurement wells for which field notes are filed in District’s filing system each year
1.01e Number of wells in the water level measurement network each year
1.01f Number of wells added to the network, if required, each year

Management Objective-Technical Field Services
1.02 Provide technical field services including, but not limited to: flow testing, draw down measurement, sprinkler pattern efficiency testing, and water management strategy consultation. Record any observations, measurements, etc. in field log. Enter recorded information in District’s database

Performance Standards
1.02a Number of field service test performed, as evidenced by field log, each year
1.02b Number of records entered into District’s computer database each year .

Management Objective-Laboratory Services
1.03 Provide basic water quality testing services. Maintain a record of tests performed by entering the results in the District’s database. Communicate results of analyses to well owners.

Performance Standards
1.03a Number of laboratory service tests
1.03b Number of records entered into District’s database each year
1.03c Number of results communicated to well owners

Management Objective – Irrigation Monitoring
1.04 Monitor seasonal irrigation applications using a network of cooperative producers. Prepare monthly reports for cooperators that include the seasonal irrigation applications. Acquire yield data and analyze crop water use efficiency.

Performance Standards
1.04a Number of irrigation systems in the cooperative program
1.04b Number and type of crops monitored
1.04c Average irrigation application by crop

Management Objective-Center Pivot Inventories
1.05 Beginning in 2002, and again every three years thereafter, perform a physical inventory of the number and type of all irrigation systems in the District. Note which center pivot irrigation systems have Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) spaced nozzles as a measure of adoption of more efficient irrigation technology. Enter data in District’s database file by block and section.

Performance Standards
1.05a Number of irrigation systems recorded each documenting period
1.05b Percentage of center pivot irrigation systems with LEPA spaced nozzles each documenting period
1.05c Number of active irrigation systems by type in District’s database

Goal 2.0 Controlling and preventing waste.

Management Objective-Well Permitting and Well Completion
2.01 Issue temporary water well drilling permits for the drilling and completion of non-exempt water wells, and well registrations for the drilling of exempt water wells. Inspect all well sites to be assured that the District’s completion and spacing standards are met. Send written notification to the well owner if the well initially fails to meet standards. The Board will vote on final approval of the permit at the next regularly scheduled meeting after the well site has been inspected and District well completion standards have been met.

Performance Standards
2.01a Number of water well drilling permits issued each year
2.01b Number of well sites inspected after well completion each year
2.01c Number of well sites that initially fail to meet the standards of the District each year

Management Objective-Open, Deteriorated or Uncovered Wells
2.02 If an open, deteriorated or uncovered well is found, the District will insure that the open hole is properly closed according to District rules and, in so doing, prevent potential contamination of the groundwater resource. The reports shall be filed on forms provided by the District in order to track the progress of the closure process. The District will contact the party responsible for the open, deteriorated or uncovered well within 30 days of same being reported. The site will be inspected after notification to ensure the well closure process occurs within 60 days of the initial contact with the responsible party. If the well is not closed by the end of the 60 day period, the District will pursue the available options at its disposal and remedy the well violation.

Performance Standards
2.02a Number of open, deteriorated or uncovered wells
2.02b Number of initial inspections accomplished each year
2.02c Average number of days required to make initial contact with responsible party each year
2.02d Average number of days required to complete closure of open or uncovered wells each year
2.02e Number of wells remaining open or uncovered after 60 day period that are closed in accordance with District rules each year

Management Objective-Maximum Allowable Production
2.03 The District will investigate reports of groundwater in excess of the maximum production allowable under the District’s rules. Investigation of each occurrence shall occur within 30 days of receiving the report. Each case will be remedied in accordance with District rules.

Performance Standards
2.03a Number of reports
2.03b Average amount of time taken to investigate reports each year
2.03c Number of incidences where violations occurred and violators were required to change operations to be in compliance with District rules each year

Management Objective-Water Quality Monitoring
2.04 Beginning in 2001, District staff will obtain water quality samples from 100 or more irrigation wells for analysis of total salts and total chlorides, in order to track water quality changes in the District, and will resample 90% of the wells sampled the previous year. The results of the tests will be published in map form, entered in to the District’s computer database, and will be made available to the public.

Performance Standards
2.04a Number of samples collected and analyzed each year
2.04b Percent of previously sampled wells that were sampled in the current testing year.
2.04c Number of maps made available to the public each year
2.04d Number of analyses entered into District’s computer database each year

Goal 3.0 Drought Conditions

Management Objective-Rain Gauges
3.01 Maintain a network of rain gauges in the District. Publish monthly and yearly rainfall totals on the District’s web site
Performance Standards
3.01a Number of rain gauges in the network
3.01b Number of monthly rain gauge readings

Goal 4.0 Conservation

Management Objective – Classroom Education
4.01 The District will sponsor the “Major Rivers” (or similar) water conservation education curriculum, for 4th grade schools within the District. Annually, the District will sponsor water conservation education book covers for public schools within the District.

Performance Standards
4.01a Number of 4th grade schools where “Major Rivers” (or similar) curriculums are distributed each year
4.01b Number of book covers distributed to each school each year

Management Objective-Newsletter
4.02 The District will produce a minimum of four newsletter editions. Newsletters will be distributed to District constituents and other interested parties. At a minimum, two articles per year will be included that address methods of enhancing and protecting the quantity of useable quality groundwater within the District. Performance Standards
4.01a Number of newsletter editions published each year
4.01b Number of newsletters distributed each year
4.01c Number of articles that address methods of enhancing and protecting the quantity of useable quality groundwater each year

Management Objective-News Releases
4.03 District staff will prepare a minimum of four news releases addressing groundwater protection and / or conservation. Performance Standard
4.03a Number of news releases prepared for publication in local newspapers.

Management Objective-Public Speaking Engagements
4.04 The District staff and/or directors shall present a minimum of four programs concerning groundwater protection and / or conservation. Performance Standard
4.04a Number of programs

Management Objective-Printed Material Resource Center and Technical File
4.05 Maintain a self-service printed material resource center in the District office. Conduct an annual inventory items. Through the inventory process, determine the number and type of materials procured from the center by the public each year. Maintain a technical filing system of resource materials and annually record the number of copies procured from the technical file by the public. Performance Standards
4.05a Number of items by type procured by the public from the resource center each year
4.05b Number of items copied and given to the public from the technical file each year

Management Objective-Saturated Thickness Maps
4.06 Every 5 years, beginning 2005, provide saturated thickness maps that show the varying thickness of groundwater remaining in storage. Performance Standards
4.06a Number of saturated thickness maps displayed and/or printed at the District office

Management Objective-Conservation Literature
4.07 Maintain a portion of the District’s material resource center devoted to water conservation. Stock this portion with conservation tips for both home water conservation and farm conservation Performance Standards
4.07a Number of brochures/periodicals dedicated to conservation
4.07b Number of conservation brochures/periodicals obtained by the public

Goal 5.0 Rainwater Harvesting

Management Objective – Public Awareness Program
5.01 The District will conduct an educational program for this conservation strategy at least once a year
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Performance Standards
5.01a Document the type of program conducted (i.e. newsletter article, public presentation)

Goal 6.0 Precipitation Enhancement

Management Objective 6.01
The District will conduct at least one weather modification activity during five
months (April, May, June, July and August) of each year to increase rainfall.

Performance Standards
6.02 Number of months that weather modification activities took place.

Goal 7.0 Controlling and preventing subsidence
(not applicable)

Goal 8.0 Conjunctive surface water management issues
(not applicable)

Goal 9.0 Natural resource issues
(not applicable)

Goal 10.0 Recharge Enhancement
10.01 A review of past work conducted by others indicates this goal is not appropriate at present. Therefore this goal is not applicable.

Goal 11.0 Brush Control
11.01 Existing programs administered by the USDA – NRCS are sufficient for
addressing this goal. The Board does not believe that this activity is cost-
effective and applicable for the District at this time. Therefore this goal is not
applicable.

Goal 12.0 Desired future condition of the aquifers
12.01 Although the District is currently involved in establishing DFC’s for the
relevant aquifers, the DFC has not been approved at this time. Therefore this goal is not applicable
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References

Ashworth, J. B. and Hopkins, J., 1995, Aquifers of Texas: Texas Water Development Board Report 345, 69 p.
HDR Engineering, Inc., 2000, Llano Estacado Regional Water Plan, Water Supplies and Water Needs Identified by Water User Group, Austin, TX, 93p.
Oliver, Wade, Texas Water Development Board Groundwater Availability Modeling Section: GAM Run 09-018
Knowles, T., Nordstrom, P. L., and Klemt, W. B., 1984 Evaluating the Groundwater Resources of the High Plains of Texas: Texas Department of Water Resources Report 288, 4 vol.
Peckham, D. S. and Ashworth, J. B., 1993, The High Plains Aquifer System of Texas, 1980 to 1990 Overview and Projections: Texas Water Development Board Report 341, 34 p.
Pederson, C. D., et al, 1997, Water for Texas: A Consensus Based Update to the State Water Plan: Texas Water Development Board, 3 vol.
Rainwater, K., 1998, Personal Communication, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
Sanders, D., 1962, Soil Survey of Terry County, Texas, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., 57 p.

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