Hill Country Underground Water Conservation District

The Hill Country Underground Water Conservation District (‘District”) allowed the moratorium that has been in place since July 12, 2022 on issuing new permits on wells used for irrigation, municipal and commercial purposes within Gillespie County to expire on April 6, 2023.  In its place at the April 4, 2023 board meeting, following a public hearing, the District voted to declare a Critical Groundwater Depletion Area Category One Classification for the Ellenburger Aquifer in the southeastern portion of Gillespie County (click here for map…area shaded in purple) for new permits used for irrigation, municipal and commercial purposes. The aforementioned area will be referred to as Ellenburger Critical Groundwater Depletion Area 1 (“ECGDA 1”).  Notice of the hearing was posted in the Fredericksburg Standard Newspaper March 15, 2023 edition, as well as on the District’s website and Gillespie County Courthouse.

A CGDA Category One as defined in District Rule 9.3(A)1 states “  A Category One classification will be assigned to an area experiencing critical depletion due to climatic events where the ability of the aquifer to provide sustainable yields at normal usage rates is seriously impaired.  The duration and severity of the climatic conditions will determine the extent and period of the conservation actions taken by the District.  Upon return of normal climatic conditions and adequate recharge to bring the aquifer back to sustainable normal usage, the District will cancel the CGDA.”

The actions the District will take following this declaration will be to reduce the maximum allowable amount of water permitted to be produced from 1 acre foot per acre per year, to 0.5 acre foot per acre per year for the identified service area of the well(s). In addition, all new permitted wells in the ECGDA 1 will be required to have meters on the well.  This only pertains to the new permitted wells producing from the Ellenburger Aquifer in the southeastern portion of Gillespie County.  This does not pertain to non-permitted exempt new wells used for domestic or livestock purposes. Nor does this pertain to new permitted wells completed in non Ellenburger wells (i.e., Edwards, Hensel, Hickory, etc).  The High Historical Groundwater Use Area I and Buffer Zone in this area will remain under its present restrictions and independent of the ECGDA 1, except the maximum allowable amount of water to be permitted in the High Historical Groundwater Use Area Buffer Zone is 0.5 acre foot per acre per year of the service area.

The reason the District is singling out Ellenburger permitted wells is the drawdown in the water levels observed in the District’s monitor wells. This drawdown is due to the extended drought we have been experiencing over the years, and in addition to the volume of new production from the Ellenburger Aquifer in the southeastern portion of Gillespie County in recent years. The Ellenburger Aquifer is the most critical aquifer in the county providing water to municipalities, irrigation users and commercial businesses.  Its continued sustainability is vital not only for today, but for tomorrow.  For this reason, the District has taken the steps necessary to protect this critical water source.