The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, which manages the water supply for about 70,000 Central Texans in southeastern Travis, northeastern Hays, and northwestern Caldwell Counties, is proposing to revise its groundwater management plan. At least every five years, groundwater conservation districts are required to update and/or re-adopt management plans to reflect current goals, objectives, and strategies that serve as the basis for district operation, including regulatory, scientific, and educational programs. The management plan defines the approach that the District will use to preserve, conserve, and protect the groundwater resources of the District. The Proposed Management Plan will be the subject of a Public Hearing on July 26, 2012, at the District office at 6:30 PM. Written comments will be accepted until that time, and the staff and Board of Directors will then revise the Proposed Management Plan, with the intent to consider adopting the Proposed Management Plan in its August 23 meeting. A current draft of the Proposed Management Plan is posted on the District website at www.bseacd.org, and hard copies are available to view and copy at District headquarters (1124 Regal Row, Austin 78748).
The District’s proposed revisions to its Management Plan improve the District’s ability to responsibly and sustainably manage the District’s groundwater resources in an area that is experiencing rapidly increasing water demands associated with intensive regional growth and development. The District’s General Manager, Kirk Holland, observed, “The Management Plan is not only a strategic and tactical operating plan but in effect authorizes what we as a groundwater conservation district now can, and cannot, do.” He went on to note that, “These revisions don’t represent a fundamentally new way of managing our groundwater resources, but they do refine our approach and provide more specifics on how we will achieve and maintain the desired future condition of our aquifers.”
For more information on the management plan revision process, or about providing verbal and written input to the process, please contact the District office at (512) 282-8441.
Useful Links:
Proposed Management Plan & Appendices: www.bseacd.org/about-us/governing-documents#Revisions
Archived Press Releases: www.bseacd.org/publications/press-releases/