Ruby Ranch Water Supply Corporation

The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) is offering a free water well screening day for area residents on Thursday, April 16.  Samples can be processed while you wait from 10am-4pm.  After-hour drop-off available starting at 5pm April 15.  Samples must be taken within 24 hours of analysis for best results.

Hydrogeology, water treatment, septic system, and landscape experts will be available to answer questions while samples are being processed from 11am-1pm.

Samples from private water wells will be screened for common contaminants:  fecal coliform bacteria, nitrate, and salinity.

BSEACD will cover the analysis cost for private wells within its boundary.  Samples must be turned in to the BSEACD office.  Limited to the first 50 to pre-register.  Pre-registration will begin Monday, March 15.  Bacteria will be processed by an off-site lab, and results will be mailed.

More information:

•  Aquifer District Water Well Check-up
•  Aquifer District Maps
•  Aquifer District Well Owner Guide
•  National Groundwater Association Well Owner website

 

Ruby Ranch Water Supply Corporation will hold an open meeting on Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 7:00 P.M., at 1636 Ruby Ranch Road, Buda, Hays County, Texas 78610. The meeting agenda may be viewed here

Friday, November 21, 2014: At the November 20th Board Meeting, the Board of Directors approved with the Incidental Take Permit (ITP) application and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for submittal to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The District’s HCP supports the application for an ITP for a 20-year period. The permit would allow for continued managed pumping (the covered activity) of the Aquifer by District permittees, provided the proposed HCP measures minimize and mitigate the incidental take and avoids jeopardy (the inability of the salamander to survive or recover from the take) of salamanders.  Ultimately, the HCP measures safeguard the continued sustainable use of the Aquifer and survival of the endangered salamanders.

The HCP was developed, refined, and reviewed through a rigorous public process over the past ten years and benefitted from input and recommendations from stakeholders, subject experts, and advisory committee members.  With the proposed HCP conservation measures in place and with the proposed monitoring, adaptive management, and reporting programs described in the HCP the District reasonably expects to be able to achieve the objectives of sustainably managing use of the Aquifer as a water supply, minimizing and mitigating the incidental take of the salamanders, ensuring their survival, and the avoidance of jeopardy.

The application and supporting material will be submitted next week after minor changes identified by the Board are incorporated.  The draft HCP, history of the HCP development process, and supporting materials can be found online at www.bseacd.org/projects/habitat-conservation-plan/.