Ruby Ranch Water Supply Corporation

(Austin) – The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District has announced the winners of the Kent S. Butler Memorial Groundwater Stewardship College Scholarship Essay Contest and its Aquatic Science Adventure Camp Scholarship program.

The District would like to thank Creedmoor-Maha WSC, Texas Lehigh Cement Company, St. Andrews Episcopal School, and Goforth Water SUD for donating a portion of their Conservation Credits to the scholarship program.

Kent S. Butler Memorial Groundwater Stewardship College Scholarship

The District’s college scholarship is dedicated as a memorial scholarship honoring one of Austin’s most influential environmental planners, Dr. Kent S. Butler.  Dr. Butler specialized in bringing science and policy together.  He encouraged open conversation, collaboration, and participation from all perspectives. The Kent S. Butler Groundwater Stewardship Scholarship Essay Contest increases the awareness of groundwater issues by rewarding high school students for high quality research and writing.

This year’s winner of the essay contest is Bowie High School junior Jenna Trejo. An independent evaluation panel scored Ms. Trejo’s essay, titled “Kubla Khan: Protecting Our Groundwater One Drop at a Time,” with the highest marks for content, accuracy of information, originality, grammar, quality of research, and style.  She will receive a $2,500 scholarship to the college, community college, or training institution of her choice.  Essays had to focus generally on groundwater or groundwater issues; however, it was not mandatory that applicants be planning a career in water resources.  High School students attending public schools in the Austin, Eanes, Dripping Springs, Hays Consolidated, Del Valle, Bastrop, and Lockhart Independent School Districts, as well as private and home-schooled students in these areas, were eligible.

District staff selected at-large judges from the Austin area along with a District staff member to read and evaluate the essays.  This year’s judges were Christy Muse, Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance; Louise Liller, Volunteer Coordinator with the City of Austin; Doug Wierman, Environmental Consultant with ERM; Dave Anderson, Consultant with FORM; Stacey Steinbach, Executive Director of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts; Jennifer Walker, Water Resources Coordinator with the Sierra Club; and Vanessa Escobar, BSEACD Regulatory Compliance Coordinator.

Aquatic Science Adventure Camp Scholarships

The District awards program also includes additional age groups of District-area students through scholarships to the Edwards Aquifer Data and Research Center’s Aquatic Science Adventure Camp at Texas State University in San Marcos.  This very successful program required interested students to submit an application and a 1-page essay/artwork entitled “Why I want to attend the Aquatic Science Adventure Camp!” to establish eligibility. The contest was open to children ages 9 through 15 who reside in one of the six school districts that cross the District’s boundary.

Four winners for 5-day camp scholarships and five winners for 2-day camp scholarships were chosen in a random drawing.  2014 Winners of the 5-day camp scholarship are Somaya Jimenez-Haham of Austin Discovery School and Skylar Koenig, Katelyn Alren, and Savannah Kelsey of Pfluger Elementary School.  2014 Winners of the 2-day camp scholarship are Griffin Rans of Mills Elementary, Kaitlyn Manire of Gorzycki Middle School, and Megan Morris, Sarai Diaz, and McKenzi Pritchard of Pfluger Elementary.

All winners are invited to be special guests of the District’s Board of Directors at its regular meeting at 6:00pm on Thursday, May 8th, to be officially acknowledged and commended for their efforts.  The meeting will be held a District Headquarters at 1124 Regal Row, Austin, 78748.  Public and media are welcome.

For information about future scholarship programs visit www.bseacd.org.

BSEACD is a groundwater conservation district charged by the Texas Legislature to preserve, conserve, and protect the aquifers and groundwater resources within its jurisdiction, which includes parts of three Central Texas counties.  It is governed by a Board of five elected directors and staffed with hydrogeologists, groundwater regulatory compliance specialists, environmental educators, geospatial systems specialists, and administrative support personnel.

On April 24, 2014 the Barton Springs / Edwards Aquifer Conservation District declared an Alarm Stage Drought which requires the Utility to reduce water usage by 20%.

• A drought surcharge will be added to customers’ water bills for usage in excess of 15,000 gallons per month.
• The following water rates will take effect for usage after the May meter reading (estimated to be May 19, 2014). The statement received about July 1, 2014 will reflect these increased rates.

The base rate is $32.00 and includes 2,000 gallons.

Usage	Cost Per 1,000 gallons
2,001 to 10,000	$2.50
10,001 to 15,000	$3.00
15,000 to 20,000	$5.50
20,001 to 30,000	$9.00
30,001 to 50,000	$15.00
50,001 to 100,000	$21.00
100,000 up	$30.00

For more detailed information about the RRWSC drought plan go to page 6 of the following: http://rubyranchwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Tariff_RRWSC_Appendix- D_UDCP_Adopted_April_5_2011.pdf.

For additional BSEACD drought status information go to the following website: http://www.bseacd.org/aquifer-science/drought-status/.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding and please make every effort to help us conserve water.

The District’s Board of Directors declared Stage II Alarm Drought at a meeting on April 24^th. This drought declaration is effective immediately and affects some 60,000 groundwater users in parts of Hays, Travis and Caldwell counties.

Lovelady monitor well, one of the District’s two drought-trigger sites, has fallen below its Stage II Alarm Drought water level of 478.4 feet above mean sea level. 10-day average discharge at Barton Springs, the District’s other drought trigger site, still remains above its Drought threshold of 38 cubic feet per second, but is expected to drop below sometime in May. Only one of the two drought stage triggers needs to be reached for a drought declaration to be made.

Declaration of Stage II Alarm Drought requires all of the District’s permittees to implement mandatory measures specified in their User Drought Contingency Plans to meet monthly pumpage reduction requirements.  All permittees must achieve at least a 20% reduction in monthly pumpage.  Permittees with certain conditional permits may have to reduce use even further.  End-user customers served by water utilities on groundwater wells are required to comply with their utility’s water use restrictions for this drought stage.  Generally, restricting outdoor water use, including limiting landscape irrigation, pool filling & refilling, and non-essential water use such as water fountains, is sufficient to reach monthly pumpage targets for Stage II Alarm Drought. Permittees are expected to be compliant with drought curtailments upon reporting their May meter-readings.

Since the start of 2014, the District rain gauge has collected less than 40% of historic average rainfall. These predominantly dry conditions have not generated significant recharge to the aquifer and as a result, groundwater levels have been progressively dropping. Demand reduction measures now will help slow water level declines and protect springflow and water availability for groundwater users going into what NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects to be a drier than average remainder of spring.

BSEACD is a groundwater conservation district charged by the Texas Legislature to preserve, conserve, and protect the aquifers and groundwater resources within its jurisdiction, which includes parts of three Central Texas counties.  It is governed by a Board of five elected directors and staffed with hydrogeologists, groundwater regulatory compliance specialists, environmental educators, geospatial systems specialists, and administrative support personnel.