1. WATER ISSUES IN
MONTGOMERY COUNTY

2. Montgomery County:
• one of the top 25 fastest growing counties in U.S.
• 5th fastest growing county in Texas
• water supply almost exclusively groundwater
• experienced 52% growth over the past decade
• projected to have a population of 1M people by 2040

3. Who is the LSGCD?
• Created in 2001 by the 77th Legislature to protect and
manage the groundwater resources of Montgomery County
• Creation confirmed by popular vote on Nov 6, 2001 with
73.85 % approval
• Boundaries include a total area of just over 1,000 square
miles
• Hybrid Appointed / Elected Board
• No taxing authority; funded by user fees

4. The long term sustainable recharge of the aquifer
is about 64,000 acre-ft a year.
Montgomery
County

5. 11/01/12
2011 water level survey – Evangeline (5 yr)
5

6. 11/01/12
2011 water level survey – Jasper (10 yr)
6

7. Baseline Run: Drawdown for Evangeline: 2000 to 2050
Dry Cells

8. Baseline Run: Drawdown for Jasper: 2000 to
2050

9. Estimated GW in Montgomery 2040 Demand estimated
County (TWDB) 64,000 a-f/year
at 154,000 a-f/year
Will exceed the sustainable recharge rate
of the aquifer by almost 90,000 a-f/year!

10. How much can be pumped?
Who should be regulated?
When should regulations
be put into effect?

11. District Rules
• Developed 2001 and 2002
• Tailored to profile of our user groups
• 77% PWS/Commercial; 13% golf course;
7% industrial; 3% ag irrigation
• Set up Historic Use Permit claims process
• Contemplated sustainability and pro-rata
reductions if necessary

12. The Problem?
We’re using too much
groundwater and our
aquifers are being depleted.
The Challenge?
Reduce groundwater pumpage
to 70% of 2009
levels by 2016!

13. As of December 2009, approximately 95,000 acre-feet per year,
authorized for production from Gulf Coast aquifer.
• 87,000 acre-feet per year through permits issued by the
District.
• About 7,700 acre-feet of groundwater from exempted
sources
This exceeds the currently recognized sustainable yield of the Gulf
Coast aquifer by 31,000 acre-feet.

14. DRP – Phase 1
In 2006, Phase I - District Regulatory Plan
(DRP) - benchmark for reduction by requiring
total groundwater production to be reduced
to 64,000 acre-feet or less annually by
January 1, 2015.

15. DRP - Phase II (A)
In February 2008, the District adopted Phase II (A)
of the DRP to ensure that water producers and
users in the District were making incremental
progress toward compliance with the 2015
groundwater reduction requirement.
Phase II (A):
• defined a Large Volume Groundwater Users (LVGU) to
be any non-exempt and non-agricultural groundwater
producer producing or authorized to produce 10 million
gallons (92% of total permitted production in
Montgomery County).
• and it required LVGUs to submit a Water Resources
Assessment Plan to the District.

16. Large Volume Groundwater Users =
• Single well/combination of wells that pump
more than 10 million gallons/year
• NOT single family residences
• NOT agricultural users

17. DRP - Phase II (B)
In its continuing conversion effort, the District adopted Phase II(B)
of the District Regulatory Plan on November 10, 2009, containing
the District’s primary regulatory requirements for achieving
sustainability of the Gulf Coast Aquifer by reducing groundwater
dependency within Montgomery County.
Phase II(B) requires each LVGU in the District to reduce its
groundwater production by 2016 to a volume that does not exceed
70 percent of its Total Qualifying Demand.

18. Total Qualifying Demand
• Total Qualifying Demand (TQD) is the volume of groundwater that it
was authorized under the terms of a District-issued permit to produce
in calendar year 2009.
• By 2016 – Groundwater production must be reduced by 30 percent
of TQD (i.e. 30 percent of an LVGU’s Total Qualifying Demand must be
met using conservation, an Alternative Water Source, or a
combination of both approaches to curb the demand).

19. Groundwater Reduction Plans
A Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP) represents the specific plan that each
LVGU will follow in order to meet it’s Initial Conversion Obligation. These plans
were due to the District by April 1, 2011.
There are two types of plans:
•Single-GRP – a GRP submitted by an LVGU that intends to meet its Initial
Conversion Obligation solely on its own.
•Joint-GRP – a GRP submitted by one or more LVGUs that have contractually
agreed to abide by its terms, that includes all requisite information for each
participating LVGU that would otherwise be required of the LVGU if it was
submitting an individual GRP, and that allows the participating LVGU’s to
achieve the Initial Conversion Obligation as a group rather than as individuals.

20. One Joint-GRP represents 70% of
Groundwater – San Jacinto River Authority
All Joint-GRP’s combined total 90-plus
percent of Montgomery County water

21. Alternative Water Source
An Alternative Water Source includes any
water other than water produced from the
Gulf Coast Aquifer within Montgomery
County or any county that adjoins
Montgomery County.

23. 11/01/12
2011 water level survey
The Catahoula Aquifer Formation:
• North Montgomery County = fresh water
• South Montgomery County = salty/brackish/unusable water
ALL ONE FORMATION 23

24. Our region and economic future depends
upon our ability to solve these water
resource challenges.
THANK YOU FOR COMING!!