Dateline: December 16, 2004

Water district issues record number of permits

WHITE DEER – The Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District approved 178 Initial Production Permits covering 200,815 acres during 2003-04, the largest number of permits granted in recent memory, according to the District’s Annual Report released today.

“We are keenly aware of many applicants’ desire to export water out of the District,” said C.E. Williams, general manager of the Panhandle GCD. “We will balance those interests with those of landowners who don’t have such opportunities and with the need for conservation.”

An IPP authorizes the holder to produce a stated quantity of groundwater; actual production can begin only after a drilling permit is granted. The District issues well permits, monitors production, measures water levels, models aquifer depletion, and samples water quality in its role of managing groundwater for nine counties.

The District cut its property tax rate for the third time in four years, lowering it to $0.0152 per $100 of valuation from $0.0154 as a result of prudent management. The average tax bill for a $50,000 home amounts to $7.70 a year for District constituents.

The average water level of the Ogallala Aquifer dropped 0.4 foot across the District over the past year, according to the 2004 winter level measurements. Actual water level changes ranged from a decline of 18 feet to a rise of 10 feet.

The measurement program gauges static groundwater levels, helping the District to assign decline values for income tax purposes and to assess potential risks in water projects.

Areas in Carson and Gray counties showed considerable declines. Significant declines have also developed in southwest Roberts County. Donley, Wheeler, and southeast Gray counties continue to show mixed reaction to pumping and rainfall patterns.

The board of directors spent much of its time in the most ambitious updating of District rules in its history. The overhaul reflected growing competition for water, improving science and new powers granted to groundwater districts in Senate Bills 1 and 2.

In May all but one of the rules were updated. As the end of the fiscal year approached the, final one – the Depletion Rule – was nearing adoption, completing nearly two years’ of work.

A trigger mechanism contained in the Depletion Rule will alert the District when water withdrawals exceed the acceptable annual rate of decline in the aquifer. This helps ensure that the District meets its 50/50 management standard - 50 percent of the aquifer must be left in 50 years from implementation (1998). This standard is the hallmark of the District’s management procedures.