Water District in Texas Proposes New Conservation Guidelines

The Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District is considering several new measures to promote the conservation of Montgomery County's underground water supply.

The district, which regulates the county’s sole source of water, has proposed several rules changes, includes rebates for water providers that use less water, heavy fees for those who overpump and restrictions on new amenity ponds.

In addition, the district is expected to considered a new tiered fee structure for water providers based on average use by their residential and commercial customers.

Finally, the district plans to adopt an incentive program to encourage the reuse of treated wastewater.

“We’re promoting conservation,” said Kathy Jones, general manager of the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District.

Montgomery County relies soles on three underground aquifers for its water, and the supply is dwindling. Lone Star estimated that about 64,000 acre feet a year can be replenished in the aquifer annually by rainfall and runoff, and the district has issued permits to pump more than 78,000 acre feet a year from the ground. An acre foot is equal to 325,851 gallons.

Beginning in 2015, Lone Star has mandated that water providers in Montgomery County reduce the amount of water taken from the aquifers by 30 percent. The San Jacinto River Authority is currently working with 198 water providers in the county to come up with a plan to switch to surface water, such as Lake Conroe, to supplement the county’s supply. Only three water providers will not be part of the San Jacinto plan.

In the meantime, Lone Star wants to provide opportunities to encourage water providers to conserve.

Proposed rule changes
Under proposed new district rules, water providers can get up to a 10 percent rebate of their permit fees if they can decrease their average three-year use. Every year, water providers pay a fee for groundwater based on permitted amounts. Under the rule, they would be eligible to get up to 10 percent back based on the percentage decrease of their three-year average use.

At the other end of the spectrum, those that draw more water than their permitted amounts would be subject to additional fees of $3 per 1,000 gallons for the additional water.

“That rate will get people’s attention,” said board member Jim Stinson, referring to the contrast to the general fee of 7 cents per 1,000 gallons for water.

Finally, the district also wants to crack down on amenity ponds and lakes, those designed to make developments more aesthetically appealing, that use groundwater. Those ponds would be limited to one-third of an acre or less and must tap into the same aquifer to refill, according to the proposal.

A public hearing will be held on the proposed rules at Lone Star’s Jan. 13 meeting.

New rate structure
To further discourage overuse of the aquifers, the district also is expected to consider a new rate structure for 2010 that rewards water providers than promote conservation and penalize those that overuse water. The new structure is expected to be discussed at the Dec. 9 meeting.

Under the proposed changes, the district would set up a three-tiered fee structure, with increasing fees based on increasing average water use by residential and commercial customers, said Bill Thaman of TCB, the district’s engineer.

The district would use a formula that takes into account residential, commercial, and industrial customers as well as the water loss by each water providers. Those figures would be calculated to determine an average use by residential and commercial users for each water provider. Those providers with an average single family home use of 330 gallons or less would pay the 7 cent base rate; between 331 to 400 gallons a day would pay a 50 percent surcharge and over 400 gallons a day would pay a 100 percent surcharge.

On the commercial side, those providers under 90 percent of the three-year commercial average would pay the 7 cent base; between 90 and 100 percent of the three-year average would pay a 50 percent surcharge, and over 100 percent of the three year average would double the rate.

The rate structure has not been finalized and percentages can be adjusted, Thaman said.

Wastewater credits
Lone Star also is considering an incentive program for water providers that reuse treated effluent for their non-potable water supply. This would includes such users as golf courses, irrigation of parks, amenity ponds or industrial applications.

Lone Star plans to include a wastewater incentive package in a new plan to be adopted next year that will spell out the future transition to surface water options. Any water providers that implements a wastewater reuse project before the 2015 deadline can be credited two-to-one for the gallons saved through these projects.

This credit can be used to delay when the providers have to reduce its reliance on groundwater. It also can be credited to the San Jacinto River Authority Plan to buy time to better implement the switch to getting water from Lake Conroe, a costly and lengthy process.

The incentive package, which also may be adjusted, is expected to be part of the Lone Star’s Phase 2 Plan targeted for March.