In a move to halt pumping requests from water retailers hoping to sell large volumes of water to heavily developed areas along the I-35 corridor, the local groundwater district has approved a moratorium on issuing new permits for the Simsboro aquifer.

“The moratorium does not affect individual landowners who need permits for agricultural or domestic wells,” stressed Joe Cooper, general manager for the district.

The Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District hopes to receive managed available groundwater numbers from state regulators before the moratorium ends on March 17. The data shows how much water can be pumped from the aquifer without seriously depleting groundwater reserves.

Results from a hearing on Thursday by the Texas Water Development Board threw doubt on what the numbers might actually mean for the district.

“The TWDB is saying that managed available groundwater is a physical number more that a statutory number,” Cooper said.

This interpretation might leave the district without a legal foothold to prevent water retailers from requesting permits to pump large volumes of water from the area.

“If the number becomes arbitrary and unenforceable, we could be subject to a lawsuit,” Cooper said. “We may have to permit more than that number.”

Cooper says the issue will be on the table when Groundwater Management Area 12 meets in February to discuss desired future conditions.

Board of Directors change

In a change to the board of directors for the district, Michael Neese, general manager of Fayette Water Supply Corporation, was nominated by the four Bastrop county directors to fill the seat vacated by geologist Ann Mesrobian, who stepped down in October.

Neese, who formerly served on the board as a representative for Aqua Water Supply Corp., now sits in the seat designated for an environmental representative.

The Aqua WSC seat remains open because two candidates appointed by Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald proved ineligible.

The first candidate appointed, Aqua WSC board member Mike Morgan of Smithville, was ineligible because a member of the groundwater board cannot serve on another political board, and Morgan sits on the board of trustees for Smithville Independent School District.

The second candidate appointed by McDonald was William Loven, the new general manager of Aqua WSC, who was ineligible because he does not live in either Bastrop or Lee counties, as required by the groundwater district statutes.

The board also approved a budget for the year of $639,350. Cooper says about $100,00 of that will be used to outfit wells in the Simsboro aquifer with computer systems monitoring and controlling systems.