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Wednesday Sunrise Weather 5/22/13
Water Quest Report: The Power Of A GCD 03/14/13
CBS 7 News
Robert Guaderrama
rguaderrama@cbs7.com
March 14, 2013
WEST TEXAS - Many communities around west Texas are looking into forming groundwater conservation districts as they realize future water supplies are below ground. But what are the powers of a groundwater district? A groundwater conservation district is much like law enforcement, they police but protect.
The purpose of a groundwater conservation district or GCD is to protect the quality and quantity of the water below our feet and they are given the power to do so.
"A groundwater conservation district they manage through either spacing requirements or production limits," said Darrell Peckham, Hydrogeologist, Water Quest, Inc.
So what does this mean for landowners on water wells?
"The landowner still owns the access to the water but they have that power to manage and control it and to regulate that water, they can either deny permits to allow production or if they have in the area where their experiencing significant issues that need to be addressed and they can adjust the permits to protect their resource," said Peckham.
Hyrdogeologist Darrell Peckham says though some might disagree with the regulation, the overall health of the aquifer should be the priority.
"Everybody benefits from having a reasonable access to it without damaging long-term the resource that they all count on," said Peckham.