Source: Texas Water Development Board
In accordance with the requirements of House Bill 30 (HB 30), 84th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) will consider designating brackish groundwater production zones in four aquifers at its meeting scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, at 8:30 a.m., in Room 170, Stephen F. Austin Building, 1700 N. Congress Avenue, Austin TX 78701.
In 2015, the 84th Texas Legislature passed HB 30 directing the TWDB to identify and designate brackish groundwater production zones in:
• the portion of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer located between the Colorado River and Rio Grande, the Gulf Coast Aquifer and sediments bordering that aquifer, the Blaine Aquifer, and the Rustler Aquifer (findings to be summarized in the biennial desalination report due to the legislature by Dec. 1, 2016), and
• the remaining areas of the state unless otherwise exempted (findings to be summarized in biennial desalination reports due to the legislature no later than Dec. 1, 2022).
The bill requires the TWDB to determine the amount of brackish groundwater that a brackish groundwater production zone is capable of producing over 30- and 50-year periods without causing a significant impact to water availability or water quality in any area of the same (or other) aquifers that have an average total dissolved solids concentration of less than 1,000 milligrams per liter. The TWDB is also required to provide recommendations for reasonable monitoring to observe the effects of brackish groundwater production.
At the Oct. 20, 2016, meeting, the board will consider the executive administrator’s recommendation to designate brackish groundwater production zones in the four aquifers named in HB 30 (above). A copy of the TWDB Board memo containing the executive administrator’s recommendation is available for review at www.twdb.texas.gov/innovativewater/bracs/doc/2016_10_06_HB_30_Board_Memo_Final.pdf.
If you have any comments, please send them in writing before the meeting to Sanjeev Kalaswad (info below) or provide them verbally at the meeting on Oct. 20, 2016.
Sanjeev Kalaswad, Ph.D., P.G.
Director, Conservation and Innovative Water Technologies
Texas Water Development Board
512-936-0838
sanjeev.kalaswad@twdb.texas.gov