Aquifer Authority
Changes Some Rules

AUSTIN — The Edwards Aquifer Authority, in the countdown to regulation of pumping from the massive Central Texas aquifer, is finetuning is regulations. Of particular interest to stockmen and landowners over the Edwards, the authority has withdrawn a proposed rule which would have extended exemptions from well registration and regulation.

The law creating the regulatory body provides exemptions for wells which produce fewer than 25,000 gallons of water per day and which serve "exclusively for domestic use or watering livestock." The initial regulations drawn up by the Edwards Authority extended that exemption to all wells producing fewer than 25,000 gallons, reasoning that the cost of permitting and regulating such wells would not be justified by the intended benefits in terms of water conservation.

Questions about the legality of extending the exemption have since prompted the authority to withdraw it, however, and a notice to that effect appeared in the Nov. 29 issue of the Texas Register.

The board chose to publicize the withdrawal, the notice says, because to do otherwise "may misinform a small well owner that he does not need to file a declaration of historic use, thereby jeopardizing his future right to pump."

The deadline for filing a "historic use" declaration and protecting future pumping rights is Dec. 30. A variety of industry and landowner groups are recommending that even well owners who qualify for the exemption in light of "exclusive" livestock watering and domestic use consider filing historic use declarations as a way of putting their rights on record.

A well that produces in excess of 17 gallons per minute could break the 25,000 gallon threshold, they note, and any outside provision of water, such as to a road crew or oil rig, would break the "exclusive" domestic and livestock use restriction. Besides, goes the concern, who draws the line that determines when a large domestic garden becomes an irrigated field?