When we talk about water quantity, we generally use a measurement called acre-feet. One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons. That’s enough water to cover one acre of land a foot deep. For most crops we permit use of about two acre-feet per acre. Back in the old days when we used to grow peanuts, they used almost four acre-feet per acre. That sounds like a lot, but the average American lawn uses at least that much per year. According to a 2005 study published in Environmental Management, there are over 40 million acres of lawn in the United States. Since we are in Texas, we would be remiss not to mention how much water we need for cattle. Most drink around 10-15 gallons per day but a lactating cow can drink up to 40 gallons a day. All these water uses add up, so we must work with the public to track the amount of water being withdrawn from the various aquifers and areas. We use permitting and registration to stay on top of that.
This brings us to the differences between permitted and registered wells. All wells in the District should be documented in some manner. Drillers are required to file “Intent to Drill” forms prior to drilling and submit logs to the State and our District once wells are drilled. Wells that are being used for irrigation, municipal use, industry, mining, and feedlots require permits. For new wells, the permit application must be completed prior to the start of drilling. Permit applications are reviewed by District Staff and then scheduled for public hearing at the next regular board meeting. The board reviews the applications and decides whether to approve the request. Owners of permitted wells are required to submit annual water use reports (WURs) to the District at the start of each calendar year.
Exempt wells only require registrations. These are wells that produce 25,000 gallons a day or less and are used for domestic, livestock or both. Registrations are simple onepage forms asking for only standard well information.
All forms and rules can be found on our website <hickoryuwcd.org>. If you have any questions, please, don’t hesitate to call as us at 325-597-2785 or email <hickoryuwcd@yahoo. com>.