Drought Management Plan

The Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District adopted a Drought Management Plan (Link) for the purpose to conserve, preserve, protect, and recharge the groundwater resources of Burnet County, and to prevent waste and degradation of quality of those groundwater resources.

Provisions of the plan shall apply to all Burnet County wells and all persons or organizations, public or private, owning or operating wells within Burnet County, regardless of purpose of use, size, capacity, date drilled, ownership, or the exempt or non-exempt status of a well.

The Drought Management Plan will rely primarily on voluntary compliance, except where otherwise noted for permitted users in drought stages 3 and 4. The District encourages the voluntary reduction measures outlined in the plan to achieve a desired level of conservation and reduced impact to the aquifers. However, the plan does not exclude the District from exercising authority of its civil penalties policy in the District’s Rules regarding wasteful use of water.

The various drought stages will be initiated by the District’s Board of Directors during a monthly board meeting, utilizing the Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI) or other factors including requests from local citizens and water users as deemed appropriate by the Board. The District may also utilize its various monitor wells to determine if aquifer levels are declining and may take action as deemed necessary.