Title
Receive report from EAA staff regarding Edwards Aquifer 2016 permitted groundwater use.
Body
STAFF RECOMMENDED MOTION:
This item is for discussion purposes only. No action required.
SUMMARY:
The purpose of this agenda item is for the Permits/Enforcement Committee to receive a report from EAA staff regarding 2016 groundwater withdrawals reported by permit holders, and a preliminary review of those permit holders who exceeded their annual authorized withdrawal amounts in 2016. During the 2016 year, and for the first time since 2010, critical period management (CPM) conditions were not triggered in either aquifer pool.
Background:
EAA rules require all non-exempt withdrawals to be metered and authorized for use within a calendar year. At the end of each year, permit holders are required to file annual use reports with the EAA, which must include as a minimum a beginning-year and an ending-year meter reading. From these readings, a calculated “annual use” is made. EAA staff reviews these reports, verifies the annual use calculation, and compares validated annual use to each permit holder’s annual authorized withdrawal amount. Authorized withdrawal amounts were not affected by CPM reductions in 2016.
2016 Reported Groundwater withdrawals:
A preliminary review of EAA records show that 1,250 EAA groundwater permit holders reported a total of 305,994.095 acre-feet of metered withdrawals from Edwards Aquifer wells in 2016. A breakdown, by permit type, is as follows:
Industrial Permits: 308 permit holders withdrew 24,076.487 acre-feet
Municipal Permits: 173 permit holders withdrew 227,248.578 acre-feet
Irrigation Permits: 769 permit holders withdrew 54,669.030 acre-feet
These 2016 withdrawals represent a 0.16% increase from 2015 use, and a 13.4% decrease from the average use during the last 10 years.
2016 Over-pumping:
EAA staff has tentatively identified 16 permit holders that are suspected of over pumping their 2016 annual authorized withdrawals by an estimated total amount of 394.216 acre-feet. Staff will begin contacting these permit holders to confirm the EAA’s records before referring those matters to compliance for settlement.
A preliminary breakdown by permit type are as follows:
Industrial Permits: 7 permit holders withdrew in excess of 105.707 acre-feet
Municipal Permits: 6 permit holders withdrew in excess of 150.361 acre-feet
Irrigation Permits: 3 permit holders withdrew in excess of 138.148 acre-feet
Summary sheets describing historical permitting, CPM reductions, pumping and over-pumping since 2008 are attached to this item.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
This agenda item does not relate to a specific goal or action step within the Strategic Plan, but supports the general EAA mission.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This section is not relevant to this item.