BY VANESSA HOLT, CASSANDRA JENKINS & HANNAH NORTON
Groundwater district sets drought buer
Law to limit local control blocked
How we got here The groundwater district’s board decided to implement the drought bu er due to the county facing extreme drought conditions due to persistent high temperatures and a shortage of rainfall. • The area of the state impacted by drought decreased for the irst time in 11 weeks Sept. 5 . • Exceptional drought covered 12% of the state in August . • Drought conditions were at 76% statewide as of Sept. 5. • Montgomery County is facing a D3, or extreme drought. • The highest level is D4, exceptional drought.
The Lone Star Groundwater Conservation Dis- trict approved a motion Aug. 28 during a routine board meeting to enact a temporary drought buer
A Travis County judge struck down Aug. 30 a new state law expected to signi- cantly limit city and county regulations. Just two days before the law was set to go into eect, District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble deemed it unconstitutional, siding with the cities of Houston, San Antonio and El Paso. House Bill 2127, known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act or the “Death Star bill,” would crack down on an array of local regulations. The details “House Bill 2127 in its entirety is unconsti- tutional, void, and unenforceable,” Gamble wrote in her nal judgment. It was not immediately clear if the state will appeal the ruling. The controversial bill was set to become law Sept. 1.
for the rest of 2023. What’s happening?
According to a news release Aug. 28, the con- servation district recommended the immediate action of implementing drought contingencies. According to Sarah Kouba, the general manager of the LSGCD, the contingency aects permitted wells—those wells capable of producing more than 25,000 gallons of water per day, according to the district’s website—rather than residents. The buer allows a temporary increase of 10% above the annual allocation until Dec. 31. Quote of note “While this doesn’t really aect residents at this
SOURCE: LONE STAR GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT COMMUNITY IMPACT
stage, we do encourage everyone to be prudent and frugal with your water right now,” Kouba said. “Yellow grass is better than tapping into our resources. When we get to this level [D3], that means it’s time for everybody to do their part. It’s not just the permittees.”
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