December 4, 2019 506 PM
PRESIDIO COUNTY — In a press release Tuesday, officials at the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District said that they publically released a draft of their 2020-2025 management plan.
Management plans like these are a routine part of a water district’s responsibility, Carolyn Macartney, general manager of the district, told The Big Bend Sentinel. They’re filed on a five-year basis with the Texas Water Development Board, which keeps them on file.
The 22-page report outlines the district’s responsibilities. Among them: to investigate 100 percent of complaints and reports of “wasteful practices” of water every year, to register all new wells in the district and to monitor drought conditions.
Doing so is part of PCUWCD’s mission to monitor water resources in Presidio County. (See graphic, above.) Those resources include the Igneous Aquifer and the West Texas “bolsons” or bolsones, which are smaller pockets of groundwater resources. (Bolsón is a Spanish term that roughly translates to “purse.”)
Rather than formulating a broad vision for districts, management plans just lay out the minimum responsibilities that districts like PCUWCD must perform. The district’s lawyer, Mike Gershon, even warned the board against getting too ambitious at a special meeting last month, noting that management plans must be complied with.
“This is base level,” Macartney said.
The management plan is available online at:
It is also available in print form in County Judge Cinderela Guevara’s office in Presidio County Courthouse at 300 Highland St in Marfa, TX. Written comments can be left in the PCUWCD mailbox, which is also in Judge Guevara’s office; mailed to PCUWCD at P.O. Box 606, Marfa, TX 79843; or submitted via email to the general manager at cmacpcuwcd@gmail.com.
The management plan is currently being reviewed by the Texas Water Development Board. PCUWCD expects to have a public hearing in January, with a date to be announced.
