AUSTIN—The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has rejected a petition filed by an area resident challenging the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District’s (POSGCD) actions and maintaining it was not protecting aquifers long-term.
TCEQ commissioners voted unanimously to dismiss the petition. Both the TCEQ Executive Director and Office of Public Interests Council recommended last month to dismiss the petition, which had been filed by Fred C. Russell.
“This marks the second time in three years the TCEQ Commissioners have voted unanimously to dismiss a petition challenging the district’s management of groundwater aquifers,” Burleson County Judge Mike Sutherland said.
‘THE WAY TO GO’—Russell had charged the POSGCD “does not support the conservation of our aquifers or the protection of groundwater users.”
He asked the TCEQ to “require the necessary remedial actions be taken.”
Russell tied POSGCD actions to the Vista Ridge Regional Water Supply Project, targeted for San Antonio, charging that permits already approved are “ludicrous” and added “what this implies is that over-permitting an aquifer is ‘the way to go’.”
‘HIGH LEVEL’—Sid Youngblood, POSGCD board president termed the ruling “truly significant” and added, “It underscores POSGCD’s board as committed to pursuing our mission statement, taking on this responsibility at a very high level.”
A POSGCD news release maintained the TCEQ cited “the fact that the POSGCD is going above and beyond the state minimum responsibilities by regulating production and building a robust water level monitoring network, currently at almost 179 wells, with wells strategically located in all aquifers of the district.”
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