CALDWELL—The annual Milam and Burleson Counties Groundwater Summit is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 15) at the Caldwell Civic Center.
The Summit is free and open to the public with lunch provided.
“Our Summit lineup includes speakers who regularly give presentations at water conferences across the state where attendees gain professional educational credits and would normally pay hundreds of dollars to attend,” Doug Box, spokesman said.
Gary Westbrook, Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District manager, said the Summit provides a great opportunity to stay up to date on current groundwater issues and the state’s requirements on local groundwater management
PACP—Updated information on the new Post Oak Savannah Aquifer Conservancy Program (PACP) will be discussed.
“This program was created to enable landowners to create a legacy of stewardship by working together with each other and the District to place their groundwater resources into a long-term conservation program. This is a strictly volunteer program where the landowner maintains ownership of their groundwater,” Westbrook said.
The PACP will be funded by fees collected by the district. Payments details and amounts will be discussed.
“This is a very exciting program where individual landowners can work together with the district to protect the water in our aquifers,” said Burleson County Judge Mike Sutherland.
Structured similar to other conservation programs, the PACP rewards landowners for conserving their groundwater, he said
POSGCD Board President Sidney Youngblood added: “This is further evidence of how our board responds to the concerns of the citizens in our district.”
Milam County Judge David Barkemeyer noted: “As empowered by the State of Texas, Post Oak has done an exemplary job of protecting the aquifers below each landowner’s property while preserving each landowner’s right to produce their water.”
Bobby Bazan, POSGCD’s Water Resource Management Specialist, will explain the critical well monitoring results for the year. Well monitoring is one of the ways POSGCD insures our goals in Texas to preserve, conserve, and protect groundwater resources in Burleson and Milam Counties.
Ralph Sifuentes, POSGCD Field Technician, will update the district’s “aggressive well monitoring network to ensure compliance with the district’s management plan.” The network allows us to keep an eye on the water levels in the aquifers in the district, according to Sifuentes.
Bazan, will introduce a new public interface that will allow the public to see well data we keep.
“The board is always looking for new ways to increase the transparency between the District and the public. This interface will be on our website so anyone can check the data on all the wells we have in our records,” Box said.
Free well water sampling packets, a $65 value, will be given away. This is a service POSGCD is offering in conjunction with Texas A&M Agri-Life Extension offices in Burleson and Milam Counties, as well as the Texas Water Resource Institute and Texas Well Owners Network.
For questions, contact the POSGCD at 512-455-9900, or email at admin@posgcd.org.
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