Hot Water Topic: Proposed GCD draws public comment

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

A Wood County dairy farmer asked TNRCC and GCD petitioners about the fairness of the proposed tax to area ag producers. -Staff photo by Cope

July 25, 2002 -- Opposition, and support, on a petition to establish Lake Country Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) in Wood County was voiced during a July 15 public meeting in Quitman.

The public was given opportunity to cite their opinions at the meeting - a necessary step in the GCD's establishment.

The Wood County area was declared a Groundwater Management Area (GMA) on April 1 by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) in response to a request by Save Our Springs Of North East Texas (SOSONET). SOSONET was formed in 2000 after Ozarka Bottling Co. announced plans to build a bottling plant and pump millions of gallons of water from the area's aquifers.

Becoming a GMA was the initial step in the process to have a GCD established. The next step is a petition to the state, signed by 150 Wood County property owners who said they wanted a GCD. To fully consider the petition, TNRCC has to collect public comment on the petition's request.

The "notice of district petition" was filed following the approval for a GMA in the area. The GMA encompasses 27 counties and four aquifers in the region. Any of the 27 counties can apply for GCD status or join in the proposed Lake Country GCD.

Public comment was taken by TNRCC on July 15, and written comment on the issue will be collected through July 25. The public's comments to the petition will be summarized by TNRCC staff, then submitted to TNRCC's executive director, along with a recommendation on "whether the submittal is administratively complete and should be certified." This process will be complete within 90 days (around Oct. 15).

If the petition is certified by TNRCC, the matter will be turned over to the voters of Wood County.

Three things would be individually voted on: confirmation for a GCD, to be known as Lake Country GCD; a tax propositition, which gives the board authority to set a tax rate less than 3-cents per $100 valuation; and election of board members who would each serve a four-year term.

The petition lists temporary board members - Louis Pyle, A.D. Kleinman, A. Glenn Morton, Jim Armstrong, and Edward Bennett. If the TNRCC gives an affirmative nod for the Lake Country GCD, the temporary board's chief duty will be to schedule an election to place five permanent board members (four-year terms). One board member from each of the county's four precincts, plus one at-large member, would be elected.

For information about the CWD creation process, or a copy of the petition, contact TNRCC's Groundwater Planning and Assessment Team at 512-239-4906.