On Aug. 26 the Texas Water Development Board (TWBD) met. This report covers the agenda items taken up regarding outreach efforts, approving the agency budget, a discussion on drought conditions and an amendment relating to groundwater management areas.
Discussion regarding outreach efforts and activities by the Board
- Carlos Rubinstein’s last TWDB meeting
- Kathleen Jackson visited Paris, Texas and toured Kimberly-Clark and Campbell’s Soup both of which effectively utilize water
- Jackson also visited Irving to speak at Transportation And Water Summit
- Bech Bruun attended press conferences with comptroller Hager in Austin and in San Antonio regarding Water Smart
Chris Hayden, Briefing discussion and consider approving the FY 2016 Budget
- 2 additional FTEs in 2016 as part of HB 30 for brackish ground water
- 327.1 FTE cap in 2016
- Operations and Administration, Agency wide budget, and debt service are amongst biggest changes to the bracket
- FY 2016 budget passes
Larry French, Consider amending the boundary between Groundwater Management Area 2 and Groundwater Management Area 6 that currently runs through a portion of the Mesquite Groundwater Conservation District
- Current boundary follows county lines, proposed boundaries would be redrawn in two counties to be more in line with current aquafer limits
- GCD 6 boundary would shift to the west
- Executive administrator recommends approval
- Approved
Briefing and discussion on drought conditions in the state of Texas
- We are better off than in August of last year, but we have dried up some since July
- Reservoirs have not been impacted too much at this point
- July-September Texas is projected to be “mostly drier than normal”, but in October – December, all of Texas will be “wetter than normal”