Commercial well owners must obtain permit or face loss of 'historic' status
Groundwater district's May 30 deadline apparently misunderstood by public as local office flooded with calls, visits from well owners exempt from requirements
By BENJAMIN C. SHARP bensharp@journal-spectator.com

The Coastal Bend Groundwater Conservation District has generated plenty of response by warning well owners they could be fined if they don't apply for a permit by the end of this month. Problem is, the wrong people are responding.

Since sending out a letter to well owners last month, the district has been flooded with phone calls and visits by domestic and livestock well owners - both of whom are exempt from permitting in the first place.

It's the large, commercial wells the district was trying to reach through the letter.

"There's a misunderstanding happening," said Ronald Gertson, president of the district's board of directors.

The confusion apparently stems from the letter itself. Drafted by the district's board, it was sent out to around 8,500 county residents last month. As of Monday, "it seems that I've talked to 5,000 of them," said Neil Hudgins, the district's general manager.

The letter urges non-exempt well owners to apply for a permit by the end of this month.

"All non-exempt wells operating without a permit after May 30, 2008 will forfeit any potential for gaining 'historic' status and may also be liable for fines of up to $10,000 per day as allowed by statue," the letter states.

Historic status is a designation that can be applied to non-exempt wells in production before May 15, 2004 - the date the district's rules took effect. Currently, the designation carries little weight. But, according to Gertson, it could prove critical if pumping limits might be deemed necessary in the future.

"If we get to a time when we need to have pumping restrictions, historic users could be treated differently than new users," he said.

"Historic users could be given priority use."

To obtain the historic designation, well owners must apply for a permit with the district. So far, that's been hit or miss.

The purpose of the May 30 deadline is to "encourage" large well owners to get motivated, Gertson said.

"It's the carrot to get the people who are purposefully or inadvertently avoiding getting their large wells permitted," he said.

"We've been permitting for three years and folks should know by now that we exist and that when they have large commercial wells, they need to come to us."

But the deadline - as well as the possible $10,000 fine - applies to nonexempt wells only. Yet domestic - or residential - well owners have been the largest part of the population responding, despite being exempt.

"About 99 and a half percent of the calls are just residential wells. Those people are the ones that don't need to worry about it," Hudgins said.

Domestic well owners are encouraged, however, to register their wells. Registration is different from permitting.

Registration is a voluntary action that carries no threat of fines and has no deadline for compliance. It's used solely as a means of identifying where the pumping is occurring so the water usage can be better "spread out," district officials said.

"We do recommend wells be registered so we can implement space protection," Hudgins said.