Commissioners recently debated over whether to hold an election to create and fund a conservation district that would regulate, protect and conserve the groundwater supply derived from the Trinity Aquifer, one of nine major aquifers in the state.
In January 2017, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, recommended to the 85th Legislature that a regulatory entity be created to protect an area over the Trinity Aquifer which is not covered by any groundwater conservation district. State Rep. Paul Workman, R-Austin, filed House Bill 922 on Jan. 11, 2017 to establish a groundwater conservation district in the area, his third such attempt in three legislative sessions.
County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said the Legislature could not drum up a reason to fund the project and the unfunded mandate has now been passed to the county… Read more from Community Impact