TownshipFuture in the Woodlands is presenting a petition to Groundwater Management Area 14 (GMA-14) that would limit proposed increases in groundwater pumping that could lead to subsidence.
Last night, TownshipFuture held a panel discussion with representatives from San Jacinto River Authority, Woodlands Water Agency and Harris-Galveston Subsidence District. They all confirmed that lower aquifer levels, caused by over-use of groundwater pumping, leads to subsidence.
You need not live in the Woodlands to sign this petition. Excessive groundwater pumping will affect much of Montgomery and Harris Counties. See the maps modeling subsidence below. Note the 3.75 feet in southern MoCo and 3 feet in northern Harris.
Subsidence if 115,000 acre feet per year are pumped in Montgomery County, depleting aquifers by 30% (leaving 70%).
Subsidence in Harris County if private utilities are allowed to deplete aquifers in MoCo by 30%, leaving 70%.
Note how projected subsidence is 1 foot at the Lake Houston Dam but 3 feet in Huffman and Kingwood. This would tilt Lake Houston back toward the north by 2 feet.
YOUR ACTION NEEDED NOW
Please sign TownshipFuture’s petition to GMA 14 opposing increased groundwater pumping! You can find it at:
The petition will be sent to GMA 14 AT 5PM TODAY and having your name included will go a long way to help persuade GMA 14 to minimize groundwater pumping. As of 2PM, over 200 people have added their names to the petition. Talk to your neighbors who might be interested in adding their names.
This is something that needs to come from our whole community, because it impacts ALL of us! Act NOW! Please share with all of your friends, neighbors and relatives.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/7/2021 at 3:45 PM
1317 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Slide2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=16751200adminadmin2021-04-07 15:46:572021-04-07 15:59:56Last Chance to Support Petition Limiting Subsidence
Three meetings will make this a crucial week for subsidence and flooding for large parts of Montgomery and Harris Counties. For months now, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District (LSGCD) has adamantly opposed any mention of subsidence in its Desired Future Conditions (DFCs) while it argues for increased groundwater pumping. But LSGCD must get the other members of Groundwater Management Area 14 (GMA-14) to approve its DFCs before they can allow increased pumping. And opinions regarding those DFCS are far from unanimous. GMA-14 members are pushing for a metric that limits subsidence; LSGCD is fighting that.
TownshipFuture Meeting Tuesday
With that in mind, a group called TownshipFuture will host a Zoom webinar featuring experts from the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA), the Houston-Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD), and The Woodlands Water Authority (WWA). Says Robert Leilich, president of Woodlands MUD #1 and a steering committee member of TownshipFuture, “The meeting will explore how the cost of water is related to the potential for more flooding and what you can do about it. Upcoming proposals from the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District could lead to increased subsidence, causing residents to pay more for water. These proposals could also increase the risk of physical damage to homes and the risk of flooding in flood-prone areas of The Woodlands.”
The TownshipFuture Meetingis Tuesday, April 6, at 7PM. The Zoom webinar is free and all are invited. To register, go to https://forms.gle/GYcG1Q1uekCGbrCz6. You will be sent an email with instructions how to sign into the webinar.
GMA 14 has the authority to approve or disapprove any increase in LGGCD’s groundwater pumping. To support the petition, add your name at the bottom.
LSGCD Meeting Wednesday
Then, on Wednesday, April 7, at 4PM, the LSGCD will hold a special board meeting. According to the agenda, the board will go into executive session immediately after public comments to consider litigation. (However, they don’t disclose the nature of the litigation.) They will then take up two matters:
Proposed Desired Future Conditions for GMA 14.
Hiring a PR firm.
LSGCD staff recently finished a series of stakeholder input sessions. But the agenda does not list a report to the board on staff findings.
The hiring of a PR firm is a highly unusual move for a group of this nature. According to some observers, it indicates that LSGCD failed to convince scientists of their position on subsidence and is now taking its case to the public. One insider, though, claimed the board just feels “misunderstood.” They feel they are the victims of “misinformation.”
However, GMA-14 has a May 1 deadline to formulate proposed DFCs for 14 counties. So if LSGCD and the other members can’t reach a suitable compromise this week, they will need to schedule another meeting before the end of the month. And they are already pushing up against a public notice requirement for a second meeting.
Between May and January deadlines, GMA-14 must solicit public comments for 90 days on the proposed DFCs; review and publish the comments; adopt or modify the DFCs; and submit them to the TWDB. Final adoption of the DFCs requires a two-thirds vote of all the members of the groundwater management area.
At the last GMA-14 meeting, LSGCD requested more time to meet with stakeholders and its board before finalizing a DFC statement. The big questions are, “Will LSGCD request more time to finalize a proposed DFC statement for Montgomery County?” And if so, “Will it include a mention of subsidence?”
USGS is a non-political, scientific agency. It states in its research that the “land subsidence in the Houston-Galveston Region … partially or completely submerges land”, “disrupts collector drains and irrigation ditches”, and “alters the flow of creeks and bayous which may increase the frequency and severity of flooding.” To read the full research on Texas Gulf Coast Groundwater and Land Subsidence, please visit: https://txpub.usgs.gov/houston_subsidence/home/
Other scientists have also documented links between subsidence, flooding, and other damages. Check out these studies.
Subsidence exposes inland areas to increased risks of flooding and erosion by altering natural and engineered drainage-ways (open channels and pipelines) that depend on gravity-driven flow of storm-runoff and sewerage.
Expected subsidence in Harris County if GMA-14 lets Montgomery County pump 30% of its aquifers (70% remaining). The assumption going in was that this could cause up to 1 foot of subsidence, but modeling shows it creates far more.
Differential subsidence, depending on where it occurs with respect to the location of drainageways, may reduce or enhance preexisting gradients. Gradient reductions decrease the rate of drainage and thereby increase the chance of flooding by storm-water runoff. See https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1182/pdf/07Houston.pdf.
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Slide3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=16751200adminadmin2021-04-05 17:40:102021-04-06 09:45:21Crucial Week for Future of Subsidence, Flooding
