City explains four groundwater-well permits, says drilling needed to secure rights under new spacing rules

A staff member briefed the Bryan City Council on Aug. 12 about four groundwater-well permits the city applied for before 2023 rule changes by the local groundwater district. "So before those rules went into effect, we applied for permits for 4 wells," the staff member said. Nut graf: Staff explained the district’s rule change reduced the allowable area to support a well and that permit-holders who had not completed drilling when the rules changed have a limited window to complete construction or face a requirement to hold substantially more groundwater-right acreage for future wells. The presenter said two of the wells are on city-owned property around Lake Bryan and two are on tracts between Mumford Road and the railroad; the city owns the groundwater rights within the circular well-radius areas for those tracts. Under the district procedure, permit-holders who had applications in before the rule change generally have five years to drill the well and make it operational; staff said the city is several years into that window and must at minimum drill and perform a production test to preserve the permits. The staff member warned that if the city fails to complete drilling in the allowable period, the land area required for a future well would be roughly four times larger under the new rules. Council members asked whether the lands must be city-owned. The staff member said ownership must include the groundwater rights contained within the district’s defined circle for each well site, not necessarily fee ownership of the entire surrounding area. Ending: No formal action was taken at the meeting; staff described the permits, timeline and next steps for completing drilling and testing to preserve the permits under district rules.