WGCD reports most monitored wells showed aquifer drop

By Marc Robertson - Editor | August 3, 2023

WATCHING WATER LEVELS IN THREE SOUTH TEXAS COUNTIES…

ORGANIZATION WANTS MORE WELL OWNERS TO REGISTER FOR QUARTERLY MEASUREEMENTS

The Wintergarden Groundwater Conservation District has issued its report for wells monitored in three South Texas counties and shows that the water table has dropped at most of the sites in the past three months.
The WGCD monitors a number of privately owned wells in La Salle, Dimmit and Zavala counties, all of which are positioned over the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, whose South Texas portion stretches from Bryan / College Station in the northeast to Carrizo Springs and the Mexican border at the Rio Grande in the southwest.
The northeasterly portion of the aquifer passes east of the Dallas area and covers a swath of East Texas from the Arkansas state line, and includes the Nacogdoches and Lufkin areas before passing through the southern portion of Central Texas east of Austin and skirting the Coastal Plains.
A recent drive by the organization to add more wells to its roster in La Salle, Dimmit and Zavala counties resulted in four additions to the report, each giving its first reading at the end of June.
The WGCD report includes data from wells that have been on its monitoring roster for a number of years, with aquifer levels trackable for each of the quarterly measurements. The data demonstrates that drought conditions, use of water by the energy industry, agriculture, commercial and residential customers has contributed to an overall decline in the water table over an extended period.
Some wells showed water levels marginally higher at the end of June than at the previous monitoring in late March.
Two wells monitored by the WGCD in La Salle County for successive years showed a drop in the aquifer over the past three months.
The Hinojosa Well, located eight miles west of Cotulla and standing at 465 feet above sea level, reported water at 530.46 feet below ground on June 25. Three months previously, it had reported water at 510.68 feet below ground. The difference indicates a drop in the water table of approximately 20 feet since March.
This time last year, the Hinojosa Well reported water at 516.93 feet below ground. The data indicates water has dropped at the site by more than 13.5 feet in the past year.
The Echols Well, eight miles north-northeast of Los Angeles in La Salle County and 402 feet above sea level, reported water on June 25 at 379.180 feet below ground. The March 25 report indicated water at 371.386 feet below ground, meaning the aquifer has dropped by nearly 7.8 feet at the site in three months.
In June 2022, the Echols Well showed water at 359.9 feet below ground, meaning the water table has dropped by nearly twenty feet in the past year.
A new well has been added to the WGCD roster in La Salle County and was included in the report for the end of June. The SE Cotulla Well is positioned 30 miles southeast of the city and stands at 356 feet above sea level. It showed water at 357.47 feet below ground in the most recent study. The WGCD will report on the well’s status every three months.
In Dimmit County, the Dixondale Well is located three miles west of Brundage and stands at 549 feet above sea level. It showed water at 462.153 feet below ground on June 25, indicating a rise in the water table of just over four feet in the past three months.
A year ago, the Dixondale Well showed water at 495.693 feet below ground, meaning the water table at the site has risen by just over 33.5 feet since June 2022.
The Shape Well is located 18 miles southwest of Carrizo Springs in Dimmit County and stands at 799 feet above sea level. The June 25 report shows water at 189.122 feet below ground, indicating a slight drop in the aquifer at Shape since March, when water was measured there at 188.846 feet below ground.
In June 2022, the Shape Well recorded water at 187.761 feet below ground. The measurements indicate a drop of only 1.36 feet in the aquifer at Shape over the past year.
The Barrier Well stands at 683 feet above sea level, 6.7 miles southwest of Carrizo Springs, and recorded water on June 25 at 310.335 feet below ground, only slightly lower than three months previously, when the aquifer was measured there at 309.631 feet below ground.
Measurements for the Barrier Well were similar a year ago, when water was recorded at the site at 308.287 feet below ground.
Two new wells have been added to the WGCD roster in Dimmit County in the past monitoring report. The SW Carrizo Well stands at 677 feet above sea level just 1.2 miles southwest of the city of Carrizo Springs and recorded water at 86.61 feet below ground on June 23. On the same day, the Briggs Ranch Well, 482 feet above sea level and three miles south of Catarina, showed water at 211.87 feet below ground.
Zavala County has four wells monitored by the WGCD, three of them with a long track record and one of them new in June.
The Hargrove Well, 12 miles northeast of Crystal City and 624 feet above sea level, showed water at 448.510 feet below ground on June 25. The March 25 measurement at that site showed water at 434.015 feet below ground, meaning the aquifer at Hargrove has dropped by nearly 14.5 feet in three months.
The June report for Hargrove, however, is healthier than the aquifer reading of a year ago, when the well showed water at a depth of 497.879 feet below ground, nearly 50 feet lower than at the most recent reading.
Hargrove’s reports for the remainder of 2022 were equally encouraging, with water rising from a depth of nearly 498 feet to just shy of 470 feet and then as high as nearly 427 feet in September and December.
The June 2023 report for Hargrove puts the well nearly on a par with its March 2022 reading, when water was recorded at 449.754 feet below ground, less than a foot deeper than today.
The Cargil Well is positioned two miles south of La Pryor and stands at 737 feet above sea level in Zavala County. The aquifer was measured at 447.48 feet below ground on June 25, reflecting a significant drop in the water table since March, when the well showed water at 433.36 feet below ground. The difference indicates a three-month drop of 14.12 feet in the water table at the site.
A year ago, the Cargil Well showed water at a depth of 460.03 feet. The data indicates that the aquifer has risen by just over 12.5 feet in twelve months.
Cargil’s report a year ago, however, indicated a sharp drop in the water table. The June 2022 reading at 460 feet indicated the aquifer had dropped by more than 34 feet during the first three months of last year.
The Rutledge Well, 785 feet above sea level and eight miles north of Batesville, showed water at 45.607 feet below ground on June 25, indicating a rise of approximately two feet in three months. Water had been recorded there at a depth of 47.526 feet in March.
The well stood at nearly the same level a year ago, when water was measured at 47.575 feet below ground.
A new monitoring site has been added to the roster for Zavala County this month, with the Westwind Well showing water at a depth of 114.24 feet on June 23. The well stands at 782 feet above sea level, five and a half miles west of Batesville.
The WGCD is putting out the call to all property owners in its three-county coverage area with water wells over the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer to consider adding their sites to the monitoring list. In order to be added to the roster, a well should have access to electricity and wifi services, and property owners should allow access to the site by WGCD staff.
For information on the monitoring process, the WGCD’s drought contingency plan, and on adding a well to the quarterly monitoring report, call (830) 876-3801.