In this edition of news from HPWD:

• Water Quality Testing for Domestic Well Owners
• Playa Field Tour - Nazareth, Texas
• HPWD Hosts Teacher Externship
• Conservation Reminder
• Waste Reminder
• Upcoming Events
• Texas Water News and Drought Updates

Water Quality Testing for Domestic Well Owners

The Texas Well Owner Network is hosting upcoming events on September 16-20, where residents may have their source water quality analyzed. HPWD will pay the $15 fee for samples collected from our service area. We will have more information in the coming weeks, so please check our calendar.   Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service sponsors these events, and area residents should contact their local extension office for specific details concerning water sample collection and drop-off dates.

Playa Field Tour – Nazareth, Texas

On Saturday, July 13th, forty-five attendees gathered at the Ogallala Commons Playa Classroom in Nazareth, Texas. They observed tadpole shrimp, hundreds of toadlets, a flock of Black-Necked Stilts, American Avocet eggs, Black-Crowned Nightherons, and a profusion of moist soil plants. The group also toured two more playa sites before heading to the German Fest Sausage Dinner.

After a big rain event, dry playa basins across the High Plains fill with water. Eventually, their clay lining seals, which keeps water in place. These depressions in the land are called playa lakes or wetlands. Playa wetlands and agricultural crops add life to the land surface by providing food sources to birds passing through in each migration season, but playas are even more important to residents in this region. Water filters through the outer edges of playa wetlands to recharge the aquifer. Plants and soils near the recharge zones help naturally filter water as it travels below the surface. According to the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative fact sheet, research shows recharge rates in playa basins to be 10 – 100 times higher than in other areas without a healthy functional playa.
For more information about Ogallala Commons, visit ogallalacommons.org. HPWD helps fund Ogallala Commons field days through our Research and Demonstration grants.

HPWD Hosts Teacher Externship

Workforce Solutions South Plains and Region 17 offers teachers a unique opportunity to connect the classroom to the workplace. The extern spends 3 days with their assigned business and works 6 to 8 hours per day to gain hands-on experience and observe aspects of the daily processes. The teacher follows up with a lesson plan to share with other teachers and implement the information in the classroom. This year, HPWD partnered with Kyle Vernon, a high school science teacher from Frenship High School.

Over the three days, Kyle learned about the aquifers in HPWD and was given a lesson on using our map and the process of taking out a permit application. In addition, we showed him our student activity for building an aquifer model that illustrates the effects of groundwater pumping. His hands-on experience included a ride-along with our field technicians, where we demonstrated water level measurements, water sample collection, and flow measurements. Kyle also observed the HPWD permit application process, and how we assist our customers in the field. Kyle said he spent most of his life living on top of the Ogallala Aquifer and always wanted to learn more about it and its management.

Conservation Reminder

When washing your hands, turn the water off while you lather. This conserves water and also keeps your water bill lower.

There are many ways that we may practice water conservation. If you need a program or presentation for a civic club or other group, contact Jennifer McClendon at our office to schedule a conservation program.

Waste Reminder

 State Law and HPWD rules prohibit the waste of groundwater. Waste includes irrigation water that escapes "into any street, highway, road, or road ditch, or onto any land other than that of the owner of the well..."(36.001 (8)(E) Texas Water Code)  Part of our mission at HPWD is the prevention of groundwater waste, so please help us by watching your irrigation water applications carefully.

Upcoming Events

Texas Water News and Drought Updates

• Reports continue of groundwater contamination from wastewater injection in the Permian Basin.  
• The drought conditions map and the monthly outlook are updated.