Starr County Groundwater Conservation District

Groundwater conservation districts are set in place for a variety of reasons, primarily to protect one of our most valuable resources, water. It is easy to understand that without water, life cannot be sustained. Without clean water, we cannot live healthy lives. As the population of our state continues to grow, as the need for clean potable water increases, the demand and value of water increases. Ninety-eight percent of the water that is usable on Earth by humans is groundwater. In the US, ninety-nine percent of the rural population relies on groundwater for its drinking water supply. Fifty percent of the total population relies on groundwater for daily drinking water. Thirty-seven percent of agricultural use water is groundwater. 

Contamination of our Groundwater can have a very detrimental impact on our health. The issue at hand is both a quantity and quality issue. Rates of consumption affect quantity, and contamination of our aquifers affects quality. Any thing that is improperly discarded on the surface can move down into our groundwater supply. Drinking or even coming into contact with contaminated groundwater can be very detrimental to human and animal health.

Our groundwater is replenished primarily by rain water. The rate of replenishment must be more or equal the rate of consumption to maintain a healthy groundwater aquifer. In some parts of Texas, some aquifers are already in a stressed state with the population increasing and the demand for water increasing. Sustainability of our natural resources is a must if we plan to survive as a species.

It is that plain and that critical. Groundwater conservation districts bring forth to our communities the plan of action to implement the methods and tools necessary to monitor and manage the quantity and quality of our groundwater. Very simply stated, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”.