Groundwater Management in Texas - GEO 391

Fall 2006, T 2:00-3:30 and 5:00-6:30, SRH 3.109 and/or GEO 3.104

This course is concerned with groundwater management in Texas. In 2005 the Texas Legislature passed and the governor signed laws that requires groups of Groundwater Districts (GDs), called “Groundwater Management Areas” (GMAs) to plan for the desired future condition of the groundwater resources in their area. This is a new process in Texas and in the U.S. The collective decisions of the groundwater districts in a GMA will impact future withdrawals. To accomplish these tasks, a GMA may need to develop:

• A stakeholder process to involve water users in decisions
• Approaches for converting stakeholder preference into inputs that can be used in groundwater management models
• Methods to integrate three-dimensional data collection and representation within a geographical region
• Models of groundwater behavior in the aquifer, so as to determine how demands will affect the aquifer
• Models of how surface precipitation interacts with surface structures to affect groundwater recharge and surface water quality
• Processes to allow coordination within GMA’s and between GMA’s to achieve public goals
• Approaches to making public decisions on groundwater management measures of performance of interest to stakeholders including: issue transparency, efficiency, effectiveness or equity
• Cooperation among staff of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), GMA’s, GD’s, regional water planning groups, consultants, and citizens to provide information on implications of how potential groundwater management decisions could affect water users and their aquifers
• Flexibility to alter or modify the management plan as new information or technologies become available

This course will teach students these and related topics over two semesters. Students will work closely with the TWDB as well as GD and GMA clients.

Class Activities
Student activities are likely to include: review of records of organizations; field investigations; interviews; mail surveys; and focus groups. Students may: (a) prepare training materials and use them; (b) write policy analyses that can be used by the clients; and (c) develop proposals for projects or investments. Students will be expected to prepare reports that are equivalent to those of professional consultants or research staff. A student’s performance in the course will be evaluated based on her/his writing (90 percent) and participation in the class activities (10 percent). Student groups will begin the class by developing proposals for the school year. The proposals will include background, issues, methods, outcomes, schedule, budget and management. For the remainder of the year the class activity will track the proposals.

CONTACT:
David Eaton, eaton@mail.utexas.edu, 471-8972
Jack Sharp, jmsharp@mail.utexas.edu, 471-3317
Suzanne Schwartz, sschwartz@law.utexas.edu, 232-1194