In November 2007, residents in Wise, Montague, Parker and Hood counties voted to create the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. The district was created to ensure the availability of groundwater resources for the future.

The mission of the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District is "to develop rules to provide protection to existing wells, prevent waste, promote conservation, provide a framework that will allow availability and accessibility of groundwater for future generations, protect the quality of the groundwater in the recharge zone of the aquifer, insure that the residents of Montague, Wise, Parker and Hood Counties maintain local control over their groundwater and operate the district in a fair and equitable manner for all residents of the district."

The main district office is located at 446 E. Texas 199 in Springtown. Phone numbers are (817) 523-5200 or toll free 877-38UTGCD. Mailing address is UTGCD, P.O. Box 1749, Springtown, TX 76082. A satellite office is located at 506 Pelham St. in Bowie, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each Friday. Bob Patterson is the district's general manager.

Each county has two representatives on the district's board of directors. Board members are appointed by county commissioners.

If you have drilled a water well in Wise, Montague, Hood or Parker county since Jan. 1, 2009, you are required to register your well with the district. Registration of new wells is subject to payment of a $175 administrative fee and submission to the district of a refundable well report deposit prior to drilling.

If you have a water well drilled before Jan. 1, 2009, and you are considered an "exempt" well (see below), you may voluntarily register your wells for free.

Fees

If you own or operate a water well - regardless of size - that produces water used exclusively for domestic use, watering livestock, watering poultry, agricultural irrigation or a combination of these uses, or if you operate a well used for any other use (such as small business, manufacturing, industrial, oil and gas supply or public water system) that is not capable of producing more than 25 gallons per minute, or two or more wells tied to a system with a combined capacity of not more than 30 gallons per minute, then your well is exempt from fee requirements.

Each "non-exempt" well in the district must be equipped with a water meter, and operators of non-exempt wells must record monthly the amount of groundwater produced by the well and maintain a water meter log of those amounts.

For the calendar year 2009, fee for water use is 22 cents per 1,000 gallons of water produced. Only water from non-exempt wells is subject to a water use fee.

All water wells that do not qualify for an exemption for which drilling commenced before Jan. 1, 2009, were to have been registered with the district by July 1, 2009.

For more information about the district, visit www.uppertrinitygcd.com.