Locate and stack jurisdictions
Save the verified point, county, GCD or authority, GMA, and every overlapping state or special authority.
Controlled process and rule library
Permit review process
The process keeps location, ownership, aquifer, authorization, construction, production, and release decisions separate. A mapped district is the beginning of review—not a final permit answer.
Working reference: Monster Book handoff v0.8
Integrated September 21, 2026. This handoff is an operational reference, not a frozen legal source. Every job decision still requires the controlling authority, official source, version or effective date, last-verified date, status, and Stevens impact.
Required status labels
VERIFIED CURRENTPROPOSED / WATCHGUIDANCESTEVENS PRACTICE NOTEHISTORICALSTOP & VERIFY
Only VERIFIED CURRENT adopted and effective requirements may drive an enforceable classification. Drafts remain PROPOSED / WATCH and never overwrite current rules.
Job review workflow
Two separate release gatesEstablish property and rights
Keep surface ownership, groundwater ownership, severances, leases, access, and permit-holder identity as separate facts.
Classify the project
Determine use, new or existing well, special project overlays, proposed capacity, and whether work changes an existing authorization.
Identify the aquifer
Record target and penetrated formations with a confidence level. County or depth alone does not prove aquifer identity.
Determine the approval pathway
Use only adopted, effective, source-verified rules to decide registration, notice, exemption, permit, production, and reporting paths.
Complete technical review
Check spacing, casing, cement, isolation, logging, water quality, test data, metering, and required documents.
RIG RELEASE
Release drilling only after the pre-drill authority, property, rule, and construction gates are documented.
Record as-built and completion facts
Preserve designed, authorized, and as-built conditions separately; attach logs, reports, tests, and corrections.
OPERATING RELEASE
Authorize operation only after production authority, meter/reporting duties, final approvals, and as-built compliance are complete.
Do not combine these facts
Groundwater ownership ≠ right to capture a specific amount ≠ permit ≠ authorized production ≠ actual production
County ≠ aquifer; depth ≠ aquifer; customer aquifer name ≠ verified aquifer
DFC ≠ MAG ≠ water right ≠ permit ≠ actual production
Exempt from permitting ≠ exempt from district process
Tested capacity ≠ permitted production ≠ sustainable production ≠ installed pump capacity
Existing ≠ exempt ≠ compliant ≠ grandfathered ≠ authorized
Designed ≠ authorized ≠ as-built
RIG RELEASE ≠ OPERATING RELEASE
Automatic STOP & VERIFY
Aquifer identity or penetrated formations are uncertain
Ownership, severance, lease, access, or permit-holder identity is unclear
Rate, annual volume, purpose, place of use, export, or pump capacity changes
Deepening, recompletion, replacement, public-water-supply, test-hole, geothermal, or multi-well work
Unexpected formation, bad water, commingling, grout, casing, annulus, or flowing-well condition
Glen Rose isolation or Edwards penetration is involved
The current official source, effective rule, boundary, or active rulemaking cannot be verified
District working snapshots
These summaries route the review. They do not replace the official adopted text.
Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District
VERIFIED CURRENTRules amended and adopted August 21, 2026; management plan adopted November 21, 2025
No new well may be drilled without an approved District registration or production permit. For a new domestic, livestock, or poultry well to use the Rule 6.1 exemption, the tract must be larger than 10 acres, the well must be incapable of producing more than 25,000 gallons per day, and only one exempt well is allowed per 10 acres. Exempt wells still require registration approval before drilling.
Stevens impact: Check use, legal tract acreage, pump capability, and exempt-well density together. If any exemption condition is not met, route the job to the production-permit pathway before rig release.
Guadalupe County Groundwater Conservation District
PROPOSED / WATCHCurrent posted rules and forms; active 2026 rulemaking tracked separately
Intent to Drill is required before any well. Domestic/livestock exemptions depend on purpose and capability. Draft 2026 changes must not replace the current adopted rule set.
Stevens impact: Require the current Intent to Drill pathway and evaluate purpose and capability with the adopted rules only.
Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District
STOP & VERIFYRules adopted November 11, 2025
Allocation is aquifer-specific. Mitigation and export requirements may apply. A 3,000 acre-foot threshold discrepancy remains unresolved in the working source set.
Stevens impact: Stop before relying on the 3,000 acre-foot threshold; confirm the controlling text and aquifer-specific allocation.
Edwards Aquifer Authority
STOP & VERIFYConsolidated baseline effective September 22, 2023
Construction into or through the Edwards, withdrawal rights, metering, critical-period management, formation isolation, and reporting are distinct controls.
Stevens impact: Evaluate construction authorization separately from withdrawal authority. An EAA boundary match does not itself establish a right to produce.
Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District
VERIFIED CURRENTRules adopted October 16, 2025
Every new, modified, or plugged well requires District authorization. The domestic/livestock/poultry exemption requires a tract larger than 10 acres, capability no greater than 10,000 gallons/day (7 GPM), and no more than one exempt well per 10 acres. Nonexempt tracts under 20 acres use registered instantaneous pump limits; other nonexempt production requires an Operating Permit. Existing wells must be registered.
Stevens impact: Determine Authorization, Registration, Certificate of Registration, or Operating Permit from use, acreage, pump capability, well date/status, and work scope. Require geophysical logs and prevent Upper/Lower Glen Rose commingling.
Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District
PROPOSED / WATCHCurrent posted chapters; 2026 rulemaking tracked separately
Written authorization is required before drilling or alteration. Exemptions and 10,000-gallon pathways, construction, test-hole, geothermal, and quarterly reporting requirements must be checked against adopted text.
Stevens impact: Use current adopted chapters for decisions; show 2026 proposals only as watch items.
Medina County Groundwater Conservation District
STOP & VERIFYFinal amendments adopted June 26, 2024; exhibit source-control caution
The district regulates non-Edwards groundwater. Domestic/livestock exemptions, aquifer-dependent allocation, meters, and annual reports require project-specific review.
Stevens impact: Confirm the target aquifer first and verify the controlling exhibits before applying allocation or exemption figures.
Planning chain
Model and planning values inform regulation; they are not interchangeable with a permit or measured production.
Aquifer science / GAMGMADFCTWDB MAGGCD management planAdopted rules / programIndividual permitActual production
Source-control rule: No rule changes a job until staff records the official source, authority, adoption and effective status, rule or version date, last verified date, and Stevens impact. Historical versions stay attached to the determination they supported.