Van Zandt County agrees to hire law firm to pursue creation of 16-county groundwater district

County commissioners voted to accept an engagement letter with Sledge Law Firm to pursue formation of a regional groundwater conservation district covering roughly 16 East Texas counties, including Van Zandt County. The court authorized county judges to sign the documents necessary for joint legal work.

The decision followed a detailed presentation by Brian Sledge, an attorney who specializes in water law, who explained the legal framework for groundwater management in Texas. Sledge traced the state's groundwater policy from early "rule of capture" cases through the Legislature's 1949 authorization of locally created groundwater conservation districts (GCDs), noting that districts allow local management, monitoring and permitting of large wells and larger groundwater users.

Sledge emphasized that the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer runs through Van Zandt County and that parts of Northeast Texas currently lack groundwater-district coverage, leaving the region vulnerable to large export projects and groundwater marketing. He said GCDs typically collect science, install monitoring wells, set desired future conditions, adopt permitting systems and use production fees to fund operations.

Commissioners pressed Sledge on cost, authority over private wells, and timing. He said most modern districts are financed by pumpage or production fees rather than property taxes. He offered two fee-related figures during the meeting: an "equal apportionment" estimate given as "$12,000 or $13,218.75 a month" if all 16 counties join, and a separate estimate of "$19,500 a month for the next 12 months" to carry legal work through the legislative session and the governor's veto period. He described those numbers as the firm's working estimates for a one-year engagement and said fees would be apportioned equally by county if all participate.

On private wells, Sledge said the law statutorily exempts domestic and livestock wells on tracts of 10 acres or larger from regulation. Districts can regulate wells on smaller tracts by adopting spacing or minimum-tract-size rules, but many districts do not attempt to individually permit household wells because of the expense and enforcement burdens.

Sledge outlined a likely schedule: counties would finish internal decisions this fall, draft legislation and file a bill when the Legislature convenes in January, and if successful the bill would be approved by the end of the session and returned to the governor (with a possible effective date the following summer). He also described implementation steps including temporary rules, requirements for metering and pumpage reporting and eventual permitting systems; Sledge cited an example compliance date for metering and reporting of Jan. 1, 2028, as a possible implementation milestone.

The court then moved and voted to accept the engagement letter. No detailed vote tally was recorded in the transcript; the judge announced the motion passed. The court also said it will schedule a public workshop prior to signing any future resolution so members of the public can provide input.

Next steps: the county will execute the engagement letter and participate in the multi-county committee Sledge described to draft legislation and plan technical work. The county will schedule a public workshop to collect input before any resolution to formally join the proposed district is signed.