Well Water and Groundwater Rules in Hemphill County, Texas

A single-county district, confirmed by an overwhelming local vote

Most Texas Panhandle counties share a Groundwater Conservation District with several neighbors -- North Plains GCD, for instance, spans all or part of eight counties to the north and west. Hemphill County took a different path: local voters confirmed the Hemphill County Underground Water Conservation District in a November 1997 election, with 88% in favor, creating a district whose jurisdiction covers the entire county -- roughly 900 square miles -- and nothing beyond it. That single-county scope means the district's rules are written specifically around Hemphill County's own aquifer conditions rather than balanced across several counties' competing interests, which can mean more locally tailored (and, in some respects, more restrictive) rules than a typical multi-county district applies.

Every well gets registered -- even an exempt one

In most Texas groundwater districts, a well that qualifies as exempt (typically a domestic or livestock well on a large enough tract, producing under a set gallons-per-day threshold) doesn't need to be registered with the district at all -- exemption often means exemption from the whole permitting and registration process. Hemphill County's district rules work differently: every well in the county is required to be registered or permitted, based on whether it qualifies as exempt or non-exempt use, meaning even an exempt domestic or livestock well still goes on the district's books. This matters practically: a buyer relying on an existing well should confirm it was actually registered with the district, not simply assume an old rural well predates any registration requirement or was informally exempt from the process altogether.

Production is capped by an aquifer-decline formula, not a flat number

Rather than setting a single flat gallons-per-day production cap, the district's rules limit how much groundwater a well may produce based on a technical standard: production is capped at a level such that the aquifer's saturated thickness at the point the well penetrates it does not decline by more than 1% per calendar year, calculated in conjunction with the district's separate well-spacing requirements. This is a more technically involved standard than the flat production caps common in many other Texas districts, and it means a specific well's allowed production can depend on local aquifer conditions and nearby well spacing rather than a single number that applies uniformly countywide. A hydrogeologist or the district's own staff can help translate this standard into an actual expected production rate for a specific proposed well location.

What to verify before drilling a well in Hemphill County

1. Confirm directly with the district whether an existing well on a parcel you're considering is actually registered, since Hemphill County's rules require registration even for exempt wells.
2. Ask the district for its current, specific exempt-use threshold (tract size and gallons-per-day) rather than assuming a generic statewide default applies here.
3. For a new well, ask the district how its 1%-annual-decline production standard and well-spacing rules (Section 5.407 of the district's rules) apply to the specific proposed location, since the calculation is site-specific rather than a flat number.
4. Get the district's current rules document directly rather than relying on an older copy, since districts periodically revise their rules.