The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (District) is committed to ensuring a sustainable future for our groundwater resources and preventing subsidence through regulation, education and conservation. In 2019, the Board of Directors created the District’s first Water Conservation Grant Program to support the District’s mission in enhancing water conservation education and advancing the implementation of water conservation measures.
After a competitive evaluation process, the District awarded a total of $166,721 in matching funds to five grantees who will evaluate, implement and promote water conservation at the local scale, leveraging over $400,000 towards water conservation projects for our region. The following is an overview of the projects funded by the Water Conservation Grant Program.
The grantees are The City of League City, Clear Creek Independent School District, Klein Independent School District, University of Houston, Department of Civil Environmental Engineering, and the Meadows Center for Water and Environment at Texas State University.
The City of League City is implementing a project utilizing proprietary multispectral satellite imagery paired with acoustic leak detection field surveys to identify and repair underground treated water leaks. This methodology has shown potential to identify leaks faster and cheaper than traditional methods in other parts of Texas, and this project will provide relevant data to our region.
Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) and Klein Independent School District (KISD) are implementing projects to replace traditional irrigation controllers with “smart” weather-sensitive irrigation controllers for their athletic fields along with centralized control systems. Over 50 athletic fields will be included in this project, with 31 fields at CCISD and 26 fields at KISD. These projects will have a direct water savings impact and are projected to reduce athletic field water use by 25 to 35 percent each year for the school districts.
Two water conservation research projects were included in the Water Conservation Grant Program, with funding being authorized for the University of Houston Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (University of Houston) and the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University (Meadows Center). The University of Houston will be developing a land-use based model to evaluate water conservation scenarios for a study area in Northwest Houston. The Meadows Center partnered with the City of Houston and will apply the Alliance for Water Efficiency Water Conservation Tracking Tool to evaluate water conservation potential for residential and commercial/institutional accounts, with a focus on both indoor and outdoor residential water uses.
A few of the projects are already underway while others will begin soon. The District looks forward to following each grantee’s progress through the completion of their projects. For more information on the Water Conservation Grant Program, visit the District’s website at https://hgsubsidence.org/conservation/grant-program/
About the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District
The District was created in 1975 by the Texas Legislature with the mandate to cease and prevent subsidence within Harris and Galveston Counties by regulating the use of groundwater. Subsidence has been a long-standing problem in Harris, Galveston, and surrounding counties, with total subsidence near Galveston Bay reaching over 10 feet. Subsidence can contribute to flooding, infrastructure damage, and faulting.
Since 1975, groundwater regulation implemented by the District has resulted in increased aquifer water levels and slowing or cessation of subsidence in regulatory areas closest to the Gulf of Mexico. Regional water authorities and the City of Houston are working together to develop the necessary water infrastructure to facilitate the District’s regulatory plan.