overview of the permitting process
STEP 1 - Application with Fee
An application must be completed for each well to be permitted. Complete and submit the application via the District’s online Portal. After the District staff verifies and processes your application, you can then pay the application fee.
In addition to your name and contact information, additional information is requested regarding the physical location of the well, the depth and size of the well, and the amount of groundwater you expect to use over the next year.
STEP 2 - Public Hearing
The District is required by law to hold a Public Hearing on each permit application submitted to the District. Prior to the date of the Hearing, you will receive a hearing notice informing you of the time, date, and location of the Hearing. Although your attendance is welcomed, you are not required to attend the Hearing. At the hearing, District staff will present your application to a Hearing Examiner along with staff’s recommendations and comments on the application. You may be contacted after the hearing if additional information is needed.
STEP 3 - Board Action
Once your permit application has gone through the Hearing, it will be scheduled for one of the District’s Board meetings. Board meetings are regularly held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 10:00 am at the District’s office. You are not required to attend the Board meeting. You will only receive notice of the Board meeting if you specifically request notification or if there are special circumstances regarding your application, such as a prior violation or a difference between the amount of groundwater requested in the application and the amount recommended by the Hearing Examiner.
STEP 4 - Permit Fee Statement
Once your permit application is approved by the Board, you will receive a permit fee statement. This statement will show the amount of groundwater that may be pumped during the term of your permit and the corresponding charge for that amount of permitted groundwater.
STEP 5 - Permit Issued
Once your permit fee statement is paid, you will receive your water well permit.
The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD) may limit groundwater withdrawals or deny permits following the guidelines stated in the HGSD Act, this Regulatory Plan, and the District Rules. In determining whether to issue a permit or limit groundwater withdrawals the HGSD will weigh the public benefit against individual hardship, after considering all appropriate documentation and relevant factors.
Permit Fees
The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District’s fees are intended to operate as an economic disincentive to producing groundwater as one of the available regulatory tools. The Regulatory Plan contains a permit fee structure that includes a District Permit Fee and a Disincentive Permit Fee.
District Permit Fees
This fee is applied to all of a permittee’s authorized groundwater withdrawals. Funds obtained from the collection of base fees are used to cover the costs of issuing permits and performing other regulatory functions of the HGSD. Beginning January 1, 2023, the regular permit fee rate will change from $24 to $26 per million gallons of groundwater allocation. (Application fee is separate from permit fee.)
Disincentive Permit Fee
If you are not in compliance with the District regulatory plan, you will be required to pay the disincentive permit fee. The purpose of the disincentive permit fee is to create an economic incentive for permittees to take steps to ultimately reduce groundwater use to no more than 20% of total water demand in HGSD Regulatory Areas 2 and 3 (10% in Regulatory Area 1) according to the schedule set forth in the Regulatory Plan. The disincentive permit fee can be avoided through actions in compliance with milestones contained in a certified Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP). The disincentive permit fee is applied in each permit year that groundwater reduction requirements are not met.
The District has established a disincentive permit fee rate equal to 200% of the City of Houston’s Contract Treated Water Service Charge without airgap between systems rate, plus the Premium Over Contract Minimum rate, per thousand gallons of authorized groundwater withdrawal. The disincentive permit fee is indexed to this rate annually.
If you are unable to meet the required conversion to alternative water, then you may be subject to a disincentive fee. See our schedule of fees for the current disincentive fee rate.
Approximately four months prior to the expiration of your permit, the District will mail you a permit renewal application form. This form must be filled out and returned to the District along with the $60.00 renewal application fee. Renewal applications can also be completed online, but the application will not be processed until the $60.00 application fee is received.
The renewal application form will require you to enter the amount of groundwater you pumped from your well during the previous 12-month period and the amount of water you purchased from other sources. If you have access to alternative sources of water, you will be required to submit copies of water bills to verify the amount of water purchased from other sources.
The District is required to consider many different factors when establishing the groundwater allocation for each permittee. Some considerations include the following:
- The amount of groundwater requested by applicant
- Location of the groundwater well
- Availability of alternative water supply
- Participation in a groundwater reduction plan
- Use of groundwater credits to offset groundwater pumpage
Each situation is unique. Please contact the District permitting staff if you have further questions.
Most water wells in Harris and Galveston counties have been required to be permitted since 1976. After the 1993 legislative session, changes were adopted regarding which wells must be permitted by the District, resulting in an increase in the number of wells subject to permitting. In an effort to notify well owners of the changes in the permitting requirements, the District published notices in the newspaper, posted notices at the county courthouses, and held a public hearing to receive public comment. Despite these public outreach efforts, unpermitted wells are still periodically discovered by District staff during routine inspections throughout the District.
If a well serves anything other than one house, a permit is required. However, a permit may be required for a well that serves a house depending on the following:
- What diameter is the well
- Where it is located
- When was it drilled
There are some other minor exceptions that are spelled out in the Rules. Regardless of whether a well needs a permit, or not, the well is still required to be registered with the District before the well can be drilled.