The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District Regulatory Plan was approved on January 9, 2013, and subsequently amended on May 8, 2013, and again on April 14, 2021.
The purpose and intent of the Regulatory Plan are to establish policy in the areas of groundwater regulation, permits, and enforcement, as well as to establish the HGSD Regulatory Areas and regulatory requirements for each area.
The HGSD Regulatory Plan was developed with an overall goal to reduce groundwater withdrawal to a level that no longer contributes to further subsidence within the District. Extensive research and ongoing monitoring have determined that no more than 20% (10% in HGSD Regulatory Area 1) of total water demand can be sourced from groundwater to prevent future subsidence. The HGSD Regulatory Plan will be reviewed and may be amended as needed.
The District has both coastal and inland areas that exhibit different consequences to additional subsidence. Regardless of proximity to the coast, whether on the island or in Jersey Village, the consequences of subsidence include flooding, inundation, fault movement, infrastructure damage, and changes in drainage patterns. The low-lying areas along the coast are the most vulnerable to flooding resulting from hurricane storm surge events. In the areas that are not vulnerable to tidal storm surges, subsidence contributes to changes in drainage patterns, flooding, fault movement, and damage to wells and pipelines.
In establishing these objectives, the District has considered the time and cost of introducing alternative water supplies. The District recognizes that the burden of controlling subsidence should be borne by all users of groundwater. Although a single permittee’s groundwater withdrawal may not be capable of causing severe subsidence problems, the total actions by all permittees can cause significant subsidence. Therefore, every permittee is responsible for managing their withdrawals to help contribute toward solving the subsidence problem. To achieve the objectives for each Regulatory Area, the District must have discretion in permitting groundwater withdrawals and setting disincentive fee rates as a means of achieving the plan’s goals.