When the Prairielands Groundwater Conservation District was established in Ellis, Hill, Johnson, and Somervell counties, each county fronted a portion of the necessary start-up funding to employ staff, establish an office, and develop the initial aquifer studies on which the district would eventually base their permanent rules.  This funding has been repaid in a series of installments to each county over five years using fees collected from non-exempt wells. At the January district board meeting, the Prairielands GCD Board of Directors unanimously voted to make the final repayments to the counties more than six months ahead of schedule.

Beginning in early February, District Manager Jim Conkwright personally visited and presented each of the four counties’ county judges with a check fulfilling the repayment agreement.