PRAIRIELANDS GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING August 17, 2026 9:00 AM NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to all interested persons in Ellis, Hill, Johnson, and Somervell Counties, Texas: That the Board of Directors of the Prairielands Groundwater Conservation District ("District") will hold a public hearing, accept public comment, and may act to adopt amendments to the District Rules regulating water wells within the boundaries of the District, including Ellis, Hill, Johnson, and Somervell Counties, Texas. Prior to these amendments, the District's Board of Directors ("Board") adopted permanent District Rules on December 17, 2018, and has subsequently amended them. The proposed amendments to the District Rules include: 1) amending definitions of key terms; 2) changing requirements related to certain wells exempt from permitting and regulatory requirements; 3) adding new aquifer testing and hydrogeologic investigation and report requirements for certain high-volume permit and permit amendment applications, describing the procedures and use of the information to be provided from the aquifer test and report in the permitting process, describing measures an applicant can take to address potential unreasonable impacts, and requiring special public notice related to such applications; 4) authorizing the District to refuse to process applications where the well driller or the driller's company has unresolved rules violations; 5) new provisions designed to prevent one or more persons from attempting to circumvent rules requirements by breaking a project into multiple applications; 6) amending the time period in which meters must be read each month; 7) amending information to be used in well spacing calculations; 8) amending and clarifying existing rules regarding Historic Use Permit contiguous controlled acreage requirements, interactions with new or nonhistoric production permits and their associated acreage, and production authorization reductions related thereto; 9) amending the rules related to wasteful system water loss and water loss audits for retail public utilities, the imposition of disincentive fees for wasteful system water loss, and the ability of the Board to allow use of disincentive fees to reduce wasteful system water loss; 10) amending the rules related to water use fee refunds and eligibility for refunds; 11) repealing the petition for additional production authorization rule; 12) amending and clarifying administrative and civil penalties, their amounts, and other enforcement remedies for violations of the rules in the Enforcement Policy and Penalty Schedule; 13) amending the fee and penalty schedule for excessive groundwater pumping, the fee schedule for pumping under a compliance order, and penalties for pumping in excess of the amount authorized in a compliance order; and 14) other minor conforming, clarifying, or nonsubstantive changes. This hearing will be held on Monday, August 17, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m., at the District office located at 208 Kimberly Drive, Cleburne, TX 76031. Any person who desires to appear at the hearing and present comments or other information on the proposed adoption of amendments to the District Rules may do so in person, by legal representative, or both. Comments may be presented orally or in writing. Limits may be placed on the amount of time that each person is allowed to present verbal comments. Persons interested in submitting written comments on the proposed amendments may do so by sending any such comments to the District office at PGCD, 208 Kimberly Drive, Cleburne, TX 76031. The Board may act to adopt the amendments to the rules as proposed or with additional changes based upon comments and discussion at the hearing. The hearing posted in this notice may be recessed from day to day or continued where appropriate. The Board may take action to adopt rules amendments during the hearing or at the public board meeting on August 17, 2026, or a later date. The public hearing is available to all persons regardless of disability. If you require special assistance to attend the hearing, please contact the Prairielands Groundwater Conservation District at (817) 556-2299 at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing. No later than 20 days prior to the date of this hearing, a copy of the proposed amendments to the District Rules may be requested by email at kjones@prairielandsgcd.org, will be available for reviewing or downloading at www.prairielandsgcd.org, and may be reviewed, inspected, or obtained in person at the District office located at 208 Kimberly Drive, Cleburne, TX 76031. For more information, contact the District's General Manager, Kathy Turner Jones, at (817) 556-2299. IPL0359989 Jul 24 2026