North Plains Water News

August 2024

Now Taking Online Payments

North Plains GCD is excited and pleased to announce our new credit card program!

All credit card payments will now be processed through certified payments. The link can be found on our website at the top of the page 'Online Payments' or we will provide the link to you via email.

Please provide the details to what you are paying for in the comment section; permit information, well number, applicant name and event, etc.

Service Rate is 2.35% which is lower than our previous provider. Credit card information is all entered by the card holder making it more secure for you.

Best of all it’s so easy and convenient and can be done anytime and anywhere that works best for you.

Feel free to contact the district office if you have any questions.

2024 Hydrology Report Approved by Board of Directors

At the August 13th Board of Directors Meeting, the Board approved the 2024 Hydrologic Report.

This report is compiled by independent consultant Dale Hallmark, P.G., and Aquifer Sciences Manager Odell Ward, P.G., using data collected by district field staff throughout the year.

Included in the Hydrology Report:

General Geology & Hydrology
Aquifer Information
Declines
Water Quality
Contour Maps

Find the full Hydrology Report here.

2024 Summer Outreach in the District

As summer comes to an end we would like to to showcase all the fun we had throughout the district.

We love being out in the district participating in different community events!

The district participated in the Summer Celebrations hosted by News Channel 10 in Perryton on July 17th and in Dumas July 18th, by handing out FREE Summer Savings Kits.

District staff volunteered to help XIT sell drinks at the Pork Chop feed on August 2nd and the World's Largest Free BBQ on August 3rd in Dalhart.

Staff passed out FREE HTeaO Tea and cups at Perryton's Wheatheart of the Nation Celebration Block Party hosted by the Ochiltree Chamber of Commerce on August 22nd.

District Adopts Proposed Tax Rate

On August 13, 2024, the Board of Directors voted to propose a property tax rate of .032161/$100 valuation.

The directors who voted for the proposed tax rate were Allan Frerich, Harold Grall, Bob Zimmer, Mark Howard, and Daniel Krienke; director Justin Crownover was absent.

The district will hold a hearing to receive comments on the proposed tax rate on September 10, 2024 at 9:00 AM at the Water Conservation Center, 6045 County Rd E. Dumas, TX. The proposed budget is lower than the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget by $76,000.00. The Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase is available on the district’s website at www.northplainsgcd.org along with other tax information such as the 2024 Tax Rate Calculation Worksheet.

If you have any questions please contact the district.

North Plains GCD - WCC Water Application

Due to well capacities falling off, it is getting harder to supply enough water to keep up with the irrigation demand of a full circle of corn. As such, many growers are split planting their fields to other crops that have a peak irrigation demand at a slightly different time than corn. The intention is to make the water go further, so you can add more water to the corn when it needs it most, and then switch to adding more water to the companion crop when it needs it most. In this way, it should be possible to get higher better returns for every inch of irrigation. At the Water Conservation Center this season, we have partnered silage sorghum on half a pivot with both grain corn and cotton. As you can see in the graphs, the soil under the corn is drying out and this is expected, since corn has such a high need for water around tasseling. However, the soil under the companion sorghum crop is also drying out. Once again, this is a good strategy, provided there is water in the soil to start with. On the east pivot, you can see that when we shared water between the cotton crop and the sorghum silage, the cotton wasn’t irrigated nearly as much and consequently, we were able to better keep up with the sorghum water use (i.e. the soil hasn’t dried out and the irrigation filled the soil each time). It will be interesting to see how the economics work out when you consider the returns per every inch of water applied. Stay tuned and we will bring you the results.

West Pivot Corn