Officials from the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District met with Montague County Commissioners Monday. (Left) Mike Berkley, member of the board, Doug Shaw, general manager and Tracy Mesler, board chairman. (Photo by Barbara Green)

By BARBARA GREEN
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Officials with the Upper Trinity Groundwater District on Monday updated Montague County Commissioners on the development of the district’s permanent rules expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
Along with those changes, the commissioners lifted the burn ban.
County Judge Rick Lewis said he had talked with several fire chiefs and they were in the “middle of the road” about a ban. Commissioner Bob Langford moved to lift the ban at least for a while to allow farmers and ranchers to get caught up on their fields. After approving the removal of the ban, Lewis said he would keep it on the agenda if the need arises for action.
Doug Shaw, general manager for the Upper Trinity, along with Tracy Mesler, board chairman and Mike Berkley, member of the board of directors, addressed the court. Both Mesler and Berkley are county representatives on the board.
Mesler said they have been working with temporary rules the last nine years, but they have developed a lot of science which allowed them to realize what the ground will “let us have.”

Read the full story in the mid-week News. Learn more about the potential new rules that will impact tract size and include new permitting.