History and Functions of the Texas Water Well Drillers Board

The Water Well Drillers Board was established in 1961 as a result of a statute that required water well drillers to register with the Board of Water Engineers. The board originally served as an advisory group. After the state's water agencies reorganized in 1965 the Texas Water Well Drillers Board was established by a new Water Well Drillers Act that gave the agency primary responsibility for the licensing and regulation of water well drillers and the prevention of underground water pollution. The board was responsible in aiding the Texas Water Commission in enforcement of drilling rules. Regulations required the recording of accurate logs on drilled or altered wells. The Texas Water Commission was to receive copies of all logs. Drillers had to inform landowners of potentially hazardous or polluted wells. The board also implemented the water commission's standards for plugging wells and had the authority to plug abandoned or deteriorated water wells. The board was made up of nine members appointed by the governor for overlapping six-year terms. Six of the members had to be registered water well drillers with ten years' experience and had to represent the different geographical regions of the Gulf Coast, Trans-Pecos, Central Texas, Northeast Texas, and Panhandle-South Plains. In 1991 the board had an operating budget of $188,644. The Texas Water Well Drillers Board was abolished in September 1992, and the Texas Water Commission assumed its duties.