Mike

Michael R. Thornhill

Chief Executive Officer

Aquifer and Water Availability Assessments

• Experience throughout most of Texas includes all Major and most Minor aquifers in the State, including extensive experience in the Gulf Coast, Carrizo, Wilcox (Hooper, Simsboro and Calvert Bluff), Sparta, Queen City, Catahoula, Edwards-Trinity Plateau, Trinity (Antlers and Twin Mountain), Pecos Valley, Hueco Bolson, Rio Grande Alluvium, West Texas Bolsons, High Plains (Ogallala), Edwards-Balcones Fault Zone, and Brazos River Alluvium aquifers.

• Conducted brackish water feasibility studies, alternative water source studies, well drilling and testing oversight, regulatory submittals, and aquifer testing for numerous municipalities in Montgomery County, Texas where groundwater reduction plans were in effect.

• Assessments for feasibility and applications for Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) projects, and for groundwater supplies to supply a seven (7) million gallon per day reverse osmosis (RO) plant (El Paso County).

• Conducted extensive water availability investigations for large potential supplies from various aquifers across Texas including: the Pecos Valley Aquifer (20 MGD); the Edwards-Trinity Plateau Aquifer in Bexar (8 MGD), Kinney (25 MGD), Pecos (45 MGD), and Val Verde (50 MGD) counties; the Carrizo Aquifer (20 MGD); and, the Wilcox Aquifer(Hooper, Simsboro and Calvert Bluff) with large permitted production from Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee, Milam, and Robertson counties.

• Assessments for municipal, irrigation and industrial supplies, as well as assessments for marketing of available supplies.

• Conducted investigations in the Colorado River Alluvium aquifer in Travis and Bastrop counties including groundwater availability, well field siting studies, drilling and testing, municipal well completion and evaluations of hydrologic connection between the river and the aquifer.

Well and Well-Field Evaluations and Design

• Evaluations and planning with respect to existing or potential wells and well fields in several aquifers with wells ranging from 50 to 3,500 feet deep, and individual well capacities ranging from 10 to 5,000 gallons per minute (gpm).

• Aquifer testing and analysis, modeling and well-efficiency evaluations.

• Assisting clients and project engineers in well design, specification preparation, bidding and contractor selection, and inspection of drilling, construction, completion and testing procedures for municipal, irrigation, and industrial wells.

• Laying out well fields for production of as much as 100,000 acre-feet per year (or about 89 MGD).

• Designing, permitting (Railroad Commission of Texas), and overseeing construction and monitoring of a depressurization well field (Simsboro Aquifer) for a lignite mine in Robertson County.

• Developing monitoring programs to evaluate historic production characteristics of wells and to monitor aquifer water levels and water quality.

• Conducting and assisting project engineers in developing and conducting well treatment and rehabilitation to remedy physical, chemical and biological fouling.

Expert Witness Services

• Expert witness investigations, support, and testimony (i.e., written and oral) for plaintiffs and defendants, including cases involving hydrogeology, groundwater availability, well construction, contamination, dewatering, water value, injection well permitting, and hydrologic impacts.

• Technical consultation and expert witness services for regulated activities including land application of treated effluent in the Barton Creek watershed and other watersheds, and contested certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) applications.

• Expert witness testimony for plaintiffs in SOAH hearings and U.S. District Courts.

• Some highlight cases include:

  • Expert witness for Circle C in Circle C v. City of Austin – case involving the Save our Springs ordinance in which testimony concentrated on the hydrogeology of the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer within the boundaries of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District.

  • Expert witness for Ozarka in Sipriano v. Great Spring Waters of America – provided hydrogeologic witness services in the “Rule of Capture” case that ultimately reached the Texas Supreme Court.

  • Expert witness for 7KX Ranch owners in State of Texas v. 7KX Investments – conducted groundwater availability assessment and provided estimates of potential value for groundwater that could be produced from the subject property.

  • Expert witness for quarrying operations in Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC and Arbuckle Aggregates, LLC v. City of Tishomingo, Oklahoma – provided expert testimony regarding hydrogeological conditions and flaws in groundwater flow modeling related to potential impacts of quarrying operations on stream flows and the surface water supply of the City of Tishomingo.

  • Expert witness on behalf of Fazzino in Stratta/Fazzino v. Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District – provided expert testimony regarding hydrogeologic and aquifer conditions, potential aquifer responses due to pumping, GCD rules, and estimates of potential value of groundwater from the subject property.

Injection and Disposal Well Investigations

• Evaluated well drilling and completion details including geologic logs, geophysical logs, cementing procedures and intervals, cement bond logs, completion methods, completion intervals and drill-stem testing.

• Conducted research regarding establishing a methodology for regional determinations of confining bed integrity.

• Performed hydraulic calculations for injection intervals including pressure build up within the well and injection zone, and volumetric displacement of fluids within injection zones and intervals.

• Conducted studies to identify and characterize potentially favorable locations and deep injection intervals for Class I injection wells to dispose of concentrate from proposed desalination processes.

• Designed with project engineers a test well to assess the potential for deep injection of desalination concentrate, including overseeing field drilling, logging, and testing processes.  Compiled and submitted a permit application to the TCEQ for a Class V injection well (completed to Class I well standards).

• Assisted in evaluating impacts to injections zones and nearby injection wells for Railroad Commission of Texas Class II permit applications.

• Assessments including hydraulic calculations and analyses for aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) projects in deep aquifers.

Regulatory, Permitting and Other Submittals to State/Local Agencies

• Assisted project engineers in obtaining approval for construction and usage of water wells for public water systems – TCEQ (Water Utilities Division).

• Conducted and supervised hydrogeologic assessment, monitoring plans and results – TCEQ (Municipal Solid Waste Division).

• Spring water approvals – Texas Department of State Health Services and United States Food and Drug Administration.

• Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and contributing zone geologic assessments – TCEQ (Edwards Aquifer Protection Program).

• Compiled applicable portions of permit applications and compliance submittals for lignite mines – Railroad Commission of Texas.

• Permit application submittals and other documentation for GCDs across Texas.  Some notable permit successful permit applications include:

  • Fort Stockton Holdings (28,500 acre-feet per year) – Middle Pecos GCD

  • GateHouse Water, LLC (18,500 acre-feet per year) – Lost Pines GCD

  • Recharge (End Op) Water (46,000 acre-feet per year) – Lost Pines GCD

  • Upwell/Brazos Valley Farms (49,999 acre-feet per year) – Brazos Valley GCD

    • Also acquired Transport Permit for 49,999 acre-feet per year

  • Multiple Landowners (140,000 acre-feet per year) – Brazos Valley GCD

• Technical and expert support regarding Texas Land Application Permits for treated wastewater irrigation discharge atop the Edwards Balcones Fault Zone Aquifer recharge zone and contributing zone – TCEQ (Edwards Aquifer Projection Program).

Groundwater Conservation District Representation

• Provided written report, consultation and assistance to Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District (LSGCD) attorney in preparing a presentation for a hearing before the TWDB regarding the LSGCD’s Management Plan leading to settled proceedings and Management Plan approval and adoption.

• For the adoption of LSGCD New District Rules, devised well spacing criteria for various aquifers in LSGCD, and along with Harden Hydrology, initiated new considerations for property-rights based regulation.

• Initiated revisions to the DFCs adoption process at GMA, along with LSGCD, proposing aquifer management concept changes and DFC metric concepts.

• Lead TGI, LRE, and WSP in planning a three-phase comprehensive subsidence study in Montgomery County, and in conducting Phase 1 of the study and presenting the findings to the LSGCD Board.

Hydrogeologic Investigations for Mining and Industrial Sites

• Exploration, permitting and compliance, dewatering/depressurization, probable hydrologic consequences and mitigation services for lignite mines in Texas and Mississippi.

• Permitting, water supply and probable hydrologic consequences investigations for limestone and gravel quarries in Travis, Hays and Williamson counties.

• Mechanical integrity and hydrogeologic investigation for injection wells associated with uranium mining.

• Hydrogeologic assessments and water-quality monitoring and evaluations associated with municipal solid waste landfills and industrial operations.

Groundwater Quality and Contamination Assessments

• Designing and implementing monitoring programs including drilling, monitor well completion, sampling and interpretation of laboratory results.

• Sites include landfills, mines and quarries, oil field brines, and petroleum spills.

• Injection well mechanical integrity.

• Experienced in assessing background aquifer conditions.

• Piper, Stiff, pattern and other diagrammatic and statistical methods.

• Experience with solute transport modeling.

Depressurization and Dewatering Design, Implementation and Monitoring

• Planning, implementation, operations oversight and monitoring of depressurization/dewatering systems associated with lignite mining operations.

• Assisted project engineers in design, and conducted field inspection of completion of wells and well fields pumping up to 2,000 gpm and 14 MGD, respectively.

• Conducted investigations to determine probable hydrologic consequences of depressurization and dewatering operations.  Additionally, assisted mine personnel in designing and conducting monitoring programs.

• Monitoring and data collection systems for operations and State submittals.

Computer Modeling

• Computer calculations and groundwater flow modeling such as IMAGEW-1, PLASM, and MODFLOW, and solute transport modeling including Randomwalk and Plume.

• Working knowledge of CAD and GIS software and applications.

Geologic and Hydrogeologic Assessments

• Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and karst assessments.

• Surface and subsurface assessments of soils and geology relating to development properties and potential recharge features.

• Geologic and hydrogeogeologic characterization investigations for landfills, land application of wastewater, composting sites and others.

• Lignite drilling, coring, coal quality sampling and analyses.

• Geophysical log interpretations.

Spring and Bottled Water Source Assessments and Development

• Hydrogeologic assessments and facilities design for several spring water and bottled water companies in Texas.

• Provides consulting services to Nestlé Waters North America (formerly Perrier Group of America) for all spring-water sites in Texas (Ozarka, Aberfoyle).

• Evaluated major springs in Texas, Florida, Georgia, California and Alabama.

Presentations and Public Forums

• Published and unpublished presentations to professional societies including the American Institute of Hydrology, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) International, Geological Society of America.

• Presentations to Texas legislative committees such as the Texas Natural Resources Committee.

• Presentations to higher education institutions such as Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University.

• Presentations of proposals and project status to city councils, county commissioners, and public audiences.

• Participation in advisory groups including county appointed groups and private business groups.