Upton County has a water district but limited groundwater conservation district coverage

Many Texas counties have a groundwater conservation district, or GCD. A GCD sets rules on how deep you can drill and how much water you can pump. Most of Upton County has no GCD. That means fewer local rules if you want to drill a water well here.

A small part of the county does fall inside the Plateau Underground Water Conservation And Supply District. The rest has no GCD at all. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has flagged this gap. It named parts of Reagan, Upton, and Midland counties a Priority Groundwater Management Area because of it.

The Upton County Water District is a different thing. It handles other water services, not well permits. You can reach it at P.O. Box 330, Rankin, TX 79778, phone 432-693-2597. It meets on the second Wednesday of each month.

For well records and aquifer data, check the Texas Water Development Board at twdb.texas.gov. That is a good first stop before you drill.