Is the well water in Hood County salty or brackish?

Generally fresh. Hood draws from the Trinity (Paluxy, Glen Rose, and Twin Mountains), which the groundwater district and the Texas Water Development Board describe as fresh to slightly saline. Hardness is the usual concern. A standard water test after drilling is enough for most properties.

Which GCD governs water wells in Hood County?

Hood County is within the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (Upper Trinity GCD), which also covers Montague, Parker, and Wise counties. The Upper Trinity GCD operates under Texas Water Code Chapter 36 and manages the Trinity aquifer system — the Paluxy, Glen Rose, and Twin Mountains formations that supply most Hood County residential wells.

Do I need a permit before drilling a well in Hood County?

Yes. The Upper Trinity GCD requires a pre-drilling permit before any new well is constructed in Hood County, including residential domestic and livestock wells. Your TDLR-licensed driller will submit the permit application on your behalf. Do not begin drilling before written permit approval is in hand.

What counts as an exempt well under UTGCD Rule 3.1?

Under UTGCD Rule 3.1, wells used solely for domestic use, livestock, poultry, or agriculture are exempt from production limits without a volume cap. Non-domestic, non-livestock, non-poultry, non-agricultural wells operated by anyone other than a retail public utility are exempt only if pump capacity is 17.36 gpm or less. The 25,000 gallons per day default rule from Texas Water Code Section 36.117 is not the operative UTGCD test. Registration and spacing rules still apply to exempt wells.

How deep are wells typically drilled in Hood County?

Hood County residential well depths vary widely depending on location, elevation, and proximity to Lake Granbury and the Brazos River. Wells may target the Paluxy, Glen Rose (limited fractured-zone yield only), or Twin Mountains depending on the parcel. Properties on the Cresson Ridge or in southeast Hood County may require deeper drilling to reach productive Twin Mountains sand. Confirm with the driller for your specific parcel.

Are there special considerations for wells near Lake Granbury or the Brazos River?

Properties close to Lake Granbury, the Brazos River, coves, flood-prone lowlands, or shallow alluvial deposits deserve extra attention to well construction, sanitary sealing, flood elevation, septic separation, and water testing. Lake proximity by itself does not prove lake-water influence on a well, but it does raise the bar on construction quality and water-quality testing. A driller experienced with Hood County's drainage settings can help you size up the risk before drilling.

What water quality issues should Hood County well owners anticipate?

Hood County groundwater is typically hard, particularly from the Glen Rose Formation, which is known for high calcium carbonate and locally elevated sulfate. Iron is common in Paluxy outcrop areas. Twin Mountains water tends to be fresh to slightly saline. After drilling, test for coliform bacteria, nitrates, iron, manganese, hardness, sulfate, pH, and total dissolved solids. For properties near Lake Granbury or the Brazos floodplain, surface-water-indicator testing is also worth doing. Test before purchasing any treatment equipment.

Hood County Water Well Regulations & Permit Requirements, TX

Name: DFW Well Service
Address: 2222 County Road 340, Gainesville, TX, 76240, US
Telephone: (940) 536-8560

Planning a well in Hood County?

Local requirements depend on your property, the Upper Trinity GCD’s rules, and what you intend to use the well for. We can help you understand the practical next steps. We do not provide legal advice.

Hood County is shaped by the Brazos River and Lake Granbury, with the full Paluxy / Glen Rose / Twin Mountains Trinity stack underneath much of the county. Whether you are drilling a new home well, a ranch supply, or replacing an existing system, your regulatory starting point is the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.

Which GCD Governs Hood County?

Hood County is fully within the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (Upper Trinity GCD), often shortened to UTGCD. The district also covers Montague, Parker, and Wise counties — all four counties operate under the same UTGCD rule set. The district was created by the 80th Texas Legislature and confirmed by voters in 2007, and operates under Texas Water Code Chapter 36. The district website is uppertrinitygcd.com, and the district office is at 1859 W. Hwy. 199 in Springtown, in neighboring Parker County.

UTGCD manages the Trinity aquifer system across the four counties. In Hood County specifically, that means the Paluxy / Glen Rose / Twin Mountains stack across most of the county, with small areas of southeast Hood County reaching the lower Trinity intervals (Travis Peak / Hensell / Hosston, which UTGCD manages as Twin Mountains for regulatory purposes).

Step-by-Step: Drilling a Well in Hood County

Step	Action	Who Is Responsible
1	Hire a TDLR-licensed water well driller	Property owner
2	Submit pre-drilling permit application to Upper Trinity GCD	Licensed driller
3	Receive UTGCD permit approval — drilling may not begin before this	Upper Trinity GCD
4	Drill the well in compliance with permit conditions and UTGCD spacing rules	Licensed driller
5	File the State of Texas Well Report with TDLR within 60 days of completion	Licensed driller
6	Test water quality before relying on the well	Property owner

The permit step applies to all new wells in Hood County — including exempt domestic and livestock wells. Exemption from production limits is not exemption from permitting.

Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Wells Under UTGCD Rule 3.1

The Upper Trinity GCD uses a use-category structure for exemption rather than the 25,000 gallons per day default that appears in many other parts of Texas. Under UTGCD Rule 3.1:

Wells used solely for domestic use, livestock, poultry, or agriculture are exempt from production limits with no volume cap.
Wells used for other purposes (commercial, industrial, irrigation, public supply) by anyone other than a retail public utility are exempt only if the pump’s capacity is 17.36 gallons per minute or less.
Leachate wells, monitoring wells, and closed-loop geothermal wells are also exempt.

Even exempt wells require UTGCD registration and pre-drilling permitting, and must meet UTGCD’s spacing rules. Non-exempt wells require meters and annual production reporting.

A note on oil and gas: wells used solely to supply rigs actively drilling or exploring oil and gas wells permitted by the Railroad Commission are exempt. Wells used to supply water for hydraulic fracturing are not exempt.

UTGCD Spacing Rules (Rule 4.3)

UTGCD’s spacing rules scale with pump capacity. Minimum tract size for a new well is 2 acres. Spacing from existing wells and from property lines increases as the pump’s capacity rating goes up:

Pump Capacity Class	Spacing from Other Wells	Spacing from Property Line
Less than 17.36 gpm	150 ft	50 ft
17.36 to 30 gpm	500 ft	150 ft
30 to 50 gpm	1,000 ft	250 ft
50 to 80 gpm	1,750 ft	500 ft
80 to 100 gpm	2,500 ft	750 ft
Over 100 gpm	3,250 ft	1,000 ft

Your driller will design the well to fit the spacing class that matches your intended pump.

Reporting and Fees

Non-exempt wells in UTGCD must be metered and must report production annually to the district. Exempt wells (domestic, livestock, poultry, agricultural, and small-capacity non-domestic) do not require metering or production reporting. Non-exempt wells are also subject to UTGCD production fees and permit-related fees, set annually by the UTGCD Board. The current schedule is published on the UTGCD Forms & Fees page at uppertrinitygcd.com.

Since January 1, 2024, Senate Bill 2440 also requires a Texas-licensed engineer or geoscientist certification of adequate groundwater availability for any subdivision plat application whose water-supply source is groundwater. This applies inside UTGCD per the district’s Groundwater Availability Certification page.

A Note on the Cresson Area

Cresson sits near the Hood / Parker / Johnson tri-county corner. Hood and Parker are both Upper Trinity GCD, so UTGCD rules apply on both sides of the Hood / Parker line. Johnson County, however, is in Prairielands GCD — a different district with its own rule set. Groundwater jurisdiction follows the physical location of the well bore, not the mailing address or the parcel’s tax county. If your Cresson-area property is anywhere near a county line, confirm which county and which GCD your parcel actually sits in before assuming UTGCD rules apply.

Working With a Licensed Driller

All water wells in Texas must be drilled by a contractor holding a valid TDLR Water Well Driller license. In Hood County, experience with the local geology matters as much as licensure — a driller who knows the Paluxy outcrop areas, the limestone-heavy Glen Rose intervals, the deeper Twin Mountains target, and the surface-water considerations near Lake Granbury and the Brazos will plan your well around your specific parcel.

An experienced driller will review TWDB well logs for nearby properties, talk through likely depth and yield, and handle the UTGCD permit application from start to finish.

DFW Well Service (TDLR License #61234 DKMPW) is available to drill throughout Hood County — from Granbury and Cresson to Tolar and Lipan. Call us at (940) 536-8560 to discuss your property and get a site-specific estimate.

Hood County rewards careful planning. The Trinity will reliably produce water across most of the county, but depth, yield, and water quality vary meaningfully by parcel — and properties near Lake Granbury or the Brazos floodplain need a closer look. Confirm your property is in the Upper Trinity GCD service area, work with a driller who knows Hood County, and budget for what is actually under your land.

Planning a well in Hood?