Growth is putting unprecedented pressure on water resources in many parts of the state. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Texas Hill Country, a region with some of the fastest growing counties in the nation. As one of the groups working “to bring together a diverse coalition of partners to preserve the … clean and abundant waters … of the Texas Hill Country,” the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) recently introduced its guide titled “Tools for Managing Groundwater in the Texas Hill Country” at the Texas Groundwater Summit in San Antonio.
As the guide points out “water is the lifeblood of the Texas Hill Country — but the real credit for our region’s success is the water we cannot see: … groundwater.” In addition to being a source of drinking water, this groundwater feeds rivers. “Twelve of the state’s 15 major rivers have their headwaters in the Hill Country,” according to HCA. But new development is placing increasing demands on the aquifers that feed these rivers at a time when “the region is experiencing more frequent drought.” In addition, “most of this growth is happening in unincorporated areas where regulation is limited.
The HCA’s extremely well written guide goes on to state that “like groundwater itself, knowing who can do what to manage groundwater can feel evasive and mysterious.” As a result, HCA developed this guide “to demystify the available tools for groundwater management and make groundwater planning and management more accessible across the Hill Country.”
In her presentation at the Texas Groundwater Summit titled, “Opportunities in Subdivision Regulation,” Marisa Bruno, water program manager with HCA, sought to elucidate “what groundwater conservation districts, counties, cities and residents can do to protect groundwater in the region.” Some of the main tools available to groundwater conservation districts (GCDs) include well spacing requirements. “By regulating well spacing, GCDs can protect existing well owners from some of the negative impacts of nearby pumping” while also effectively limiting “the number of wells drawing down the aquifer within a particular district.” Minimum lot sizes are another tool to “regulate well spacing” and “will vary district-to-district based on local aquifer conditions.”
GCDs can also set pumping limits on non-exempt wells. According to Texas law, wells are exempt from permitting if water produced from them is used for domestic purposes or to provide water to livestock or poultry. Exempt wells must also be located on a tract of land larger than 10 acres and be incapable of producing more than 25,000 gallons per day. All other wells are non-exempt and require a permit if they are located within the jurisdiction of a GCD.
In setting pumping limits on non-exempt wells, GCDs may consider “reasonable use and/or acreage” and site-specific conditions. The “doctrine of reasonable use” involves an assessment of whether the amount requested by the applicant “reasonably matches the intended use.”
Meanwhile, permit requirements based on acreage are often referred to as a “correlative cap,” whereby the applicant must own or lease enough acres of groundwater rights to support the volume they are requesting. These limits are always required to be based on the best available science and local aquifer conditions, while also taking into account unreasonable impacts on existing permit holders, among other factors.
With public water supply (PWS) systems becoming increasingly common in unincorporated areas of the Hill Country, some GCDs in the region are now requiring that new PWS systems provide a “daily livable minimum standard” to all customers. “This ensures that developers can limit density to unit numbers that their groundwater permit can safely support.” Counties can
also get involved. For example, “if groundwater is the source of water for a proposed subdivision,” counties can “require developers to certify that adequate groundwater is available to meet the needs of that subdivision.”
Protecting aquifer recharge areas is another tool available to counties. Voters in counties throughout the Hill Country have passed ballot measures “to fund land conservation over critical recharge zones.” As growth gobbles up ever more land for development, these initiatives are crucial to preserving the surface area necessary to ensure the region’s aquifers are replenished.
Cities have a role to play as well. Since they often operate wastewater systems, cities can invest in “higher treatment standards for wastewater” and set up the “infrastructure necessary to reuse it,” thus creating “a dependable and cost-effective source of water that reduces pressure on groundwater resources,” according to HCA.
While our population density in the Big Bend region and the current demands on our aquifers do not place the same level of urgency on our leaders to respond to these sorts of challenges, the message is clear: greater collaboration among local governments now can only benefit our efforts to prepare for more growth and less rainfall in a hotter, drier future. Visit hillcountryalliance.org/our-work/water-resources/ to learn more.
Trey Gerfers serves as general manager of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District. A San Antonio native, he has lived in Marfa since 2013 and can be reached at tgerfers@pcuwcd.org.