PRESIDIO — On Tuesday night, the Presidio City Council voted in favor of a resolution designed to protect the city’s water supply from future development. The measure, brought by Trey Gerfers of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District (PCUWCD), will also be headed to the commissioners court next week and to Marfa City Council later in the month.
Gerfers explained that the water supply in small municipalities in Texas is subject to something called the “Midland exemption,” engineered in the Legislature by Rep. Tom Craddick. As groundwater districts across the state were taking shape, Craddick was among a political contingency that worried these new entities could overregulate natural resources and sought to make a legal loophole for municipalities the size of Midland (around 130,000 residents) and smaller that exempted these governments from water use limits.
With oil and gas production clustered mostly north of I-10, the Big Bend region has been historically insulated from incursions by water-intensive industries — but Gerfers says that could change. “Texas just doesn’t give you very many rules to protect your groundwater,” he said.
Presidians use about 900 acre feet of water a year — a commonly-used measurement in the water rights world that translates to a football field under a foot of water. Marfa uses about 550 acre feet.
Gerfers’ go-to cautionary tale is a fake bottled water business. Right now, the City of Presidio pumps water from a piece of property surrounded by state-owned land. Should the state sell the land or open it to development, there is no legal mechanism in place to stop an artisan bottled water company from setting up a well right next door and pumping millions of gallons a year from the aquifer. “The way Texas water law is written, anyone with a straw can stick it in the ground and suck out as much water as they want,” said PCUWCD Board Member Malynda Richardson.
By nixing the Midland exemption, the city would have some legal bargaining power if the newcomer’s straw sucking habit started to impact the local water supply. Culberson, Jeff Davis and Reeves counties have all become Midland exemption-free zones, putting pressure on Presidio County to follow suit.
Gerfers started approaching local governments about the issue in 2019, but nothing of consequence was ever passed. Since the PCUWCD became a taxing entity in 2023, there are no longer any production fees for entities to enter into arrangements with the organization. Coupled with the fact that the Legislature is currently in session, he hopes it’s the small push local governments need to band together. “This is ultimately aimed at protecting the users and the residents,” he said.
Should the city’s water needs grow significantly from current figures, the city can negotiate with the PCUWCD to move the threshold for concern. Gerfers would like to see representatives from both the cities of Marfa and Presidio on the board for full transparency and input.
Nearly six years after the conversation first began, council members voted unanimously in favor of removing the City of Presidio’s groundwater Midland exemption. Mayor John Ferguson also expressed strong support. “This is one of the more important resolutions y’all have passed,” Richardson said.