Groundwater Usage, Rights Gaining Increased Attention Locally
About 40 people showed up to a public hearing of the Fayette County Ground Conservation District (FCGCD) Monday morning, July 12.
The hearing was over a proposed update to a regional groundwater plan in Groundwater Management Area 12 (GMA-12), which covers Bastrop, Lee, Burleson and five additional counties to the northeast, along with portions of six other counties, including the northwestern third of Fayette County.
At issue is a plan before GMA-12 that sets “drawdown” targets for the various groundwater aquifers that lie beneath the region, especially the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer system, which supplies water to a great many rural landowners across GMA-12. At a meeting last month, the FCGCD board heard a presentation from several groundwater activists who raised concerns about a major pumping facility in Burleson County, the Vista Ridge Project, that came online this year to supply water to the City of San Antonio. Several landowners in that area have reported water wells drying up, which they attribute to massive pumping by the Vista Ridge project.
Most of those who came to the meeting this Monday were there to listen. Only four people spoke, and three of those reside outside Fayette County.
“As people flood into Central Texas, and a lot of them are coming from California, surely you can see the irony and the folly of sacrificing aquifers for real estate development in drier areas,” said Linda Curtis, a Bastrop County resident who spoke at the meeting.
The proposed changes will not likely affect many property owners in Fayette County. The Carrizo-Wilcox in this area lies much deeper than it does in Bastrop, Lee and Burleson counties, which make drilling more expensive. FCGCD General Manager David Van Dresar told the Record after the meeting on Monday that the water quality in the Carrizo-Wilcox system under Fayette County is generally poorer than areas to the north of here.
“The Carrizo is a deep formation in Fayette County making it rather expensive for most individuals to complete a well in it,” Van Dresar said. “Regarding water quality, the Carrizo has an area of freshwater in a relatively small section of the aquifer along Fayette County’s border with Bastrop County, roughly west from a line running from Winchester to just west of Flatonia.”
Van Dresar said the Wilcox aquifer underlies the Carrizo formation, making it the deepest aquifer in Fayette County.
“Water quality in the Wilcox is extremely poor and unusable for consumption,” he said. “There are no water production wells in the Wilcox aquifer in this county.”
Van Dresar said FCGCD has not received any permit applications from large scale water developers since the district was formed in 2001.
“It is my opinion that due to the expense necessary to reach the water in the Carrizo aquifer and the limitations regarding production contained in our district’s rules, water developers will likely search elsewhere for access to that formation,” he said.
Even though the proposed changes may have little effect on Fayette County landowners, the FCGCD board of directors has a seat at the GMA-12 table. Likewise, the water activists from Bastrop County and elsewhere who spoke at the hearing asked the District to vote against the changes in favor of a more conservative plan that would limit large-scale pumping.
Most of the folks in the room that morning were from Fayette County. Only one of them spoke – Bert Cole of Muldoon.
“This is my first meeting to attend,” Cole said. “I’m just trying to learn how to participate. We have a very small ranch, and we are entirely dependent on our (water) well.
Cole said her property is located in the area covered by GMA-12. She expressed concern about protecting her water rights.
“This is an important factor in our living here,” she said. “I appreciate your concern in representing all of us. I hope you reject this.”
In addition to the speakers, FCGCD received five written comments, all opposed to the proposed changes to the drawdown plan. The members of the public in GMA-12 have until Aug. 23 to submit additional comments to the local groundwater conservation district. The districts in GMA-12 are set to vote on the changes later this year.
Retired Fayette County Judge Ed Janecka told the Record on Wednesday, July 14, that he opposes efforts by developers who want to transfer groundwater from rural areas like Fayette County to urban centers such as San Antonio and Austin. Janecka pushed to form the local groundwater district back in 2001.
“The thing I wanted to do was to protect the water of Fayette County and the citizens of Fayette County,” Janecka said. “It has been working pretty well, but the face of Texas is changing.
“We had a governor a few years ago who went to California and told people to come on down,” Janecka said, referring to former Texas Governor Rick Perry’s efforts in 2013 to attract California businesses to Texas.
“Why are they giving tax breaks to these companies?” he added. “The Mayor of Austin stands up and says they’re creating 1,000 new jobs. But what happens? 37 people in Austin get a job and everyone else comes from out of state. We need to be prepared for the onslaught of people coming from out of state and get some good legislation to protect our water.”