GBRA files motion for rehearing; seeks permit renewal with no hearing

n Gonzales County, the fierce multi-year fight over groundwater continues between local landowners and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA).

On June 10, the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District (GCUWCD) board delivered a hard-fought victory for local landowners, voting 3-1 to deny GBRA’s request to amend its Carrizo groundwater export permit, which would have increased it from 15,000 to 24,000 acre-feet per year (AFY).

GCUWCD board member Barry Miller abstained due to ex parte communications with GBRA and conflicts of interest he admitted during a March 11, 2025, hearing. The packed Gonzales County Courthouse applauded the decision, showing strong community opposition to GBRA’s aggressive water grab.

However, on Friday, June 27, GBRA’s lawyer, Emily Rogers of Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP, filed a motion for rehearing, showing no respect for the hundreds of concerned citizens who protested at the hearing. This motion exposes GBRA’s strategy: seizing groundwater from family farms and ranches to fund lavish projects like its new $9.8 million, 21,000-square-foot New Braunfels headquarters, completed in 2023, while burdening Gonzales taxpayers and landowners with costs from its permit application.

GBRA’s current groundwater permit for 15,000 AFY and seven wells, began as Texas Water Alliance Limited (TWA), a subsidiary of San Jose Water Corporation (SJW). In 2010, TWA applied for production and export permits, granted by GCUWCD in 2013 after a contested hearing. SJW sold TWA to GBRA in 2017 for $31 million, pocketing a $12.5 million profit.

GBRA’s use of the permit diverges significantly from TWA’s original application, violating GCUWCD Rule 10.D.2: "Any person who willfully provides erroneous information or omits material information in an application for a permit, including but not limited to applications for an operating permit, transport permit, or registration, commits a fraud upon the District and the citizens of the District."

The erroneous TWA application and permit flip-for-profit justifies denying GBRA’s permit renewal to protect Gonzales County’s aquifers and its citizens.

On June 25, GBRA’s attorney Rogers wrote to GCUWCD General Counsel Greg Ellis, claiming the renewal of its Operating Permit (No. 11-16-17) under Texas Water Code 36.1145 should not require a hearing. This contradicts GCUWCD Rule 11.F.2, which states that an application for renewal of a permit that also requests a major amendment is subject to notice and hearing, and final approval by the Board.

GBRA’s pressure to renew the 15,000 AFY permit without a hearing ignores the project's erroneous origins, conflicts of interest, and concerns raised by recent groundwater studies, denying citizens due process.

GBRA’s pursuit of 24,000 AFY could be interpreted as malicious pumping under Texas Water Code 36.002(c), which prohibits willful actions harming neighboring landowners. Groundwater modeling shows drawdowns up to 183 feet near GBRA’s well field, threatening adjoining landowner wells.

A January 18, 2025, groundwater study by Daniel B. Stephens & Associates shows already permitted pumping volumes far exceed the Modeled Available Groundwater volumes established by the Texas Water Development Board, pushing water levels below Desired Future Conditions level for the Carrizo aquifer at 5 of the 10 monitoring wells by 2030, and at 7 of the 10 monitoring wells by 2040.

GBRA’s additional 9,000 acre-feet per year would make aquifer conditions worse. Further, GBRA has performed no subsidence study, no socioeconomic impact study, or well mitigation study.

GBRA’s 2024 Annual Report reveals that only one of six hydroelectric plants operates, with two under construction and three idled by failed spillgates, leaving lakes like Dunlap, McQueeney, Placid and Meadow drained or low. Construction was completed in 2023 for Lake Dunlap’s hydroelectric dam rebuild and continues for Lake McQueeney and Lake Placid at this time.

However, failures at Lake Wood in 2016 and Lake Gonzales in 2021 have never been fixed to the consternation of landowners who depended on those bodies of water for recreation, business and sustainability. GBRA’s management has impacted property values and recreational lake use in Gonzales County, yet despite such huge failures, GBRA seeks to exploit groundwater,  threatening the aquifers and rural communities as well.

GCUWCD has incurred over $200,000 in costs to administer the GBRA permit and contested case, including legal fees for the general manager's attorney (Adam Friedman), third party groundwater modeling fees, and transcript costs. GBRA has paid only $46,000, leaving a massive shortfall for the citizens of the district, which has an annual property tax revenue of $143,904.

Emily Rogers has also worked for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) against the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. LCRA applied for a groundwater permit to pump 25,000 AFY from the Simsboro Aquifer in Bastrop County in 2018 but faced strong opposition from local landowners and others. After a 2019 SOAH hearing, the Lost Pines GCD board granted only 8,000 AFY, citing concerns about aquifer depletion and impacts on local wells. LCRA then continued to legally challenge the Lost Pines GCD for more groundwater.

GBRA should abandon its motion for rehearing and also the permit renewal. The Texas Legislature should hold hearings on why GBRA has been allowed to go so far off course from its mission. It needs to stop the socialization of groundwater taken from family farms and ranches and focus on its real purpose of managing the lakes and dams.

Gonzales County citizens are urged to attend the next GCUWCD meeting to be held on July 8, 2025 at 5:30 p.m at the Gonzales County Courthouse. The meeting was moved there to accommodate an expected large crowd of residents who will want to voice their concerns.

Ted Boriack is a member of the Water Protection Association and Gonzales County landowner dedicated to preserving local water resources.