GCUWCD attorney continues with GBRA Contested Case Final Decision document

The Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District (GCUWCD held a special meeting on July 30, 2025 to discuss and possibly approve the findings of fact and conclusions of law on the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) contested case.

Although this story went to press prior to the meeting, it covers issues related to the Final Decision document used to deny GBRA's request for permit amendments to export more Carrizo groundwater out of Gonzales County.

The GCUWCD board voted on June 10, 2025, to deny GBRA's request to amend its groundwater permits, rejecting an additional 9,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) beyond its existing 15,000 AFY allocation from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer.

The board's denial was good news for local folks concerned about over-pumping the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer which is already saddled with permits over 92,000 AFY and the vast majority of the permitted groundwater being granted to exporters that ship groundwater out of the district boundary, leaving Gonzales County residents only a minor portion.

The case began in May 2022 with GBRA’s applications being submitted to the GCUWCD. The GCUWCD general manager, Laura Martin, solely determined the applications to be administratively complete in August 2022 despite lacking signed application forms as required by the District rules, lack of being "sworn to" as required by the Texas Water Code, lack of a mitigation plan, and various other issues. GBRA later requested the contested case be referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH).

GBRA's permit amendment application involved a nearly two-year contested case legal battle. The SOAH administrative law judge issued a 57 page Proposal for Decision (PFD) on Dec. 18, 2024, and exception letter on Feb. 10, 2025. The PFD contains the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and decisions on whether to approve or deny the GBRA permit amendment request.

GCUWCD attorney Greg Ellis has been responsible for revising the SOAH PFD to produce a draft Final Decision document to support the board's decision to deny the GBRA request. The Final Decision document is extremely important since it will be presented to a court when the GCUWCD board decision is appealed. According to Greg Ellis it appears GBRA is planning to appeal the board's decision.

On the afternoon of July 7, 2025, Ellis issued a draft redline of the Final Decision to the case parties, just one day before the GCUWCD’s regular board meeting on July 8, 2025. At the July 8 meeting, Ellis stated the board could approve the draft despite the redline form and still needing to complete an Explanation of Changes document. However, the GCUWCD board rightfully decided to hold its approval until the final documents were in hand. Ellis stated the Final Decision document had a deadline of August 10, 2025.

Despite scheduling a special GCUWCD board meeting for the GBRA Final Decision document to be held on July 16, 2025, the special meeting was rescheduled for July 30, 2025 with no explanation.

On July 28, 2025, Greg Ellis issued the 44-page clean version (no redline) of the Final Decision document and a two-page Explanation of Changes document. Although the Final Decision document does include denial of both the GBRA requested permits, it still contains errors that have yet to be corrected and includes added language that is not supportive of the board's decision.

As a participant in the contested case, I have raised numerous concerns about the draft final decision documents that were issued by Greg Ellis. A few of the notable concerns are: GBRA’s unpaid third-party consultant modeling fees of $26,483.78 which the general manager testified were included in the paid application fee but in reality were not, unpaid SOAH costs of over $20,000 still due from GBRA, older and much larger Modeled Available Groundwater values, omitted subsidence evidence, lack of a mitigation plan in the application and more.

It's also concerning that the draft Final Order document issued by Greg Ellis includes changes that were desired by GBRA in its SOAH filings but denied by the SOAH administrative law judge. Further, review of the computer file properties of the two draft Final Decision document pdf files that Greg Ellis issued (redline on July 7, clean version on July 28) shows the pdf files were created by GBRA's attorney Emily Rogers. I can only conclude that GCUWCD's lawyer Greg Ellis and GBRA's lawyer Emily Rogers were working together behind the scenes without allowing all the parties in the case to have a seat at the table.

It's important the Final Decision document be as strong as possible to support the board's decision to deny GBRA's permit application amendment. Gonzales County citizens should no longer be taxed to pay for administering GBRA's application debacle which will continue if GBRA appeals. GBRA should do the right thing and pay their bills owed and accept the board's decision.

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