GCUWCD denies GBRA permit request for more Carrizo groundwater
District approves proposed amended rules
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The Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District (GCUWCD) had its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 10 at the Gonzales County Courthouse. The room was packed full of local leaders and citizens concerned about groundwater.
The regular meeting was held at the courthouse instead of the usual GCUWCD office to provide increased seating. The GCUWCD agenda had numerous items for consideration by its five member board, but the two items of greatest concern were:
• GCUWCD rule changes — whether to approve new rule changes as proposed by the GCUWCD; and
• Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority's (GBRA) request to increase its current production and export permit in the Carrizo aquifer from seven groundwater wells and 15,000 acre-feet/year (AFY) to 10 wells and 24,000 AFY.
County Judge Patrick Davis, commissioners, and many concerned citizens stepped up to voice their concerns about protecting groundwater for the future of Gonzales County and putting a stop to excessive pumping and export. Concerns were also raised about GBRA and its failure to maintain the lakes and dams.
The proposed rules were prepared by a committee of two board members: Mike St. John (Precinct 2) and Barry Miller (Precinct 4). Miller admitted during the March 11, 2025 GBRA contested case hearing that he originally had a conflict of interest with the GBRA project and had ex-parte communications during the GBRA protested hearing.
Since then, Miller has abstained from voting on GBRA permit items and stopped attending the executive sessions. An open records request to the GCUWCD revealed a groundwater lease for 140 acres between Mike St. John and Schertz Seguin Local Government Corporation (SSLGC). SSLGC has the largest groundwater export permit approved by GCUWCD with 19,362 AFY.
Despite concerns being raised about conflict of interest with exporters, St. John and Miller both voted in favor of the proposed rule changes — the rules passed by unanimous vote.
The GCUWCD board voted to deny GBRA's permit amendment request for an additional 9,000 AFY of Carrizo groundwater and the large crowd, which filled both levels of the courtroom and overflowed into the hallway, erupted with applause when the vote was done.
GCUWCD board members Glenn Glass (Precinct 5), Bruce Tieken (Precinct 1), and Mark Ainsworth (Precinct 3) voted to deny the permit amendment. St. John was the lone vote in support of the GBRA permit amendment, and Miller abstained.
GBRA has been aggressively seeking to amend its groundwater permit since May 2022 when it submitted its request to the GCUWCD. Motions and filings submitted by protestants to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) and the GCUWCD board expose critical deficiencies in GBRA’s application, such as lack of sworn statements, incomplete and unsigned application forms, lack of a well mitigation plan, and inadequate notices to adjoining landowners.
The GBRA application also lacked analysis on potential pumping impacts on subsidence, water quality, and local aquifer impacts.
Further, a January 2025 groundwater modeling study shows already permitted pumping (92,205 AFY) significantly exceeds the Texas Water Development Board's Modeled Available Groundwater (MAG) and causes the Carrizo aquifer levels to fall below the Desired Future Conditions (DFC). GBRA’s request for an additional 9,000 AFY would have further accelerated the aquifer level decline if it had passed.
The GCUWCD has already permitted 92,205 AFY from the Carrizo Aquifer, with 77% (70,990 AFY) allocated to exporters like SAWS and GBRA, leaving just 23% for local towns, farms, and businesses. GBRA’s request if it had been approved would have made a new record high GCUWCD exporter permit and roughly 25% of the total GCUWCD permitted volume for the Carrizo aquifer.
GBRA has refused to pay $129,023 in GCUWCD costs incurred for administering the permit application, including transcripts, computer modeling, and legal fees, potentially saddling Gonzales County taxpayers with the bill. Especially concerning is the $26,483 cost by the GCUWCD to have a third-party consultant model the impacts of GBRA's requested pumping volumes.
GCUWCD's general manager Laura Martin stated during the June 2024 SOAH hearing that GBRA’s $26,483 modeling fees incurred by the GCUWCD were covered in its application fee, which GBRA had paid. However, a later SOAH filing by the general manager's attorney, Adam Friedman, confirmed that GBRA had not paid the modeling fees, which remain owed under GCUWCD Rule 10.E.1.
The GCUWCD general manager's erroneous statement was used by the SOAH Administrative Law Judge's December 18, 2024 proposal for decision to find that GBRA had paid the fees due for its application when in fact the modeling fees were still not paid.
Thanks to the local leaders and great people of Gonzales County for stepping up in support of preserving our precious groundwater resource, and thanks to the GCUWCD board members who voted to deny the GBRA permit.
Ted Boriack is a member of the Water Protection Association and Gonzales County landowner dedicated to preserving local water resources.
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