Groundwater district has failed its mission

Groundwater permits are managed by the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District which includes most of Gonzales County and a southeast portion of Caldwell County where the two counties meet. 

The mission of the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District is "to conserve, preserve, protect and prevent waste of groundwater resources. It shall be the policy of the Board of Directors that the most efficient use of groundwater in the District is to provide for the needs of the citizens and ensure growth for future generations."

Unfortunately, the Groundwater District has failed its mission to the detriment of the towns, family farms and ranches, and businesses located within the Groundwater District. The failure is evident by the Groundwater District's long history of repeatedly approving permits for massive volumes of groundwater pumping and transport from the Carrizo aquifer without applying common sense or considering the long-term impacts.

The major water entities receiving the permits to pump and transport include the San Antonio Water System, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA), Canyon Regional Water Authority, Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corporation and Alliance Regional Water Authority.  All of these state-supported water entities have obtained permits from the Groundwater District to pump groundwater from the Carrizo aquifer and then transport the water to their customers outside Groundwater District.  And it's not over yet, GBRA is aggressively trying to get permit approval to take another 9,000 acre-ft/yr of Carrizo aquifer water in addition to the 15,000 acre-ft/yr of groundwater it already has approved for the same northeast corner of Gonzales County.

For well over a decade, family farms and ranches have protested this massive taking of groundwater from the Gonzales County area by the state-supported water entities that transport water out of the Groundwater District.  The heavy groundwater pumping by these transporters imposes drawdown of Carrizo aquifer water levels on the agriculture water wells of family farms and ranches, and also drawdown of water wells supplying surrounding the towns located within the Groundwater District boundary.  Remarkably, the Groundwater District has no mitigation plan or funds to restore groundwater for the public supply wells that serve the towns located within Gonzales or Caldwell Counties.

The Groundwater District had a groundwater study prepared by a groundwater consultant (Daniel B Stephens & Associates) to evaluate the impacts of the permitted pumping amounts. This groundwater study showed total permitted pumping of 97,716 acre-ft/year from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer -- a massive amount of groundwater.

The study results show groundwater pumping at already permitted amounts cause the Carrizo aquifer to go below the “Desired Future Conditions”.  The Desired Future Conditions definition is a bit complicated, but is generally used as a limit for allowable reduction of the aquifer.   Groundwater districts in Texas are required by law (Texas Water Code Section 36.1131(d)) to “…consider the desired future conditions adopted under Section 36.108 when issuing permits or developing management plans."

The problems are due to the Groundwater District's stubborn insistence on approving groundwater permits to transporters far in excess of the "Modeled Available Groundwater".  The Modeled Available Groundwater is defined by the Texas Water Code as "the amount of water that the executive administrator determines may be produced on an average annual basis to achieve a desired future condition established under Section 36.108."

The vast majority of the groundwater permits approved by the Groundwater District for the Carrizo aquifer (over 77%) are for transporting the ground water out of the Groundwater District, with only a minor portion (less than 23%) for our own towns, agriculture and businesses.

It’s important that our civic leaders and landholders get involved and submit their concerns to the Groundwater District about excessive pumping and transport of groundwater outside Gonzales County.  It’s time to stop approving permits for transporters and start protecting our aquifers and our local stakeholders and water rights.  The Groundwater District has a monthly board meeting every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 5:30 pm at the Groundwater District office. The Groundwater District is currently revising the groundwater rules applied to the permitting of wells and exporting of water.  The public is encouraged to attend and submit concerns. 

Let’s not go the way of California by destroying our most precious asset (our water resources), leaving our own towns, farms and ranches in distress.

The Water Protection Association was established in 2006 by volunteer officers and members to protect the groundwater and surface water resources and the rights of the people of Gonzales County. Donations can be mailed to PO Box 122, Gonzales TX 78629.

Ted Boriack is a Gonzales County resident and member of the Water Protection Association.