Nixon express concerns about water levels, drainage

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Amidst the third biggest drought in Gonzales County, the City of Nixon has raised concerns about corporations such as Schertz/Seguin and San Antonio Water Supply extracting their water. Nixon has lost 25 feet of water level within the past six years and they claim this is due to constant drainage

“It all started when Schertz/Seguin came in,” Nixon Utility/Public Works Director Jeremy Bustos said. “Just that year, in 2011, we lost 20 feet. When I first started, 18 years ago, our levels were around 75 or 80 feet below surface and now we’re down to 130 feet below surface.”

According to Bustos, the City of Nixon has experienced some drop in water levels, and not enough highs, gaining 30 feet of water in 2015 throughout the whole year while losing around 25 feet of water from 2017 to 2021 and losing 13 feet for 2022. There are four wells in the city of Nixon, and according to the Gonzales Underground Water Conservation District, there has been 60 to 70 feet of water drawdown in the Nixon area over the past 22 years in all four wells.

“Looking at those individual wells, usually we see a fluctuation, including a dip in the summer time, and usually they recover by January,” GUWCD General Manager Laura Martin said. “Looking at just the (Texas) Highway 80 corridor between Belmont and Nixon area, this is drawdown over time — a 22 year span — there aren’t any great big jumps or crazy spikes in any of the wells.”

Gonzales County has experienced three major droughts on record in 2011, 1950, and 2022, with 2011 being the worst and 2022 being the third worst. Every year, GUWCD addresses concerns with cities in Gonzales County and Bustos said he feels like their efforts at reassuring its citizens can seem moot.

“Every month we see a drop, especially in the summer time,” Bustos said.“What we’re noticing is that we drop every month and in the winter time, we gain a few feet, but if you average over the whole year, then we are losing every year.”

Some sources in Nixon say that water levels have gone so dry that moss is starting to form in the Guadalupe above Belmont.

“There is a gradual decline over time that is occurring because of the amount of usage and that’s something that the models predicted when the large producers came in and got approved for their permits,” Martin said. “The model is right on prediction.”

A Carrizo Aquifer Drawdown Map created for the September Water Level Report by GUWCD also shows drawdown in the district within the last 22 years. The data suggests water levels in the area north of Leesville have declined approximately 40 to 50 feet, or about 1.8 to 2.3 feet per year, since 2000. That is the same area from which SAWS and Schertz/Seguin pump water.

In the last GUWCD meeting, the district did want to take another look at the most recent hydrographic models that show pumps of various corporations, such as SAWS and Canyon Regional, to determine who was the most accurate in predicting drawdown from wells on their measures.

Residential water use accounts for 72 percent of water distribution in urban landscape, according to the Texas Water Journal and Texas Water Resources Institute. GUWCD is encouraging those to be mindful and conserve their water use, even in the most driest of seasons.

The GCUWCD recommends people inspect pipes and faucets. Faulty water leaks may occur if not inspected. They also recommend to water outside trees and lawns once a week, instead of every day. Watching the weather will be helpful in watering the lawn. For example; don’t water after a rainy day, according to the GCUWCD.

This is an ongoing story and Rice said it is likely going to be discussed further in future Nixon City Council meetings.

“This whole area is growing,” Nixon City Manager Harold Rice said. “We see the growth coming from San Antonio out in this direction. Twenty years from now, it won’t look like it is today.”

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