The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District continues its efforts to identify groundwater availability in the district and what that means for its regulations.
The groundwater district is continuing its research into whether specialized restrictions are plausible in areas where the aquifer is more susceptible to depletion or drought conditions, posing some interesting legal questions.
The preliminary results from the hydrologic study being conducted by Advanced Groundwater Solutions from Professional Geoscientist James Beach showed a repeated cycle of drought and recharge in the Trinity Aquifer. However, Beach said the Lower Trinity appears to be much more impacted in times of drought or heavy usage, saying this portion of the aquifer is not popping back up during heavy rains at the same rate.
“It’s a little bit, you know aquifers change, the available drawdowns are changing,” Beach said. “You know, most drillers and well contractors are going to put those pumps as deep as they can in the wells, especially in the Hill Country. But in some cases, they don’t drill all the way to the base of the aquifer. So those wells might have to be redrilled or something at some point.
“It’s not saying you’re running out of water. It’s just as development occurs, the stress on the aquifer – the concentration of stress – can change.” Beach said the Lower Trinity seems
Beach said the Lower Trinity seems to be declining at a more excessive and consistent rate, leaving it susceptible to depletion with increased development placing a heavier burden on the groundwater resource.
Beach explained aquifer recharge is primarily coming from very wet seasons – which don’t hit the Hill Country often – saying when the soil is saturated, there is preferential flow through cracks and crevices that feed directly into the Trinity. He said when the creeks get
He said when the creeks get flowing with water, it leads to a lot of recharge entering the Lower Trinity. However, when the soil dries up, Beach said really nothing makes it into the Lower Trinity.
“So, what you’re saying is it’s very hard to generalize because there’s so much variability across the area,” CCGCD Precinct 1 Director Bob Webster said during a meeting last month. “That, of course, makes our job so difficult because you can’t write rules over an area where you’ve got so much variability in that area.”
Beach said the Lower Trinity is overall doing pretty well in Kendall County, saying that is what makes the groundwater district’s regulation development difficult. While he admitted it would be good to have one rule that applies across the county in terms of development density where groundwater from the Trinity aquifer will be used, he said there are too many variables impacting different portions of the county.
With water availability studies coming in, Beach said he’s seeing a pattern across counties along Interstate 35 east of Kendall County where concentrated development is booming and counties can’t mitigate lot sizes or density control but are worried about water availability. Thus, he said the counties are turning to their groundwater conservation districts to offer more control.
CCGCD General Manager Micah Vulgaris said he and the groundwater district’s attorney have spoken about reducing the production limit of wells in the county and asked Beach if this survey justified a lower production limit. Beach said the survey did show some areas in the Middle Trinity did show significant drawdown, adding such limitations may be warranted in certain areas but likely not the entire county.
When Webster asked if the groundwater district seriously needed to begin considering special zones of regulation or if the survey justified stricter regulations across the county, Beach said Chapter 36 of Texas Water Code – which establishes the authority of groundwater districts – is specific about “hydrologic zones” being the primary driver behind production regulation. Beach raised the question as to whether identifying increased demands leading to more significant water declines was enough to justify increased regulations from a “hydrogeologic perspective.”
CCGCD Precinct 4 Director Curt Campbell said the problem is the Water Code makes a general statement that regulation must have a “hydrologic justification,” but he said it hasn’t been litigated as to exactly what that term means. Beach said the consensus amongst counties is it’s unclear what that means, adding some groundwater districts are understanding that to mean they can identify certain areas with sensitive hydrogeological features.
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