Water Stewardship in Texas Water stewardship in Texas is a complicated matter and it is made even more perplexing because state water laws do not recognize that surface water and groundwater are connected and interact. As a result the water in our lakes, rivers, and streams are regulated in a very different way than water…
Figure 1. Graphic provided to the Lost Pines Board of Directors to demonstrate the concerns and requests from WaterDefenders Coalition (November 8, 2021, based on Scenario S-15)
We want to thank the Lost Pines Board of Directors for taking a strong stand in its recent vote to adopt conservation based Desired Future Conditions (DFCs) for the Simsboro aquifer. At the November 30th GMA-12 meeting we were able to confirm that the District will be able to adopt DFCs that are 10% more conservative for all aquifers as soon as they get certification back from the Texas Water Development Board that the adopted DFC are administratively complete, that their is agreement on the results of the pumping file, and Modeled Available Groundwater has been calculated for each aquifer.
Here is a brief summary of what happened over the last month.
After a major victory for conservation and consideration of domestic/livestock wells and surface waters by Lost Pines GCD Board (see below), the Groundwater Management Area 12 (GMA-12) representatives voted against Lost Pines’ request at the November 12th meeting.
With the recent victory in hand, WaterDefenders went to the November 12th meeting hoping that all the member districts of GMA-12 would accept the “reasonable” actions taken by Lost Pines. However, we ended up with a decision by GMA-12 representatives that is a compromise.
General Manager, Jim Totten, made a motion to accept a pumping file [Scenario S-20] which would results in a new DFC of 183 feet average drawdown and about 30,300 acre-feet per year of pumping in the Simsboro formation for Lost Pines GCD. While the motion was seconded by Post Oak Savannah GCD, it failed on 2-3 vote, yay-nay.
A second motion was made to accept a pumping file [S-19] which results in a new DFC of 240 feet average drawdown, and about 82,800 acre-feet per year (AFY) of pumping in the Simsboro formation for Lost Pines GCD. This motion passed 4-1, yay-nay.
However, this is a significant victory for WaterDefenders, stakeholders, landowners and surface waters in Lost Pines District. Overall, this leaves us substantially ahead when compared to the Scenario S-12 that was initially proposed. The reductions gained through WaterDefender efforts will result in a 54% reduction in pumping from the originally proposed DFC, and a 31% reduction in drawdown from the originally proposed DFC.
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The TCEQ is in the final phase of reviewing the LCRA’s application to amend its Highland Lakes Water Management Plan (WMP). Stakeholders from all sides of the issues made oral comments and submitted written comments during the month-long comment period that ended last week.
Environmental Stewardship (ES) provided both oral and written comments urging protection of the Colorado River and Madagorda Bay by guaranteeing “essential life support” level environmental flows. ES also urged the TCEQ and LCRA to take a leadership role in doing the studies necessary to understand why more rain in the contributing watershed for the Highland Lakes has resulted in less inflows.
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