Public Hearing: LCRA Groundwater Permit Application

PUBLIC HEARING LCRA’s Groundwater Permit Application January 28, 2021 at 6-9 PM Hybrid Meeting Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District’s Board of Directors will hold a Public Hearing on January 28th from 6-9 pm. The meeting will be held at the Bastrop Convention & Exhibit Center with a virtual connection for public participation. For the District’s…

LCRA Prehearing Conference on Party Status

Environmental Stewardship and Landowners admitted as Parties

Protestants admitted as parties to LCRA Contested Case Hearing at December 19th Prehearing Conference.

A hearing to determine party status of 127 individuals and organizations protesting LCRA’s application for a permit to pump groundwater from Bastrop County was held on December 19, 2018. The hearing was ordered by State Office of Administrative Hearing Law Judges (ALJs) Michael J. O’Malley and Laura M. Valdez.

Environmental Stewardship and a group of 43 landowners were admitted as parties to the contested case hearing to be held next fall.  Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District, Aqua Water Supply Corporation, City of Elgin, and Recharge Water, LP, along with 12 unrepresented landowners were also admitted.  To ensure that all parties have a justiciable interest, each entity and individual is required to file an affidavit no later than February 9, 2019 (Order 2).  Any objections to party status must be filed no later than February 19, 2019.

Judge Hears Arguments on Landowners’ Right to Protest Groundwater Export, Ruling to Come

BASTROP – A state district judge in Bastrop on Wednesday heard arguments for and against the contention that four landowners are entitled to a new hearing because they were wrongfully excluded by the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District from participating in a 2013 administrative hearing.

The 2013 hearing resulted in a permit  to water marketer End-Op LP (now known as Recharge Water) that allows massive amounts of groundwater to be pumped and exported from Lee and Bastrop counties. The Oct. 18 hearing was part of a legal challenge to that permit.

Judge Carson Campbell ruled in favor of the landowners from the bench Wednesday on the question of whether he even has the authority to review the District’s decision to exclude them. A ruling on the landowners’ right to protest the permit is pending from Judge Campbell.