Submitted by: Linda Curtis, Chief Organizer – League of Independent Voters of Texas (LIV)
Giddings Times, Published on Thursday, April 13
Volume 133:Well owners may get help in water marketer fight
Legislation gives ‘teeth’ to groundwater districts
As Gov. Greg Abbott and his team made their way to Giddings on Tuesday, March 28 to talk to
concerned residents about school choice, a group of concerned Lee County residents traveled to the
state capitol to talk about groundwater issues.The House Committee on Natural Resources heard testimonies on several groundwater bills,
including House Bill 5052, introduced in March by District 17 Representative Stan Gerdes.
HB 5052 would amend the state’s Water Code to require local groundwater conservation districts,
such as Lost Pines GCD, before granting or denying a permit, to consider whether or not the
proposed use of water would unreasonably affect wells that are exempt from obtaining a permit.
A typical exempt well is one that is solely for domestic use, or for providing water for livestock or
poultry that can only produce up to 25,000 gallons a day. Therefore, if made part of the Water Code,
a water marketer could potentially be denied a permit if the local GCD thought that residential and
livestock wells would be adversely affected.This situation currently exists in northern Lee County, where residents have documented and
complained that the Vista Ridge Project located nearby in Burleson County has significantly dropped their water levels as it draws water from Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer and pipes it to San Antonio. The affected population then has to spend thousands of dollars to get their well pumps lowered, if it’s even possible.Positive testimony
Local Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund Executive Director Andy Wier and supporter Nancy
McKee gave verbal and written testimony in favor of HB 5052. Others who testified in favor of HB
5052 ranged from local residents to former leaders of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Parks & Wildlife.Michael Orosco, a landowner near Lexington, told the committee that he continues to lose more than 2 feet of water per month in a well that has already been lowered 100 feet — its maximum depth — after the Vista Ridge pipeline went into operation.
“It is only a short time before I will be compelled to drill a new well to maintain my domestic water
supply at a cost of $40,000 to $50,000,” he stated. “Private, exempt wells are the predominant water infrastructure in many rural areas. Our infrastructure deserves full consideration when assessing whether a proposed water use will have unreasonable effects before issuing a permit. HB 5052 will help by giving the GCDs a necessary tool to ensure that the impacts on private owners of exempt wells are fully considered before issuing a permit to a project like Vista Ridge,” Orosco added.“These household and livestock wells must and should be considered when groundwater districts
consider unreasonable effects or impacts of projects they are asked to permit,” said Blue resident
Michele Gangnes. “It is an entirely appropriate inquiry when water is permanently removed from the aquifer, which is the source of supply for other groundwater users, clearly including domestic and livestock wells in which landowners are heavily invested economically and personally — often without other alternative supply sources.”Former TCEG Commissioner Carlos Rubinstein and former TPWD Executive Director Andrew
Sansom, who now represent Belding Farms and Cockrell Investment Partners, told the committee,
“In choosing to manage surface water and groundwater differently in Texas, we have failed to require that GCDs recognize and protect permit exempt uses during the district’s permitting deliberations. While unfortunate and representative of an act that is not protective of a landowner’s property right to groundwater, this situation remains wanting for correction by the Legislature. HB 5052 corrects that noted oversight. A simple yet very much needed action.”Only two entities testified against HB 5052 — David Gibson, representing the Texas Corn Producers
Association, and Billy Howe, representing the Texas Farm Bureau, who stated, “Basing the denial of
a permit on how domestic and livestock wells are affected can create a takings issue. Each
landowner has a right to produce the groundwater from under their land. Restricting a landowner’s
right to produce based upon the effect on shallow wells in the area may be overly restrictive. It is
also not a restriction for a legitimate conservation purpose. It is a restriction on the right of one
landowner to benefit other private landowners, which may also be unconstitutional.”What’s on tap
As of this week, Andy Wier reports HB 5052 was voted out of committee favorably with no
amendments. It now awaits placement on the House calendar for a floor vote.Last November, the Lost Pines GCD board passed a resolution declaring a temporary district-wide
suspension on processing and permitting new non-exempt operating and transport permit
applications, pending changes coming out of the Legislative Session.
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