SAWDF Update - June 2025
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We know our Executive Director, Andrew "Andy" Wier works harder than anyone to get a "good" water bill passed, but...snake-charming at the Capitol?! The SAWDF Board thanks Andy for his successes in the 89th Regular Session --- well done!
Groundwater Bills Become Law
The regular session of the 89th Legislature [89R] was a win for groundwater bills. In addition, Texans will have the opportunity to vote in November for dedicated funding for the Texas Water Fund that will help generate new water supplies for Texas. The proposed constitutional amendment includes a clause prohibiting monies be spent on
pipelines such as Vista Ridge [conveyance of fresh groundwater]. This is a
direct result of testimony by SAWDF supporters. Thank you.
And thank you for your interest and for your great response to calls for action during the recently concluded legislative session. Stay tuned for the special session beginning July 21.
Here's a roundup of the bills that passed in the regular session and were signed/vetoed by the Governor. All of these bills were filed by Representative Stan Gerdes. Many thanks to the representative and his staff for championing Central Texas groundwater issues. SAWDF'S Board of Director sent a formal thank you to both Rep. Gerdes and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst for their support of groundwater resources in the 2025 regular session.
HB 29 – This bill gets big cities to curb their "water loss", meaning system losses before water even gets to users’ taps. HB 29 was inspired by Lee County resident Nancy McKee who also sounded the alarm on the rapid well drawdowns when Vista Ridge came online in 2020. After the trauma of the well failure, Nancy read that San Antonio’s leaky water mains were losing the same volume of water Vista Ridge was pumping out of the ground! Nancy & SAWDF executive director, Andy Wier worked with Representative Gerdes to draft the language that became HB 29. Senator Perry,
chairman of the Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs committee sponsored the
bill in the Senate. Andy Wier worked with lobbyists from San Antonio, Houston,
and Austin to refine the language and get their commitment to implement the
bill, if passed. We got our first look at the results in early June. See this article about efforts by San Antonio Water System [SAWS].
HB 1633 – It is official. Groundwater Conservation Districts [GCDs] shall consider unreasonable impacts to domestic/livestock [exempt] wells when deciding to grant a permit or permit amendment. As is often the case, it took tragedy to bring about change. The legislation was debated in Austin for the past eight years. SAWDF believes the impassioned testimony by domestic and livestock well owners, many impacted by Vista Ridge or other large-scale pumping projects, finally opened the eyes and ears of legislators. Thank you to all who participated.
HB 1689 – This legislation lays the legal groundwork for GCDs to share funds for the purpose of mitigating wells impacted by large-scale pumping projects. This is another bill resulting from negative impacts of Vista Ridge. Vista Ridge was permitted by the Post Oak Savannah GCD [POSGCD]. However, the well field for Vista Ridge is located just a mile from the border with Lost Pines GCD [LPGCD]. Because of that proximity,
almost half the groundwater pumped by Vista Ridge actually comes from LPGCD. While POSGCD is reimbursed by Vista Ridge for mitigating failed wells within in the
district, LPGCD is not. This scenario will be repeated for other large-scale
groundwater projects coming online, such as Sandow Lakes Ranch [SLR] in Milam
County [POSGCD] located less than a mile from Lee County [LPGCD], Upwell Brazos
Valley Farm in Robertson County [BVGCD] located less than a mile from Milam
County [POSGCD], or Alliance Regional Water Authority [ARWA] [GCUWCD] located
in Gonzales & Caldwell counties less than three miles from Bastrop County [LPGCD]. The GCDs can now enter into inter-local agreements to share the costs
of mitigating domestic/livestock wells.
HB 1690 – VETOED by the Governor! This legislation would have required a GCD that is considering issuance of a groundwater export permit to notify adjoining GCDs located over any partof the same aquifer and commissioner’s courts in each county in those GCDs, as well as publish notice in local papers in those same jurisdictions. The permit applicant would be responsible for the expense of the notices. The Governor’s
veto proclamation states that he believes there are sufficient notice requirements in the current Texas Water Code. SAWDF believes the Governor does not fully understand the increasing need for notification of adjoining groundwater districts and counties, such as the projects listed above. SAWDF will encourage the Governor and legislators to take up this legislation, again, in the Special Session to begin July 21.
HB 2078 – This bill has a big impact on how GCDs monitor the Desired Future Conditions [DFCs] for the aquifers and formations they manage. The DFC is a measurable benchmark the GCD sets for the health of an aquifer 50 years in the future. The DFC is supposed to balance the preservation and conservation of groundwater against the maximum practicable production. GCDs are grouped into Groundwater Management Areas [GMAs] that share common aquifers and characteristics. The GCDs in our Groundwater Management Area [GMA-12] express the DFC as a “maximum amount of drawdown in artesian pressure” for each formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox, Sparta, Queen City and Yegua-Jackson aquifers. HB 2078 requires the GCDs to also establish DFC targets for ten-year [decadal] intervals, so a GCD can better monitor the rate it is approaching the 50-year DFC. SAWDF participated in discussions that resulted in this legislation, because GCDs and landowners need to know, sooner-than-later, about the health of our aquifers.
HB 2080 – HB 2080 specifies the responsibilities for the TCEQ and GCDs in resolving a Petition of Inquiry regarding a groundwater conservation district. A Petition of Inquiry is a formal investigation of a GCD to determine if they are fulfilling their statutory duties to manage groundwater resources.
LPGCD General Manager Submits Resignation
The General Manager for the Lost Pines GCD, Jim Totten, has submitted his resignation, effective July 16. Jim has been with LPGCD for more than 12 years. The LPGCD board created an ad hoc committee to recruit candidates for a new General Manager and to explore other positions to cover the increasing workload at the district.
Austin Water ASR Project and Landowner Meetings
SAWDF and other stakeholders in Bastrop County continue to meet with Austin Water regarding Austin's proposed Aquifer Storage & Recovery [ASR] project in Bastrop County. Stakeholders and Austin Water are finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] as "next steps". SAWDF is targeting July or early August for landowner meetings. SAWDF will send invitations to landowners in the area under consideration. Meetings will be held in Smithville, Texas. More info to come.
GMA-12 working to maintain current DFCs
Groundwater Management Area 12 [GMA-12] will meet at 10am on June 27 at the Post Oak Savannah GCD offices [310 East Avenue C, Milano, Texas 76556]. To date, the representatives have committed to maintaining the current DFCs for each aquifer/formation managed by the districts. (DFCs in GMA-12 have a specified time frame of 50 years into the future, to guide long-term management.) However, there is a fight brewing over more than 150,000 acre-feet per year [AFY] permitted by the Brazos Valley GCD [BVGCD] over the last two years. Production of this amount of groundwater in Robertson County will create deeper drawdowns in both POSGCD and LPGCD.
BVGCD recently offered a “thought exercise” in which they explore allowing full
production for 40 years, creating drawdowns of up to 500 feet across the many
counties within GMA-12, and then curtailing production to current levels, in
hopes the aquifers will rebound to the proposed DFC in the final 10-year
decadal period of the 50-year DFCs.
SAWDF views this “thought exercise” as insanity! LPGCD and POSGCD are opposed to this management approach.
Gonzales County UWCD Denies GBRA Permit Amendment – Win for Landowners!
On June 10th the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District [GCUWCD] met for a final hearing on a permit amendment by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority [GBRA] to increase their Carrizo production & export from 15,000 AFY to 24,000 AFY.
More than a hundred citizens attended the meeting held in the county courthouse. The County Judge convened the Commissioners Court so they could all attend and give public comment against the permit amendment.
Landowners with the Water Protection Association [WPA], who contested the
amendment at the State Office of Administrative Hearings [SOAH], gave well
documented and impassioned comments for the GCUWCD board to not approve the
permit amendment.
SAWDF executive director, Andy Wier, also made public comments. He urged the board members to look at their options to deny, reduce, or phase in production.
To be clear, the SOAH Administrative Law Judge had issued a Proposal
for Decision that stated the export permit should be denied for lack of
demonstrated need. That gave the board clear grounds to deny/modify the
production permit.
After meeting in executive session, the board voted to deny the permit amendment. This is a first for GCUWCD. Congratulations to the WPA and Gonzales County landowners!
Have you considered being a Lost Pines GCD board member?
This December, our County Judges will consider appointments to the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District board; two in Lee County and three in Bastrop County. The judges may renew the terms for current board members or appoint new members.
Are you willing to serve as a board member for LPGCD.?
The terms are three years, commencing in January 2026. Are you willing to learn about the Texas Water Code? Are you willing to learn about the aquifers under each county and their interaction with rivers, creeks, and springs? Are you fair and impartial?
If you are willing to invest the time to learn and make well-reasoned decisions about
groundwater resources for Bastrop and Lee counties, then introduce yourself to
your county judge. Let the judge know about your interest, willingness to
serve, and other qualifications.
Are you tuned in to Lost Pines GCD?
If you are not already tuning into LPGCD board meetings each month, SAWDF encourages you to do so. The meetings are held monthly at the LPGCD office in Giddings, Texas. You may also participate online through the video conference application ZOOM. The app is available on computer, tablet, or smart phone. Sign up at lostpineswater.org to receive monthly notices of meetings and agendas, with instructions for remote participation. We look forward to your participation.
East Texas Landowners and Legislators Question Proposed Large-Scale Export Project
Conservation Equity Management [CEM] filed an application for 45,000 AFY of groundwater with the Neches & Trinity Valley GCD, to export the water to the DFW metroplex. The well fields are located in Anderson and Henderson counties. The application has created a firestorm in East Texas!
County officials for Anderson, Henderson, Leon, Commanche, and Smith counties
are opposed. State Representatives Cody Harris and Trent Ashby are joined by
Senator Nichols in opposing the project. Representative Harris is Chairman of
the House Natural Resources Committee [HNCR]. He has called for a HNRC public
hearing on July 15 in Austin.
Chairman Harris listened keenly to landowner testimony from those impacted by Vista Ridge. He has certainly taken it to heart. He published an editorial in the Cherokeean Herald that states:
"As a lifelong East Texan, your State Representative and Chairman of the House Natural
Resources Committee, I will not stand by while our water is drained for someone
else’s gain. I will use the full weight of my authority to stop it.
That’s why I’m calling a public hearing at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday, July 15 at 1 p.m. to get answers. This hearing will focus on high-capacity groundwater production in the Neches & Trinity Valleys GCD and what it means for the future of our region."
Texans can submit comments here: https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c390.
Watch live: https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/
East Texas water belongs to EAST TEXANS – not out-of- town profiteers."
Meetings of Interest:
RWPG-K Meeting, July 2, 2025, 10:00 am; LCRA Dalchau Service Center, Austin,
POSGCD Board Meeting, July 8, 5:30 pm; 310 East Avenue C, Milano, Texas
BVGCD Board Meeting, July 10, 2:00 pm; 112 W. 3rd Street, Hearne, Tx
LPGCD Board Meeting, July 16, 3:30 pm; 317 East Hempstead Street, Giddings, TX
POSGCD Groundwater Summit, August 7, 2025, 9:00 am, Caldwell Civic Center, Caldwell, TX
Thank you for all your support.
Please keep reading about another important matter in Lee County ---
Our friends at Move the Gas Plant, a 501c3 grass-roots organization based in Lee County since the early 2000’s, are resisting TCEQ’s proposed grant
of air quality permits to Sandow Lakes Energy for the proposed construction of a 1,200 megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired power plant in the small, rural and historic Blue community in northwestern Lee County. They simply want the plant relocated to a more appropriate industrialized area the company or its affiliates control --- the lovely rural community of Blue is not an appropriate site. They are raising funds with a Summer 2025 Raffle.
Air quality permits for the plant are still pending at TCEQ, largely due to the efforts of MTGP --- without them, construction would probably have begun already. Please see movethegasplant.org for up-to-date information. There’s a groundwater connection to SAWDF, Lee County and Lost Pines GCD that SAWDF will write more about soon. We will touch on it here, and you can connect the dots at sandowlakes.com.
MTGP’s fundraiser has good odds --- 300 tickets at $50 each to win a $3,500 zero-turn mower and a second prize of designer travel bags worth $750!
MTGP needs funds to continue paying the bills for its TCEQ challenge. MTGP’s attorney and expert put important information in front of TCEQ back in
April that MTGP paid for, but there’s more to go.
Does this remind anyone of our battles with LCRA in a contested case? Remember when we all gathered in 2018 (see photo below) to plan our strategy to oppose the LCRA groundwater permits (which by the way, are still pending on appeal in the Texas Supreme Court ~~more about that soon.) MTGP draws crowds like we did for LCRA , every time they call a community meeting in Blue. MTGP seeks to help the Blue community opponents to the Sandow Lakes Energy plant provide a unified response.
Local support allowed MTGP to engage the state’s premier environmental law firm and a well-respected expert scientist, to prepare for and pursue a contested case hearing of their objections to TCEQ’s draft air quality permits to SLE. The community turned out to provide TCEQ with meaningful objections to the permits as well. (SLE wants the power plant to supply power for private interests at "Sandow Lakes Ranch" in Milam County and possibly Lee County, with private profits being the objective; the ERCOT grid will receive nominal if any benefit.)
Now MTGP needs to pay ongoing legal and technical bills, plus administrative expenses like court costs and transcripts, etc. that a contested case entails. (Still sounding like LCRA?)
Sandow Lakes Energy is an affiliate of Sandow Lakes Ranch which is the successor to most of Alcoa’s former industrial site (aluminum smelter), power plant island, and lignite strip mines in Milam and Lee counties. SEE, sandowlakes.com.
Here is the flyer promoting the raffle --- but here’s what to remember as well. Groundwater in Lee County is Sandow Lakes Ranch’s current target. They are maxed out on water permits in Milam County, under current rules. MTGP believes they don't care what’s on the surface of real estate they’re buying-up in Lee County, because, for now, they just want to add to their water rights so they can maximize water permits from Lost Pines GCD.
SAWDF urges your support of Move the Gas Plant’s raffle, and please, go to Move the Gas Plant - Lee County, their official Facebook page and "follow” them to augment their support numbers. Thank you to SAWDF supporters who have already inquired how to help and have bought tickets from MTGP!
