Hays County group alleges water supplier has over pumped millions of gallons
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – Conservation advocates filed a formal complaint with the Public Utility Commission of Texas against Aqua Texas, a Central Texas water supplier, for “serving customers with illegal groundwater supply,” according to a press release from Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association, or TESPA.
TESPA alleges Aqua Texas, which provides water to the Woodcreek development in Hays County, has not been operating in accordance with Texas groundwater law and has overpumped by over 150 million gallons over the last two years.
“Groundwater is a shared resource, and we've got to manage it,” said Jim Blackburn, an environmental lawyer and president of TESPA.
In a statement to KXAN, Aqua Texas said it is "committed to delivering quality and reliable water to our more than 3,000 valued customers in Hays County."
"Aqua Texas is committed to delivering quality and reliable water to our more than 3,000 valued customers in Hays County.
Aqua Texas
Last month Aqua Texas kicked off a $4 million capital project in Wimberley Valley to mitigate water loss and replace 25,000 feet of main, which will further improve Aqua’s efforts to conserve water and improve service reliability. Additionally, Aqua has purchased new property away from Jacob’s Well to further reduce our impact in the future. Activation of those wells has been stymied by the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.
We look forward to continuing to work with our customers and other stakeholders on these ongoing improvements.”
According to Texas’ “Rule of Capture” law, a landowner has complete ownership of any groundwater under their property. Blackburn said the Texas Legislature later created groundwater conservation districts that regulate how much water can be pumped.
“[Aqua Texas] violated the drought restrictions significantly. They have significant leaks in their system that they haven't fixed. And they're basically saying that the district really has no authority to restrict them as they can restrict other groundwater users,” Blackburn said.
In 2023, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District denied Aqua’s applications to renew groundwater permits because of “years of non-compliance with Texas law,” according to TESPA. It said this means the company currently has no legal access to water supply.
“The consequences of overpumping groundwater resources can be quite severe,” Blackburn said.
Groundwater pumping from aquifers can lead to reduced flow to springs, like Jacob's Well.
Aqua Texas filed a lawsuit against Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District in December 2023, alleging the district has provided “unlawful and unequal treatment of Aqua Texas” as well as a “complete disregard for Aqua’s state law duty to provide ‘continuous and adequate’ water service to its customers,” according to court filings.
TESPA said it filed the complaint with the PUC in response to Aqua Texas’ lawsuit. It hopes the PUC will “order Aqua to improve the situation and to fix their problems -- come into compliance with the law, or we ask them to remove the certificate of convenience and necessity, which is the authority of Aqua to operate,” Blackburn said.
"We don't have anything personal against Aqua, we just want to get the situation resolved. And if Aqua can't get it done, let's get somebody that can," he added.