By Neill Binford
Blanco, Texas"Perhaps you didn't notice it, but the ground -- or, more accurately, the groundwater policy -- shifted beneath your feet on September 1, 2005.
On this date, House Bill 1763, passed by the 79th Legislature, became effective. House Bill 1763, as it is reflected in Chapter 36 of the Texas Water Code, offers some profound changes in how groundwater availability is determined in Texas, and groundwater availability -- the amount of groundwater available for use -- affects where many Texans will be getting their water in the future.
Because the population of Texas is expected to double over the next 50 years, groundwater availability -- wrapped as it is with groundwater management -- will continue to be a topic of heated debate."
"In its more important changes, House Bill 1763 (1) regionalizes decisions on groundwater availability, (2) requires regional water planning groups to use groundwater availability numbers from the groundwater conservation districts, and (3) defines a permitting target for groundwater production. These changes affect the rules and plans of groundwater conservation districts, various groundwater projects planned around the state, and the regional and state water plans."
This quotation is the lead statement of a paper titled A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRED FUTURE CONDITIONS: THE NEW GROUNDWATER AVAILABILITY FOR TEXAS by Robert E. Mace, Rima Petrossian, Robert Bradley and William F. Mullican, III of the Texas Water Development Board. It was presented at the State Bar of Texas, 7th Annual The Changing Face of Water Rights in Texas, on May 18-19, 2006, in San Antonio. (I will refer to the paper as "Streetcar".)
The interested reader may find the entire paper on the Internet at www.twca.org/downloads/TWDB-DesiredFutureConditions.pdf . The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is empowered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the former TNRCC, with water regulation and oversight responsibilities.
Let's begin with a couple of related observations.
(1) Although the population doubling projection for the Hill Country is for 2050, Blanco County already may be (far) ahead of its water use projection by virtue of the permits for the Rockin' J Ranch subdivision. At full build-out it could equal 40%+ of the current county population.
That should be a bit alarming since it is only one of several large development projects new to Blanco County. We are aware of the Rockin' J's 185 million gallons per year permit which was requested to get the golf course and new homes started.
New wells at The Landing appear to be posing problems already for downstream and nearby wells. Brushy Top has yet to drill the number of wells it will need. And, there appears to be another golf course under construction in the far northern part of the county.
Already -- in 2006, we have seen a rapidly accelerating rate of anticipated growth (and water demand) that approaches half of the estimated doubling by 2050.
(2) In a recent article, I mentioned I had heard it stated that our Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District (B-PGCD) would follow the planning of the groundwater management area (GMA 9). Please note, HB 1763 REQUIRES THE REGIONAL PLANNING GROUPS TO USE GROUNDWATER AVAILABILITY NUMBERS GENERATED BY THE GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS--NOT THE REVERSE.
For B-PGCD to adopt GMA 9 or the regional planning group (we are in Regional Water Planning Group K , which includes 13 counties from Mills and San Saba to Matagorda) recommendations first is contrary to HB 1763.
Blanco County needs to research and analyze its current and future groundwater needs based on our unique conditions and sustainable growth plans, then bring these data to the area and regional planners. What we have now is a data gathering, analysis and planning feedback cycle that begins with our local needs and conditions.
"With the passage of House Bill 1763, districts are now required to work together in each groundwater management area to develop 'desired future conditions' for their groundwater resources . The districts then deliver these desired future conditions to the TWDB. The TWDB, in turn, provides estimates of 'managed available groundwater'--the new term in statute for groundwater availability--to the districts for inclusion in their groundwater plans and to the regional water planning groups for inclusion in their regional water plans." (Streetcar, III. A.)
Before HB 1763, "if a planning group wanted to use a groundwater availability number different from that provided by a groundwater conservation district, they could. In addition, groundwater availability numbers in groundwater plans needed to "address water supply needs in a manner that [was] not in conflict with the appropriate approved regional water plan"
In other words, if a region had identified a need of the water the groundwater district had to include that need in its estimates of groundwater availability. With the passage of House Bill 1763, planning groups are now required to use managed available groundwater for their groundwater availability estimates.
Because managed available groundwater is defined by the desired future conditions, groundwater conservation districts, working collectively within each groundwater management area, define groundwater availability for the regional water planning process." (Streetcar, III. B.)
This is a huge and important change.
B-PGCD's responsibility for collection of well data, analysis and planning increased, but so has its fundamental ability to ensure its citizens' future groundwater resources when they project realizable needs. Our district has a lot of high priority work to do (see my earlier article) in the coming months and year and it all begins with determining what resources we have, how much we are currently using and what we will need in our future.
Two final issues, (1) for the first time, HB 1763 gave our groundwater district a double edged sword that requires us to determine our resources and project future needs and "to the extent possible, [it] shall issue permits up to the point that the total volume of groundwater permitted equals the managed available groundwater" (Streetcar, III. C./TWC § 36.1132) B-PGCD must determine its "managed available groundwater" which includes "desired future conditions".
(2) "Desired future conditions are the desired, qualified conditions of groundwater resources (such as water levels, water quality, spring flows, or volumes) at a specified time or times in the future or in perpetuity. In essence, a desired future condition is a management goal that captures the philosophy and policies addressing how an aquifer will be managed. Some examples of desired future conditions include, but are not limited to: (1) water levels do not decline more than 100 feet in 50 years, (2) water quality is not degraded below 1,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids for 50 years, (3) spring flow is not allowed to fall below 10 cubic feet per second in times during drought of record for perpetuity, and (4) 50 percent of the water in storage will be available in 100 years. TWDB requires that desired future conditions have to be physically possible, individually and collectively, if different desired future conditions are stated for different geographic areas ." (Streetcar, IV.)
What this all means is that a district can establish and enforce rules that ensure its approved plans for its future are met, if it does the specified (and hard) work required of a groundwater conservation district. "Statute requires that groundwater conservation districts in groundwater management areas submit their desired future conditions to the TWDB by September 1, 2010. However, for managed available groundwater numbers to be used in the next round of regional and state water planning (2007-2012), desired future conditions statements will need to be submitted much earlier, probably in late 2007 or early 2008." (Streetcar, VII.)
How important is this work to citizens and future citizens of Blanco County? Maybe you would like to ask your district board members what their priorities are for the next year and how they will use their budget to achieve 2007 goals. They have meetings on the 3rd Thursday of every month. www.blancocountygroundwater.org
See you there.
