Water utility faces pumping fines

Local water utility company Aqua Texas, which services the northern side of the Wimberley Valley, was fined nearly half a million dollars for pumping almost twice the amount of water it was allowed last year out of the Trinity Aquifer. The company is now contesting that fine.

The $448,710 fine was levied by the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District earlier this year. As reported by The Wimberley View in May, data obtained by The Watershed Association showed the Aqua Texas System in Woodcreek North pumped 374 acrefeet of water in 2022.

While their permitted volume, outside of drought restrictions, is 339 acre-feet per year, their drought-allotted volume for 2022 was only 199 acre-feet.

The HTGCD went into an Emergency Stage drought for the first time in August of 2022 and has remained in the Emergency Stage since then.

Currently, HTGCD monitor well levels are at record lows, according to Charlie Flatten, the HTGCD’s general manager.

“Last year, Jacob’s Well Natural Area and Blue Hole Regional Park suspended swimming because flow wasn’t enough to maintain healthy water quality–given all the swimmers,” said Robin Gary, formerly with The Watershed Association. “The Woodcreek North -Aqua Texas System directly influences flow at Jacob’s Well and therefore Cypress Creek.”

Jacob’s Well, a karstic spring in the Jacob’s Well Natural Area, normally hosts thousands of visitors every summer. This summer, it remained closed to swimmers due to low water levels.

Although Blue Hole Regional Park opened its swim area this year, it was forced to close on Aug. 21 for an initial two-week period because of low water levels associated with Cypress Creek, a 15-mile long waterway that is part of the Blanco River Watershed.

Blue Hole Regional Park officials said they will re-evaluate whether or not it can re-open to swimmers after the twoweek closure ends sometime around Sept. 4.

HTGCD’s Flatten said over pumping is partially responsible for Jacob's Well running dry this year.

Moreover, he added, this isn’t the first time Aqua Texas has pumped more than its permit allowed– in the Wimberley Valley or other districts.

“This is a pattern; this is a business model,” he said. “They are in the business not to conserve water for the future, but to sell water to their customers because they’ve gotta fulfill payouts to their shareholders.”

During a drought, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District can restrict water consumption by a certain percentage, depending on what drought stage the region is in.

But the district can’t do anything to limit overconsumption; it can only administer fines, according to Flatten.

Although Aqua Texas declined to comment directly on the fine while it is being contested, Regional Communications Specialist Jennifer Olohan emphasized that the company is actively “doing a bunch of things to conserve water [and] reduce the impact on Jacob’s Well.”

“We’ve identified a permanent solution: creating new wells,” she explained. “We purchased land outside the Jacob’s Well management zone to create it, and tests we’ve run with seven other organizations–including The Watershed Association and groundwater conservation district– look promising.”

Olohan said Aqua Texas would have a final analysis on that data within the week and would share an update when the information is available.

“There’s an issue though,” she said. “We may not be able to get the permit from the conservation district to create the permanent new wells. If they don’t allow it, there’s no fix.”