BSEACD sued over Needmore Permit
The Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) announced today that it has filed suit in Travis County District Court challenging the decision by the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) to issue a permit to Needmore Water, LLC to withdraw about 289 million gallons of groundwater each year in Hays County near Wimberley. The litigation arises out of HB 3405 passed by the Texas Legislature in 2015. This bill gave jurisdiction to BSEACD over previously unregulated portions of the Trinity Aquifer in Hays County including the land now giving rise to the Needmore Water LLC permit application. The litigation is concerned with a controversial provision that “grandfathered” certain existing wells, creating a two-step process that has been interpreted by BSEACD to substantially limit their ability to regulate the groundwater withdrawn from such wells.
In this litigation, TESPA specifically alleges that the well in question was not operating at the time the permit application was filed, therefore it does not meet the requirements for a grandfathered well under the legislation. Grandfathered wells do not have to meet all rules and regulations of the district, but rather are subject to only a few requirements established by the statute.
The specific complaint of this litigation is that the well in question was not operating at the time the permit was filed and further was incapable of being operated due to disrepair, therefore the well in question did not qualify for grandfathered status. In proceedings before the BSEACD and an administrative law judge, TESPA was not allowed to challenge whether the well qualified for “grandfathered” status, and that determination gave rise to the current litigation.
According to Jim Blackburn, president of TESPA, “This issue of the regulation of this well is very important. We are fighting for our groundwater here in Hays County. Every drop counts, and in this situation 289 million gallons of water are being allowed to be taken without our having a chance to properly protect our property rights. This is wrong, and we are going to fight it. If we don’t rise up and fight now, our groundwater is going to be lost and our springs and rivers along with it. We are going to do our best to keep this from happening.”
Patrick Cox, executive director of TESPA, joined with Blackburn in stating the importance of standing tall for water rights, “BSEACD needs to know that those of us who own adjacent groundwater will fight just as hard for our rights as those who are seeking to suck this water from the ground. We were promised regulation of groundwater, not permitting without meaningful regulation, which is what we have gotten.”
The case of Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association v. Barton Springs Edward Aquifer Conservation District was filed by attorney Jeff Mundy of Austin in Travis County District Court on Monday, Feb. 10.
