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General Manager Charlie Flatten of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District recently wrote about the federal lawsuit filed by AQUA Texas. He disagreed with some of AQUA Texas’ claims and clarified that the District had not threatened to stop water access to AQUA Texas’ customers or refused them a public hearing. The District suggested a settlement agreement to address AQUA Texas’ excessive water production and encourage adherence to drought conservation guidelines. Flatten emphasized the District’s commitment to water conservation and reducing waste due to population growth and decreasing aquifer levels. He also pointed out AQUA Texas’ failure to follow its permit and maintain infrastructure, which has had a negative impact on the local community.
GM of Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District Provides Public Letter on AQUA Texas Lawsuit
General Manager Charlie Flatten of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District addressed the federal lawsuit filed by AQUA Texas. He refuted several claims made by AQUA Texas, clarifying that the District has not threatened to cut off water access to AQUA Texas’ customers and has not denied AQUA Texas a public hearing. The District offered a settlement agreement to address AQUA Texas’s overproduction and incentivize adherence to drought conservation guidelines. Flatten emphasized the District’s commitment to water conservation and preventing waste in the face of increasing population and declining aquifer levels. He highlighted AQUA Texas’ failure to comply with its permit and maintain infrastructure, impacting the local community.
Groundwater Overuse in Hays County Raises Concerns Over Drinking Water Supply
The majority of western Hays County relies on groundwater as the sole source of drinking water, serving tens of thousands of residents. AQUA Texas, the entity responsible for providing continuous and sufficient water to its ratepayers, is under scrutiny for its management of this vital resource.
To safeguard the rights of all groundwater users in the area, AQUA Texas is mandated to comply with state and local laws that govern groundwater extraction. The company holds an annually renewable operating permit issued by the local Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, authorizing its groundwater pumping activities within the District.
However, AQUA Texas is currently facing allegations of breaching its local groundwater permit on multiple fronts. These violations encompass failure to adhere to the approved Drought Management Plan, excessive groundwater production, and neglecting the maintenance of its water supply infrastructure as mandated by District Rules.
According to self-reported production volumes for 2022, AQUA Texas exceeded its annual allocation by a staggering 89 million gallons. This over-pumping amounts to nearly double (88% more) the volume permitted for the year. Furthermore, an assessment of AQUA Texas’s 2022 leakage reports reveals that as much as 32% of its water was lost due to poorly maintained water pipe infrastructure.
In response to these transgressions, the District has extended a settlement agreement to AQUA Texas. The proposed agreement aims to address the repair of AQUA’s substandard water delivery systems and resolve the violations, in a concerted effort to uphold the integrity of the groundwater resources and ensure the sustained availability of drinking water for the residents of western Hays County.
General Manager Charlie Flatten’s Press Release Responds to AQUA Texas Lawsuit, Regarding AQUA Texas’s claims:
The Groundwater Conservation District will cut AQUA Texas and its customers off from water.
FALSE: The District has never threatened AQUA Texas’s customers’ access to water.
The Groundwater Conservation District has denied AQUA Texas from a public hearing to discuss the violation.
FALSE: AQUA representatives requested that no hearing be held while negotiations are ongoing. The Groundwater Conservation District has assessed an illegal production fee.
FALSE: The District offered a Settlement Agreement that reflects AQUA’s enormous overproduction, largely due to AQUA Texas’s failure to fix leaking infrastructure, and seeks to incentivize adherence to AQUA Texas’s drought conservation guidelines and to bring its infrastructure up to industry standards.
The Groundwater Conservation District regularly offers forgiveness for overproduction violations.
TRUE: Individual expenditures on improvements that increase groundwater conservation and expenses to repair force-majeur failures (for example, pipe breaks from the extraordinary freezes,) meet the District’s goal of highest water use efficiency and are regularly considered for reduction of settlement amounts.
The Groundwater Conservation District unfairly denied only AQUA Texas opportunity for violation forgiveness.
FALSE: The AQUA Texas settlement process is ongoing, and no determination has been made whether its infrastructure expenditures qualify as conservation improvements or out of the ordinary weather-related line failures; or expenditures that would only qualify as regular maintenance and operational costs.
The population in western Hays County has doubled in the last 20 years, and the local Trinity Aquifer is at its lowest recorded levels. The District is entrusted by the State of Texas to conserve, preserve, and prevent waste of groundwater. Aqua Texas has not abided by its permit from the District and has failed to keep its infrastructure in shape, resulting in the ongoing overproduction of its permit. This is to the detriment of the citizens of Wimberley and Woodcreek, including Aqua’s own customers, who do their best to conserve.
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