There are five groundwater conservation districts in Groundwater Management Area 12 (GMA-12) listed below.  Click on the District that represents your county to obtain the name of the general manager and directors in your district.  Write them or call them and let them know that you are concerned about the Desired Future Conditions and this is an opportunity for them to take a second look at how they can protect our precious surface and groundwater resources.   

 

Let the Texas Water Development Board know you support Environmental Stewardship's appeal and want it to be seriously considered at the hearing on March 7, 2012.    

 

Texas Water Development Board  (paste the following in the subject line:  Environmental Stewardship's GMA-12 DFC Petitions

   

Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District  

(Brazos and Robertson counties) 

 

Fayette County Groundwater Conservation District

(Fayette County) 

 

Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District  

(Bastrop and Lee counties)

 

Mid-East Texas Groundwater Conservation District

(Freestone,, Leon, Madison counties)

 

Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District

(Burleson and Milam counties)

     

WHY WE ARE CONCERNED

 

Truth #1:  The adopted Desired Future Conditions for our aquifers will cause the Colorado River to lose its base-flow by 2060. This has implications for our Lost Pines forest and other terrestrial wildlife. 

 

The graph above sums up the concerns raised by Environmental Stewardship in the petition.   

• Historically the Colorado River and its tributaries gained about 25-30,000 acre feet of water per year from the aquifers as it flowed through Bastrop County.   
• Pumping for mining in the 1990's averaged about 23,000 acre feet per year until 1999 when it increased to 37,787 acre feet. 
• As depicted in the graph, the model used by the GMA-12 in setting the desired future conditions seems to shows the impact of the mining operation.   
• After 2000, the operator reduced its pumping to about 8-10,000 acre feet per year.  The graph again shows a corresponding rebound in the discharge to the Colorado River and its tributaries to about 14,000 acre feet per year (about 50% of the historic discharge).  
• The planning period for the desired future conditions is 2010-2060.  As depicted in the graph, the discharge to the river and its tributaries is estimated to become ZERO and then negative during the planning period. 

In September, 2010, Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District installed remote monitoring equipment on six wells that are located in the Simsboro Aquifer in Bastrop and Lee counties.  As reported in the June 23, 2011, article Drought dropping Simsboro aquifer, the Heart of Texas well in Lee County dropped 18 feet in two months and declined as much as 54 feet during the recent drought. We are in full agreement with Lost Pines Groundwater District Manager Joe Cooper, who has sounded the alarm that the water level of the Simsboro Aquifer in Bastrop and Lee Counties will continue to decline as the drought continues and pumping increases.  Mr. Cooper cautioned that:  "The Simsboro Aquifer is being looked at as the Mecca to supply water for all of south-central Texas.  We don't think that's possible."   And we agree.

Environmental Stewardship is a charitable nonprofit organization whose purposes are to meet current and future needs of the environment and its inhabitants by protecting and enhancing the earth's natural resources; to restore and sustain ecological services using scientific information; and to encourage public stewardship through environmental education and outreach. 

We are a Texas nonprofit 501(c) (3) charitable organization headquartered in Bastrop, Texas.