Board set to decide water issue

End Op wants 46,000 acrefeet of water per year for Travis, Williamson counties.

A groundwater district is poised to make a long-awaited decision this month on a water marketer’s request to pump almost 15 billion gallons of water per year from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer underneath Bastrop and Lee counties.

End Op is requesting permits to withdraw 46,000 acre-feet of water per year using 14 wells to sell to customers in Travis and Williamson counties. After nearly eight years of battles between landowners, water services and End Op, a state administrative law judge has recommended that the water marketer receive its full request.

It’s now up to the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District board, which regulates water supply in Bastrop and Lee counties, to either accept, modify or reject the recommendation from the judge. The board’s members opted to postpone its decision on June 24 to its next regular meeting this month, stating they needed more time.

Robin Melvin, an attorney representing the groundwater district’s general manager, said he does not have a position on the amount to be granted to End Op, but is urging the board to look at the potential beneficial use of the requested water and the district’s groundwater model projections for desired future conditions.

Desired future conditions, which are set by the district, are based on population growth and projected water needs in the region and historical increases in groundwater withdrawals, according to the state judge’s proposal for decision.

The district general manager found that allowing End Op to withdraw its requested 46,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater might negatively affect the set desired future conditions. Thus, the recommendation is to approve the request on the condition that it is subject to any future production limits, according to the proposal.

The judge found that “the evidence establishes that the resource and all existing users will be able to rely on this water from the Aquifer for more than 50 years even if End Op’s applications are approved.”

End Op aims to sell the water to municipal and industrial customers in Travis and Williamson counties.

The Texas Water Development Board’s 2011 Regional Water Plan projects that Travis County will have an 11,053 acre-feet per year shortage and Williamson County will have a 31,897 acre-feet per year shortage in 2020.

Although End Op has yet to secure a contract with a customer in Travis or Williamson counties for the water it is requesting, its water experts maintain that there is both a demand for it and that there is sufficient water in the aquifer to fulfill its request.

End Op initially asked for 56,000 acre-feet of water, but reduced it to 46,000 acre-feet as part of the terms of a settlement agreement with Aqua Water Supply, which contested the request. Also in the agreement, End Op pledged to limit pumping in Bastrop County to no more than 35 percent of its authorized amount and to create a mitigation fund to address potential future impacts on Aqua and other well-owners.

Steve Box, executive director of the local nonprofit Environmental Stewardship, said he is concerned that the contested case only involved End Op and Aqua Water Supply and did not leave room for more cross-examination of the water marketer’s experts.

Environmental Stewardship and three landowners were denied a chance to participate in the contested case by the administrative judge. The nonprofit and three landowners have a case pending in district court appealing to becoming parties to End Op’s permit request. Box expects a final hearing on the case this fall.

“I think the best thing the district could do now is to postpone anything until the district court has made a decision on our status,” Box said in an interview.

The recommendation is to approve the request on the condition that it is subject to any future production limits, according to the proposal.