By Charles McClure
news@ltview.com
The prolonged drought is beginning to have an impact on Central Texas aquifers as the water in wells begin to run dry. Concerned citizens will have a chance to discuss how to best address the issue during a citizens meeting for Groundwater Manage Area 9, which includes Lake Travis.

The meeting, hosted by the Texas Water Development Board, will be held Monday, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. in Kerrville at the Upper Guadalupe River Authority Auditorium, located at 125 Lehmann Lane.
According to Travis County Pct. 3 Commissioner Karen Huber, only a handful of wells in the area have dried up; however, as the two year drought worsens, TDWB — under the direction of Gov. Rick Perry — is trying to get out in front of the problem before it reaches a critical stage.
“Groundwater conservation districts are required by House Bill 1763 to conduct joint planning within groundwater management areas,” said TWDB spokesperson Leslie Anderson. “This is a key part of the joint planning process that establishes desired future conditions for the relevant aquifers within a management area.”
Based on future conditions, TWDB will calculate managed available groundwater values, which will be used for regional water plans, groundwater management plans, and permitting.”
While all of Lake Travis falls under Area 9, it does not have an official groundwater development board, as called for in state law. For years, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District has pushed for the area to either be annexed into its district, or to establish one of its own. However, despite the lack of an oversight agency, the citizens meeting is open to area residents.
Jack Hollon of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, said it isn’t juts the drought that challenges the aquifers.
“Essentially, the aquifer is filled with straws from people’s wells that draw water out,” Hollon said. “As growth has proliferated in this area, the stresses on the aquifers and the groundwater supplies have been increased substantially. There are real concerns that the current growth rate in this area, juxtaposed to the demands on our aquifers, is not sustainable in the long run.”
David Baker, the Executive Director of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, which oversees Jacob’s Well in Hays County, said the iconic site has all but quit running over the last two years. It is the longest period of inactivity at the well ever recorded and Baker believes it is an indicator of the overall water supply in the area aquifers.
Christy Muse, Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance, is also concerned with the strains placed on the area’s aquifers.
“No doubt, this is a severe drought,” Muse said. “But what we have to keep in mind is that many more people have moved to the Hill Country region and we are using significantly more water than ever before. The drought gets people talking but we need a whole lot more than rain to fix our water supply problem. We need to manage how much we pump from our lakes and aquifers in a sustainable way – no easy task under our existing policy framework.”
Muse believes the State of Texas must find new laws to govern the use of groundwater. Currently, the state operates under “rule of capture” laws that allow anyone with a well to pump as much water as they can. She is also concerned that the South shore of Lake Travis does not have any meaningful land use planning authority, nor has the area “come close to implementing real water conservation policies.”
Huber shares many of those same concerns and is monitoring the drought’s impact on the groundwater in the aquifers.
“We have a number of new subdivisions looking to come on line and we have to be aware that water resources are a question,” Huber said.
But with counties having virtually no regulatory authority over development, combined with longstanding state laws, Huber admits there isn’t much that can be done at the county level until the Texas Legislature passes laws that will expand their ability to govern in these areas.
In addition to challenging groundwater resources, the prolonged drought has had an extremely adverse impact on farming and ranching operations throughout most of Texas. Miles upon miles of corn and other crops have withered away under record temperatures combined with virtually no meaningful rainfall.
The Lower Colorado River Authority has warned that it may implement even more serious rationing measures if the drought persists. And the drought isn’t just impacting Texas. Much of the Midwest is in a drought as the Gulf Stream has that typically brings plentiful rainfall to the heartland of America has shifted into the Pacific. A similar weather pattern, combined with poor land use practices, helped ignite the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
Some climatologists believe there may be a glimmer of hope as El Niño has developed, which typically brings wetter weather to this region.