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Hello Steve,
Environmental Stewardship had a BIG WIN for the Colorado River Wednesday at the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District’s Board meeting. In an unprecedented action, the Board acted on Environmental Stewardship’s request that a special provision be included in the operating permit requiring that Aqua Water Supply Corporation monitor for surface water impacts. The Special Condition requires that Aqua install two surface water monitoring wells in the vicinity of the four new wells that were granted.
Our request was based on a report provided by Lost Pines’ hydrogeologist, William Hutchison, that predicts that over half of the water being pumped from all of the Aqua wells will be sourced from the river alluvium and shallow flow system. The two major wells closest to the Colorado River, Waterson1 & 2, will source about 67% of their water from the alluvium and shallow flow system nearest to the river.
Environmental Stewardship was able to leverage the unprecedented surface water monitoring success from previous wins in the LCRA contested case hearing into this permit. And, in a breath of fresh air, Aqua’s General Manager and her support team did not hesitate in agreeing to the surface water monitoring, while LCRA has taken the fight to the courts by appealing its permit costing Environmental Stewardship over $15,000 to argue our case, yet again.
Eric Allmon, our counsel, urged that the Board take this opportunity to move forward in obtaining the best available science to inform future decision, and I urged that a special provision, similar to the one in the LCRA permit, be included in this permit. In taking this action the Board has set a precedent regarding surface water monitoring when the science indicates there is the potential for unreasonable impacts from the permitted pumping. Click here for the briefing handout provided to the Board in support of our requests.
This is a huge step forward in establishing a surface water-groundwater monitoring system between the Colorado River and the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Bastrop County. One well is to be installed in the Colorado Alluvial Aquifer that contributes groundwater to the river. The second monitoring well is to be installed in a portion of the aquifer referred to as the “shallow flow system” where the major and minor aquifers outcrop at the land surface and also contribute water to the river. With these two wells in place it will be much easier for the District to install the additional monitoring wells and tools needed to quantify the relationship between the river and the aquifers, and thereby have the field data necessary to take actions to protect the gaining status the Colorado River. (See table and figure below for an explanation of this information).
I want to thank everyone on the Environmental Stewardship team and those who support our work for your part in making ES a viable advocate for the conservation and protection of our natural waters. Without your support we would not have been able to make these signifiant strides forward over the last several years!
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