I am the president of the board for Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA). TESPA was formed by a group of us living in and around Wimberley in Hayes County on the eastern edge of the Texas Hill Country to fight commercial groundwater exploiters who were trying to take too much groundwater – threatening our rural water supplies, our springs and ultimately our way of life in the Hill Country. We are now hoping to create a companion piece to the Texas Coastal Exchange in the Hill Country of Texas.
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Mission: to protect the Trinity and Edwards aquifers from over pumping, the springs that flow from this interconnected system, and the property rights of landowners who depend on and wish to conserve this precious natural resource.
The Trinity Aquifer is under siege. The springs and creeks which emanate from this natural resource, and the property rights of landowners are at risk. Today, more than ever before, this precious natural resource, which is vital to the ecology and economy of the Hill Country, is in peril. As the population in Central Texas continues to grow, water suppliers are searching for new sources of water, and the Trinity Aquifer is a target. Although groundwater pumping from the aquifer is already occurring at an unsustainable rate, more groundwater development projects are in the works. Current groundwater law facilitates the mining of our aquifers and elevates groundwater development over groundwater protection. TESPA is taking legal action and advocating for policy changes to ensure that groundwater in Texas is sustainably managed and landowners' property rights are protected.
Current projects
Fighting Permian Highway Pipeline Contamination of Groundwater
Attorneys acting on behalf of the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) are suing the Permian Highway Pipeline LLC (PHP) and its managing partner, Kinder Morgan, for contamination of an underground source of drinking water as a result of PHP construction operations in Blanco County. Of primary concern, and contrary to public comments by Kinder Morgan, the class 1A carcinogen were identified on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the drilling mud that contaminated the aquifer and the water supply of area homeowners. Investigation is ongoing by the TESPA legal team to evaluate the risks posed by this carcinogen in the water supply, as well as in the air.
Electro Purification, LLC
In 2017, Electro Purification, LLC ("EP") applied for a groundwater production permit from the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District ("BSEACD") for a Middle Trinity Aquifer well field in Hays County - the same well field that previously, had been unregulated. The permit application indicates that pumping rates will be phased in over time with a maximum permitted pumping rate of 2.5 million gallons per day (MGD), or approximately 912 million gallons per year, pumped from seven wells located on the Odell and Bridges properties. BSEACD projects that pumping this amount of groundwater will cause 300-500 feet of drawdown in the Cow Creek Aquifer within one year and after seven years could result in dewatering of the Cow Creek Aquifer.
TESPA has serious concerns about the impacts the proposed permit will have on groundwater resources in the area and is engaged in legal actions to oppose it. If the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District issues this permit, it will be giving away all of the remaining groundwater to EP that the Texas Water Development Board has determined is available for production based on the current desired future condition for the Trinity Aquifer in Groundwater Management Area 10.
Needmore
The Trinity Aquifer is under siege. The springs and creeks which emanate from this natural resource, and the property rights of landowners are at risk. Today, more than ever before, this precious natural resource, which is vital to the ecology and economy of the Hill Country, is in peril. As the population in Central Texas continues to grow, water suppliers are searching for new sources of water, and the Trinity Aquifer is a target. Although groundwater pumping from the aquifer is already occurring at an unsustainable rate, more groundwater development projects are in the works. Current groundwater law facilitates the mining of our aquifers and elevates groundwater development over groundwater protection. TESPA is taking legal action and advocating for policy changes to ensure that groundwater in Texas is sustainably managed and landowners' property rights are protected.
Current projects
Fighting Permian Highway Pipeline Contamination of Groundwater
Attorneys acting on behalf of the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) are suing the Permian Highway Pipeline LLC (PHP) and its managing partner, Kinder Morgan, for contamination of an underground source of drinking water as a result of PHP construction operations in Blanco County. Of primary concern, and contrary to public comments by Kinder Morgan, the class 1A carcinogen were identified on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the drilling mud that contaminated the aquifer and the water supply of area homeowners. Investigation is ongoing by the TESPA legal team to evaluate the risks posed by this carcinogen in the water supply, as well as in the air.
Electro Purification, LLC
In 2017, Electro Purification, LLC ("EP") applied for a groundwater production permit from the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District ("BSEACD") for a Middle Trinity Aquifer well field in Hays County - the same well field that previously, had been unregulated. The permit application indicates that pumping rates will be phased in over time with a maximum permitted pumping rate of 2.5 million gallons per day (MGD), or approximately 912 million gallons per year, pumped from seven wells located on the Odell and Bridges properties. BSEACD projects that pumping this amount of groundwater will cause 300-500 feet of drawdown in the Cow Creek Aquifer within one year and after seven years could result in dewatering of the Cow Creek Aquifer.
TESPA has serious concerns about the impacts the proposed permit will have on groundwater resources in the area and is engaged in legal actions to oppose it. If the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District issues this permit, it will be giving away all of the remaining groundwater to EP that the Texas Water Development Board has determined is available for production based on the current desired future condition for the Trinity Aquifer in Groundwater Management Area 10.
Needmore
Needmore Ranch, a pristine, 5,000 acre ranch along the Blanco River outside Wimberley, Texas, has applied for a massive groundwater production permit with the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD). TESPA is fighting this proposed permit.
The amount of groundwater that Needmore has requested- over 289,000,000 gallons of groundwater a year - is excessive and will significantly drawdown the Trinity Aquifer. Aquifer tests revealed that this amount of pumping resulted in fourteen feet of drawdown in a monitoring well 1.95 miles from the well on Needmore Ranch. BSEACD's own modeling predicts that within seven years, pumping from the well on Needmore Ranch will cause 140 feet of drawdown |