Concerns stem from a Total Estimated Recoverable Storage report by the Texas Water Development Board, or TWDB, issued in June. Conroe Mayor Webb Melder said the report contradicts the LSGCD's groundwater use reduction mandates based on limited availability of groundwater. The TERS is an estimate of the total amount of groundwater that can be pumped from the area's aquifers without regard for water quality or other adverse effects, according to the TWDB.
Because the LSGCD regulations have hefty financial implications, several local cities are entering into agreements with the city of Conroe to hire a hydrologist to represent them in water resource management concerns and conduct an independent study of county groundwater resources.
"There are two primary issues the [LSGCD] has to think about: How much [groundwater] can we pump and not have declines, and if having declines is a bad thing," said Jace Houston, San Jacinto River Authority general manager. "That is really the question we [stakeholders] are arguing about right now."
Water availability
The LSGCD mandates that Montgomery County water providers reduce their 2009 water use by 30 percent by 2016. The mandate has led local cities and utility providers to join one of the 32 groundwater reduction plans throughout the county. When fully implemented, the efforts will reduce area groundwater use to about 64,000 acre-feet per year. The LSGCD estimates this statistic is, on average, the amount of groundwater that can be safely drawn annually within the county from the Gulf Coast Aquifer, which spans across the entire Texas Gulf Coast area.
The TERS report shows there is 180 million acre-feet of water that can be pumped out of the aquifer in the county, and a debate regarding the management of groundwater has since been reinvigorated.
Because the LSGCD chose a sustainability approach to managing groundwater resources—rather than allowing for unregulated pumping, or "mining," of the aquifer—the agency stated the report does not reflect its goals.
"We have had three consultants look at those numbers as to what is sustainability and what is recharged, and each time it has come back in that range of the 64,000 acre-feet," LSGCD General Manager Kathy Turner Jones said. "The [LSGCD] has never said that is all of the water that is available in the Gulf Coast Aquifer. We recognize the aquifer has enormous amounts of water. It is just what amount can we use without causing harm to the aquifer that is irreparable."
"There's some concern over whether the numbers we're working with are actually accurate. The cities joined into a coalition to ask the [LSGCD] to slow down, take their time, don't rush to judge and make sure we're dealing with accurate facts before we impose any more restrictions on the cities." —Magnolia City Administrator Paul Mendes
The difference between sustainability mandate and TERS figures led the city of Magnolia to announce its participation in a coalition Dec. 9 with Conroe and several other Montgomery County entities and pass a resolution Jan. 13 designed to encourage more research regarding the county's groundwater resources.
"I think it's a very good resolution," Magnolia City Attorney Leonard Schneider said. "It also tries to protect landowners' rights with their share of groundwater."
Coalition members have commissioned consulting firm RW Harden and Associates to represent them in groundwater management issues, Melder said.
"There's some concern over whether the numbers we're working with are actually accurate," Magnolia City Administrator Paul Mendes said. "The cities joined into a coalition to ask the [LSGCD] to slow down, take their time, don't rush to judge and make sure we're dealing with accurate facts before we impose any more restrictions on the cities."
Mining vs. sustainability
Houston said the long-term cost of mining and alternative water use need to be compared.
Because the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the same common-law principles that govern oil and gas ownership also apply to groundwater in Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, Melder said municipalities should be allowed to make their own decisions on whether to continue to drill wells to retrieve water based on economics, rather than through state regulation from the LSGCD.
"Groundwater needs to be pumped, just like oil," Melder said. "Just because you have to drill deeper does not mean the water is not down there. It is a matter of economics, and those economic decisions should be left up to groundwater producers, like cities. It is our choice."
However, Houston said that if unregulated mining of the of the aquifer is allowed, the subsequent drop in water pressure could have severe economic consequences.
Regional management
Because Gulf Coast Aquifer resources are shared regionally, the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District and the Fort Bend Subsidence District coordinate regional groundwater resource management with the LSGCD.
Houston said continued mining of the Gulf Coast Aquifer in Montgomery County could undermine HGSD and FBSD groundwater use reduction efforts.
Melder, however, questioned whether population figures should factor into groundwater policy.
"It's all politics," Melder said. "What we are not pumping [Harris County is] pumping—they have more people so they get more water? So as Montgomery County grows does that mean we pump more groundwater? There is no fairness here."
