AUSTIN, Texas — A court battle is brewing over water in Hays County.
A federal lawsuit involving utility company Aqua Texas claims unlawful and unfair treatment from the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, a group that regulates groundwater from wells.
The KVUE Defenders looked into the issues between the two after the utility over-pumped its water allotment in 2022, resulting in nearly half a million dollars worth of fines.
Aqua Texas is asking a federal court to step in and stop the groundwater conservation district from removing its permit to pump water from the Trinity Aquifer, a possibility after it missed the deadline to pay a nearly $450,000 fine for pumping over 89 million gallons over the limit in 2022.
The federal complaint was filed on Tuesday.
If Aqua Texas loses its permit, water delivery could be in jeopardy for around 3,000 customers in Wimberley, Woodcreek and a portion of Dripping Springs.
Paul Terrill, an attorney representing Aqua Texas, said the groundwater conservation district forgave fines for several other utilities that also pumped over the limit but did not for Aqua Texas, which the company obviously views as being unfair.
Terrill also said the groundwater district stopped Aqua Texas from using two new wells it drilled in 2022.
"So, Jacob's Well is a well-known artesian spring that's in Hays County. Aqua and others have wells that are in the vicinity of Jacob's Well, and there was a really bad drought in 2022, continued in 2023 and the springs went dry and Aqua proactively went out and bought land and started drilling and did drill two wells far away and outside of the Jacob's Well groundwater management zone to try to relieve pressure on the springs. The district did not allow Aqua to use those wells, issued a permitting moratorium," Terrill said.
KVUE reached out to Charlie Flatten, the general manager of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. He provided the following statement:
"The Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District has never threatened Aqua's or the public's access to water. The District and Aqua agreed to postpone a hearing during settlement agreements. As is the case with every utility (corporate or local) Aqua is required to follow the rules that they agreed to in their permit. Some of those terms include adhering to a drought contingency plan if necessary. Aqua has not shown that they adhered to that plan in 2022. The Hays Trinity Conservation District's lawful mandate is to protect the aquifer for ALL users. During emergency drought conditions, we must all conserve -- and Aqua did not do that in 2022 and 2023."
Negotiations are ongoing but if an agreement can't be reached, Terrill said a hearing could result soon.
On Friday, Jan. 5, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District issues an official response to Aqua Texas' lawsuit that read in part:
"Groundwater is the only source of drinking water for the majority of western Hays County -- that's tens of thousands of residents.
AQUA Texas is responsible for providing adequate and continuous water to its ratepayers. In order to protect the rights of all groundwater users in the area, AQUA Texas is required to abide by state and local laws regulating groundwater pumping. AQUA Texas has an annually renewable operating permit issued by the local Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District for its groundwater pumping within the District.
AQUA Texas is currently in breach of its local groundwater permit for a variety of violations including failure to adhere to its approved Drought Management Plan, over production of groundwater, and failure to maintain its water supply infrastructure as required by District Rules.
As reflected in self-reported production volumes for 2022, AQUA Texas over produced its annual allotment by over 89 million gallons. To put that into perspective, in 2022 alone, AQUA Texas over pumped almost double (88%+) the amount that its permit allowed . On review of AQUA Texas’s 2022 leakage reports, its systems lost as much as 32% of its water due to poorly maintained water pipe infrastructure.
The District has offered AQUA Texas a settlement agreement in order to address the repair of AQUA’s substandard water delivery systems and resolve the violations."