BASTROP

Court sides with LCRA in Bastrop County water fight

Brandon Mulder, bmulder@statesman.com
Administrative law judges Ross Henderson and Rebecca Smith preside over a public hearing on the LCRA request to pump 8.15 billion gallons of groundwater from Bastrop County at the Bastrop Convention Center on Oct. 16, 2019. [JAY JANNER/ BASTROP ADVERTISER]

State judges delivered a blow to landowners from Bastrop and Lee counties last week in a long-awaited decision that favored the water interests of the Lower Colorado River Authority over the property owners’ protests.

In 2018, the LCRA submitted an application to drill eight water wells on the Griffith League Boy Scout Ranch north of Bastrop, and pump up to 8.15 billion gallons of water per year from the underlying Simsboro Aquifer. The LCRA’s application, submitted to the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District, prompted grassroots groups to spring up in opposition.

Environmental groups argued that the requested amount was more than the aquifer could safely sustain. Landowners argued that the pumping would cause their own water wells to run dry. Other entities, like the city of Elgin, AQUA Water Supply and other private companies with existing pumping permits, said that LCRA’s proposed pumping could impact the long-term viability of their water supplies.

In October, all groups and their attorneys challenged the LCRA’s request in a week-long hearing before two judges with State Office of Administrative Hearings. On March 31, administrative law judges Ross Henderson and Rebecca Smith delivered their findings in an 80-page decision, in which they determined that the LCRA’s proposed pumping would not “unreasonably affect” the aquifer.

The judges “conclude that the analysis of whether the proposed use unreasonably affects groundwater or existing permits must focus on LCRA’s proposed pumping, not districtwide permitted pumping,” they wrote.

However, the judges sided with landowners and environmental groups on minor points. They decided that the LCRA should be required to install monitoring wells to keep tabs on how pumping is affecting groundwater and surface water levels, and that landowners or other parties should be included in the evaluation process for each proposal to renew or amend the LCRA’s permits.

“Adoption of the recommended monitoring plan will bring all pumping in the district under a broad umbrella of surface water protection,” said Steve Box, executive director of the Bastrop County conservation group Environmental Stewardship.

The judges’ decision will now undergo a two-month period in which any involved party can raise objections. Judges then will have an opportunity to reconsider and finalize their decision before passing it to the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District’s board.

The board will treat the decision as a recommendation and will have final say over the LCRA’s requested permits after holding a public hearing.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it’s unclear when the board will consider the permit application.

“The landowners who participated in the SOAH hearing essentially represented all landowners in Bastrop and Lee counties who object to the threat these mega-projects pose to the entire Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer and their communities,” said Andrew Wier, a landowner and director of the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund.

The LCRA has said that if the permit is approved, it will sell the groundwater to customers in Bastrop, Lee and Travis counties.