Protecting water resources in Central Texas

Editor's Note: The Texas Hill Country Conservation Network has created The Hill Country Land', Water; Sky and Natural Infrastructure Plan to protect natural resources in this area. This conservation series seeks to illuminate aspects of the plan, as well as other resource protection plans, looking at best management practices. This is the third part in the series.

There is hardly a gathering spot in Texas this summer where water is not a prime source of conversation. Here in the Hill Country, people are raising the conversation to a new level of action.

The Texas Hill Country Conservation Net-work website, stated that the Texas Hill Country is composed of 18 central Texas counties and 11 million acres; the booming population growth paired with rapid development, drought, the overuse of groundwater and changing climate patterns are impacting natural resources in this area.

For a group of experts and organization executives, action is more important than talk.

San Marcos River Foundation Executive Director Virginia Parker said her organization has been in existence for over 38 years, and works to protect and preserve the water quality and quantity in the San Marcos River and springs.

“Obviously plants, animals and people can-not live without water,” Parker said “Not only does it serve as our drinking source, but it serves as a source for farmers and ranchers and all the agricultural uses, but also the recreational uses that were so used to in San Marcos.”

Wimberley Valley Watershed Association Executive Director David Baker said the purpose of his organization is to protect the water quality and quantity in the Blanco River Basin.

“Water is essential for life,” Baker said, adding that groundwater supplies both the Hill Country’s people and springs with this needed resource.

Hill Country Alliance Executive Director Katherine Romans said the Hill Country has a vast network of rivers and streams. She said that the headwaters of 12 of Texas’ rivers are based here, as well as 1,100 miles of pristine streams.

The Nature Conservancy in Texas State Director Suzanne Scott said there are economic benefits to conservation, like sustainable tourism, which is important to many hill country communities.

“A flowing creek with clean water in it has greater value than a dry stream bed or a polluted stream,” Baker said.

According to Baker, approximately 100,000 visitors go to Blue Hole Regional Park and Jacob’s Well Natural Area annually, which brings somewhere between $70 million to $100 million in revenue in tourism to people in that part of the county. He added that in the past two years, the drought has made a significant financial impact, particularly with both swim holes closed currently due to low flow.

Texas Conservation Alliance Executive Director John DeFillipo said it’s important to figure out how the region can manage the water currently present in all of the reservoirs and in all of the city areas “while maintaining river flows and environmental flows for habitats.”

Baker said when water is pumped out of the aquifer for human use, particularly during times of drought, that leads to a decrease in flow out of the springs. He said currently, there is more being pumped out of the aquifer than is being recharged.

“When we get into drought, these drought contingency rules are set up to curtail pumping so that we can extend the aquifer’s capacity,” Baker said. “Both for water supply and to protect spring flow for aquatic habitat and recreational uses.”

Parker said the primary source negatively impacting water conservation is population growth.

“There are so many people coming to Central Texas, which not only means more people drinking water out of the aquifer, but that means more rooftops and concrete over the aquifer,” Parker said. “The more that we pave the recharge zone, the less rainwater, potentially, could be getting to the aquifer for storage for later use, and then that obviously impacts spring flows, especially in the San Marcos River and the Comal River.”

Parker added that with additional people there are additional wastewater services. She said SMRF is currently fighting nine wastewater treatment requests citing dissatisfaction with the quality of the water that will be dumped into the tributaries and the fact that they will often be unmanned for days at a time.

“That’s a lot of effluent that’s not being treated to the standard that the permit requires, and it could take days for that mistake to be caught,” Parker said, adding that the slow drip of phosphorus and nitrogen in the effluent increases algal bloom, which can lead to decreased oxygen levels and ultimately death for aquatic species.

Baker said unfettered development and pumping of the aquifer threatens both financial interests for and the environmental outlook of this region.

“What we’d like to see is a water task force come together with the cities, the county, the utilities, the groundwater district, the property owner associations,” Baker said. 'And really work together on a plan to better manage our water.” Baker added that the task force could assess the resources that we have, find additional resources, if needed, and decide how to manage the impending growth moving forward.

Baker said Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, Edwards Aquifer Authority and Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District are the regulators of groundwater in Hays County. He said all of these groups set up contingency plans that must be followed in times of drought by those with pumping permits — particularly because water is finite.

“Last year, we were about 16 inches below our normal rainfall. Even though we got normal rainfall this year, we haven’t caught up,” Baker said, adding that it’s important that the aquifer watchdogs and the utilities themselves communicate with citizens about the rules of water use.

Parker said, locally, SMRF does many things to protect the river including trash cleanup and monitoring discharge permits to ensure water quality standards are met. She added that SMRF works with developers to ensure that green infrastructure practices are used to safeguard water quality with regard to runoff and to help them understand the importance of water reuse.

Additionally, Parker said SMRF has been diligently working to complete an 18-mile contiguous greenbelt around the city of San Marcos, which will have positive water conservation impacts. She said more green space is good for water quality and quantity and ensures rainwater can reach the aquifer.

Parker said part of the greenbelt loop is the Millican Tract which is loaded with karst features and is considered “water quality land.”

“If you think of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone as a huge limestone sponge — there are all of these holes. Some of them are tiny. Some of them are big enough for people to fit through, and those openings into the aquifer are the way that rainwater gets down into the aquifer,” Parker said. “Karst features are just holes into the aquifer, essentially.”

According to SMRF's website, SMRF found and helped the city obtain a special loan from the federal Clean Water Fund to purchase the land ensuring perpetual protection, and this was the first loan of its kind in the state of Texas. In 2019, private landowners followed suit and purchased the land next to Geiger Ranch creating another conservation easement, which further protects the San Marcos River and Spring Lake.

Great Springs Project Chief Executive Officer Garry Merritt said the mission of the Great Springs Project is to add an additional 50,000 acres of conserved land over the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer between Austin and San Antonio, which will provide a spring to spring network of trails along the same path.

“There are over two million people that get their drinking water from the Edwards underground aquifer,” Merritt said.

Parker said that 50 years into Texas’ future, the key to water conservation will be reuse.

“There are a lot of ways to reuse water, whether it’s purple pipes going towards watering your lawn or outside uses for rainwater, but then you can get as specific as treating water to a potable standard, then you’re pulling less water out of the aquifer for drinking water; You’re reusing the wastewater that you’ve already used,” Parker said, adding that she knows it is possible because it is already being done.

Baker said generally speaking, we get enough rain that people can live completely off of rainwater, but even if a person prefers to drink groundwater, rainwater can be used to supplement other processes around the home.

Baker said 60% of water use is for outdoor watering, so — particularly during a drought — having native landscapes and not watering turf excessively is beneficial. Baker added that he believes using potable water to irrigate outdoor plants should not be permitted.

“The water that we use in our house is really the same water that we see in the Blanco River, Cypress Creek or the San Marcos River,” Baker said.

Parker said the Austin Central Library is using air conditioning condensate for various water uses throughout the building, setting a positive example of how to sustainably reuse water.

Baker said that he believes in rainwater harvesting much like what is done at the Blue Hole Elementary 'One Water' School in Wimberley.

According to the Meadows Center Website, The One Water campus has reduced its water consumption footprint by approximately 90%. The school has an onsite treatment and reuse system that allows for the recycling of greywater —wastewater from bathroom sinks, showers and washing machines — and black water —wastewater from bathrooms and toilets that contains fecal matter and urine. Rainwater and AC condensate are collected for plumbing and irrigation. The school uses best management practices such as rain gardens containing native plants, permeable pavers and other stormwater mitigation measures to reduce runoff, reduce nonpoint source pollution — not from a single, discreet source — and increase groundwater recharge.

Having a holistic appreciation of the needs and impacts of so many variables is what is guiding each of these experts. It is the cooperation among the various organizations and entities that suggests the best long term scenarios for keeping water clean, in supply and available to all in this community, officials across the board said.