NewsDrop-Jan-Feb-2026

AQUIFER MANAGEMENT SERVICES

By: Rebecca Nunu Principal Geoscientist

EDWARDS AQUIFER PROTECTION THROUGH LAND CONSERVATION

As development accelerates and the region’s population continues to grow, the need for continued investment in conserving lands becomes more urgent. Acquiring conservation easements, prioritizing riparian corridors, and incentivizing land stewardship offer clear pathways forward to advance the EAA’s mission to manage, enhance, and protect the Edwards Aquifer. The EAA and EAC’s continued commitment to programs like the EAPP will be essential to preserving water quality, sustaining spring flows, and ensuring a resilient water supply for future generations.

The Edwards Aquifer is one of the nation’s most productive yet vulnerable groundwater systems. The Aquifer supplies drinking water for more than two-and-one-half million people across south-central Texas and sustains iconic springs, including Comal and San Marcos Springs. To safeguard this critical resource, in 2000 the City of San Antonio created the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program (EAPP), which was funded through a one eighth cent sales tax approved by voters. Over the past 25 years funds raised via the EAPP have been used to protect over 150,000 acres of land through fee simple acquisitions and conservation easements.

land to remain privately owned. Conservation easements on the recharge and contributing zones of the aquifer are a significant component of EAA’s fulfillment of its mission to manage, enhance, and protect the Edwards Aquifer. In addition to the EAPP and other land conservation initiatives, the EAA and the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy (EAC) hold more than 7,900 acres in easements. These lands include the Field Research Park, where EAA scientists are studying aquifer hydrology and land management techniques. The EAA’s Aquifer Science Research and Sustainability teams support the EAPP by conducting geological assessments to help identify the most protective properties for the program and by providing annual monitoring to ensure long-term integrity on nearly 185,000 conserved acres in the region.

While much of the EAPP’s efforts to conserve land have focused on the recharge zone, the contributing zone remains vastly underprotected. The contributing zone makes up roughly 80 percent of the Edwards Aquifer region, yet less than one percent of its more than two million acres is conserved. The contributing zone is arguably just as important to protect, as streams and rivers flowing from the contributing to the recharge zone provide an estimated 70 to 80 percent of the total recharge to the aquifer. Compared to other major watershed protection efforts, there is great potential for the Edwards Aquifer region with respect to long-term investment. Only six percent of the region is protected through easements, with thousands of acres of land yet to be conserved. The EAA and EAC are committed to continual support of the EAPP and other land conservation efforts.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that permanently protects land by limiting certain types of development, while allowing the

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