NewsDrop-June-2025

EXTERNAL AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS

By: Larry Jackson EAA Executive Director for External & Regulatory Affairs

HELP MEET THE GROWING DEMAND FOR WATER HOW “BIG” CONVERSIONS

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN OUR CENTRAL TEXAS REGION IS INCREASED RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE DEMAND FOR WATER THAT COMES WITH THIS GROWTH.

1 ACRE-FOOT OF WATER IS EQUIVALENT TO 325,851 GALLONS OF WATER SAVED AS A RESULT OF EAA CRITICAL PERIOD MANAGEMENT. THIS MULTIPLIED BY 230,000 = 74,945,730,000 GALLONS OF WATER

Figure 1. Averaged amount of gallons of water saved over the last several years as a result of CPM.”

Subsequently, adding more subdivisions in our region does not necessarily equate to more water withdrawn from the Edwards Aquifer. To illustrate this, the EAA uses several tools to manage how permit holders withdraw water, ensuring our sus tainable resource. One such tool is the Base Irrigation Groundwater (BIG) conversion to Unrestricted Water. While this sounds complicated, it’s a process that allows our irrigator (farmer) permit holders to convert their “Base” irrigation water to “Unrestricted” water. Here’s a quick summary. During the issuance of

initial permits, an irrigation permit holder was typ ically assigned two acre-feet of water per acre of irrigated land, based on their historical water use. One acre-foot is considered “unrestricted” water, and the other is considered “base” water. Unre stricted water can be leased, sold, and bought by permit holders and used for irrigation, industrial, or municipal purposes within the EAA’s region. Base water, however, is tied to the physical land which it historically irrigated. If a farm is sold, the base water stays with the land and cannot be sold to another farm or used for any purpose other than farm irrigation.

Suppose the land on which the farm is located is developed into a subdivision or is no longer suit able for farming. In many cases, the development of land is contingent on the developer having an agreement with the public water utility to convert the base irrigation water to unrestricted, and then transfer the unrestricted water to the public water utility. When this occurs, the water transferred to the public water utility will add to their exist ing water supply, including the new development. In sum, no new water will be pumped from the Edwards Aquifer.

Many in the public are concerned that we don’t have enough water in the Edwards Aquifer to meet this demand. Also, there is a common misconception that as more development occurs, more water gets pumped from the Edwards Aqui fer, which depletes the water supply. That said, providing some facts and information about how the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) manages water in the aquifer might be helpful.

Currently, there are about 1,200 permit holders within the EAA jurisdiction, and the total pumping cap is 572,000 acre-feet. With persistent drought conditions, the authorized withdrawal amounts are curtailed (or restricted) due to our Critical Period Management Plan (CPM), which helps manage water pumping during drought. Over the last sev eral years, these restrictions have averaged about 40%, or almost 230,000 acre-feet less water pumped out of the aquifer annually.

Learn more about Base Irrigation Groundwater from Omar Garcia, EAA Senior Director for Water Resources : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bceso2AgrBU

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