NewsDrop-May-June-2026

GENERAL MANAGER’S MESSAGE

Happy 30th, EAA!

By: Roland Ruiz General Manager

I often recall the words my late father-in-law said to me when I asked him about the Edwards Aquifer Authority. To paraphrase him:

“They have a hard job to do, but there’s a lot of good people that work there.”

He was a long-established water well drilling contractor with an expansive footprint in the Edwards region. So I knew he would have an opinion. His words were enough to convince me. I hired on with the EAA. The year was 2006 and my motivation was simple: I needed a job. In retrospect, I now realize that I stayed for something more -- a purpose. I think my experience parallels that of the EAA itself. Thirty years ago, this agency began operations with a job to do. The EAA was the State of Texas’ solution to a federal lawsuit over how to regulate withdrawals from the aquifer so that farmers, cities, and industries across a vast area of South Central Texas could continue to pump from the resource in compliance with federal law, namely the Endangered Species Act.

To echo my father-in-law’s words – an agency made up of a lot of good people had a really hard job to do. And, thankfully, they did it. It’s why we’re still here today.

Three decades into this mission, the focus of our work hasn’t necessarily changed. But our approach and the perceptions of what we do certainly have. I believe that now more than ever our work is acknowledged as necessary and it’s appreciated for how it has helped to secure our region’s water future. It’s this impact that lies at the crux of our vision of the next generation -- one where the aquifer is sustained, accessible and reliable for all of us. That’s more than just a job; it’s a purpose we can all embrace.

4