BARTON SPRINGS/EDWARDS AQUIFER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
RESOLUTION ADDRESSING MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR INCLUSION IN THE LOWER COLORADO REGIONAL WATER PLAN

WHEREAS, the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group's (Region K) planning area includes those portions of Travis and Hays Counties within the Colorado River basin; and,

WHEREAS, Region K has the responsibility to identify water management strategies in the Regional Water Plan to address unmet water needs within their planning area through the 50-year Senate Bill 1 planning horizon until the year 2050; and,

WHEREAS, Region K has identified a 3,594 acre-foot deficit for that portion of Hays County in the rural areas outside of Buda and Dripping Springs' jurisdiction within the Colorado River basin; and,

WHEREAS, that portion of rural Hays County includes the watershed basins of Barton and Onion Creeks which comprise the Contributing Zone and Recharge Zone of the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer (BSEA) and portions of the Extended Service Area of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (District); and,

WHEREAS, the District's mandate is to conserve, protect, and enhance the groundwater resources of the BSEA and other groundwater resources located within the District's boundaries and to prevent the waste of groundwater; and,

WHEREAS, the District has the statutory authority to protect rights of owners of interest in groundwater and for the sustainability of this resource as the sole source of drinking water for about 45,000 people, as well as water for agriculture, industry, commerce, and recreation and for the habitat of endangered species; and,

WHEREAS, the District does not support mining of the BSEA. Groundwater models have indicated that current levels of total pumpage can result in dewatering of some areas currently reliant on groundwater and drying of Barton Springs during periods of drought. The District will establish the methodology to be used to determine the carrying capacity and sustainable yield of the BSEA to set a cap on the amount of groundwater that will be permitted to be withdrawn in the future. The District will not permit any additional regulated pumpage withdrawals from the BSEA that when combined with the existing permitted non-exempt pumpage, the estimated withdrawals from exempt pumpage, and the minimum historic springflow that would exceed these pumpage limits; and,

WHEREAS, the BSEA has long been recognized as the Texas drinking water aquifer that is the most vulnerable to contamination. The health of the BSEA depends on the quantity and quality of the water that recharges it, most of which falls inside the Contributing Zone, outside the District boundaries. While the District has no authority over zoning or the subdivision or use of land, inside or outside of its jurisdiction, the District will defend the aquifer against any actions or conditions that might imperil its continued use for these purposes -- including development that occurs in the Contributing and Recharge Zones; and,

WHEREAS, recent scientific studies have confirmed that the aquifer is susceptible to depletion due to drought or overpumping. The District recognizes the adverse impact this may have on exempt and non-exempt well owners, on the base flow of the Colorado River, on the movement of the bad water zone, and on springflow. The District will implement all available management strategies in an effort to preserve groundwater to meet the needs of the well owners and to preserve at least the historic minimum springflow at Barton Springs to retain local control of the groundwater resource and avoid state or federal intervention to enforce the Endangered Species Act. The District also realizes that in times of extreme drought there may be a cessation of springflow even under current accepted management practices. In cases of such extreme nature, groundwater from the aquifer may be used when and to the extent it is necessary to prevent danger to public health, safety, or welfare, and to maintain a subsistence level of water use for agriculture, industry, and commerce utilizing management concepts such as interruptible supply and the prioritization of beneficial groundwater use; and,

NOW THEREFORE, WE, the Board of Directors of the District do hereby resolve that Region K should include the following recommendations as management strategies to meet the identified water shortages in northern Hays County in order to be prepared for drought and to avoid depleting the BSEA, with consideration given to their proactive approach, ease of implementation, and economic feasibility:

1. The District will work cooperatively with the providers of surface water in northern Hays County to make conjunctive sources of water available to those who are otherwise dependent on groundwater. But, the District will oppose extending surface water into sensitive areas where development fostered by this service provision could threaten the continued use of the BSEA as a drinking water source without development controls being established that will cause no measurable or predicted degradation of the water quality from the harmful effects of urban and suburban growth and other land use practices. In general, development east of the Recharge Zone would not be likely to degrade the quality of the BSEA.

The District supports the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority I-35 water line from the San Marcos treatment plant to serve areas within northern Hays County east of the Recharge Zone. If this surface water were to be extended onto the Contributing or Recharge Zones, the District would require development controls.

The District acknowledges the Lower Colorado River Authority's intentions to serve the existing population in those areas of northern Hays County in Dripping Springs currently dependent upon the Trinity aquifer. The District will not support the provision of additional surface water to new developments in the Recharge and Contributing Zones until nondegredation development controls are established following the completion of an Environmental Impact Statement that accurately identifies potential degradation and conservatively evaluates all potential means to mitigate or eliminate potential water quality and source water problems.

Both of these projects are discussed in the District's 1997 Alternative Regional Water Supply Plan.

2. The District supports the increase of recharge of the BSEA in an environmentally and fiscally sound manner. Recharge enhancement projects should be investigated on all of the recharge creeks within the BSEA. Projects on Onion Creek have been studied in the past. These projects can be designed to provide flood mitigation of downstream landowners, could make surface water available in the Contributing Zone and on the western edge of the Recharge Zone -- including the Dripping Springs area, and provide for the increase in the amount of groundwater recharged into the BSEA. Similar development controls would be required by the District for use of any combination surface water/recharge supply project to provide water to new development on the Contributing and Recharge Zones.

The opportunity exists to create partnerships with private entities and local, state and federal governments to accomplish these projects. Prior to choosing project sites and implementing any recharge enhancement structures, sufficient site assessment must be completed to ensure that the dynamics of the BSEA are understood on that particular site -- prior to the construction of these projects. Flow loss measurements must be determined to calculate the recharge characteristics of the site and groundwater tracing must be done to determine the travel time and direction of enhanced recharge.

The District supports the study of the feasibility of the proposed Driftwood Dam and Reservoir, or some variation thereof resulting from additional research efforts. Specifically, with the recent acquisition of the Sky Ranch by the City of Austin, the possibility exists to pursue this project in partnership with other interested parties. This project would be constructed west of the Recharge Zone and could serve the multiple purposes described above - flood mitigation, surface water reservoir and recharge enhancement.

Additionally, the District supports the development of a series of check dams on Onion Creek. These structures would be low profile dams and would be designed to capture storm flows on the Recharge Zone; thereby providing direct recharge into the BSEA.

Both of these projects were studied in some detail in the District's 1990 Regional Water Plan.

3. The District supports the pursuit of aggressive Education, Conservation, and Planning programs. The District currently has an excellent Education program that explores a variety of outlets to inform the public of vital issues. Avenues including, but not limited to, publications, presentations, community events, and school programs provide meaningful outlets for the District's messages, though the accumulated benefits of these activities are difficult to quantify. This program should be supported to continue its current activities and encouraged to expand into conservation and planning programs. Planning programs seek to establish two-way communication between the District and the community in order to more effectively allocate District resources towards the best management of the resource. Conservation programs seek to implement activities that produce more immediately quantifiable results including, but not limited to, rebates for plumbing retrofits, incentives for drought-tolerant landscaping, and commercial, municipal, and domestic water use audits.

4. The District supports the pursuit of the reuse of treated wastewater, if proven safe, to replace the dependency on potable groundwater. The District's primary consideration is that groundwater quality would be protected as treated effluent was used in environmentally sensitive areas. Treated effluent standards identified and recommended by the District -- especially pertaining to inherent viruses, bacteria, nutrients, organic constituents from household chemicals, chlorides, sulfates, dissolved oxygen and the accumulation of heavy metals must be developed. The District should pursue research studies that are designed to develop a true understanding of the ramifications and potential problems associated with treated wastewater reuse. During specific project development, the District would provide expertise and on-site hydrogeologic assessments to ensure that critical recharge features were identified and protected during construction, and in the long-term maintenance of the reuse project. The developer would be encouraged to contribute funding and other in-kind services for the research. Specific research should include timely analysis of the quality of the treated effluent, dye trace studies injected on the site of the project and the collection of baseline water quality data from nearby wells to the reuse site that may potentially be impacted by the project.

5. The District supports the further study of the recirculation of groundwater that was originally examined in the 1997 Alternative Regional Water Supply Plan.

6. The District supports the initiation of a study to examine the feasibility of springflow augmentation as a management strategy to be implemented to preserve minimum springflow during times of extreme drought.

The motion passed with 3 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 abstention.

PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 13th DAY OF July , 2000.