FEDERAL COURT RULING RESULTS IN SIGNIFICANT WINS FOR TEXANS RELYING ON GROUNDWATER AND DISTRICT ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT ITS USE

Decision defines scope of Texans impacted by Aqua Texas’ failures and abuses, allowing TESPA to add its voice in ongoing federal dispute

Judge dismisses multiple claims from Aqua, upholds district’s authority to issue fines and withhold permits to prevent new drilling

TESPA: “Texans clearly have a stake in this. We’re in here fighting for the groundwater owners and users of Texas.”

(Austin, TX | September 30, 2024) – The Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) secured an important win in protecting Texas groundwater from corporate abuse and waste with a federal court decision granting the organization’s motion to intervene in the ongoing case Aqua Texas Inc. vs. Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. With this decision, TESPA and its members have been granted intervention as a matter of right, meaning their interests – access to reliable groundwater – are valid and have a place in the lawsuit.

“We clearly have a stake in this,” declared TESPA President Jim Blackburn. “The groundwater districts were set up to protect us all from the ravages of a single user and that’s what we’re looking at. So, we’re in here fighting for the groundwater owners and users of Texas – and we have put together a team that can bring these arguments home in federal court.”

Senior United States District Judge David Alan Ezra granted TESPA’s request to intervene and be included as a party, as well as ruling:

• Permits withheld by the groundwater district, preventing drilling from new wells, were determined to be reasonable and Aqua’s due process claims were dismissed.
• Fines the district issued were determined to be within its legal authority, and Judge Ezra dismissed Aqua’s “claim based on a theory” that they were not.
• Claims Aqua filed against the district’s directors were dismissed because they are duplicative of its claims against the district.

According to Judge Ezra:

• "Aqua Texas’s own allegations… demonstrate that the area was suffering from drought at the time the NOAVs [notices of violation] were issued to the water providers. Therefore, the Court finds that the District had a reasonable basis to withhold the permits for Aqua Texas’s new wells.” (Opinion at 17)
• [The District had a] "clear interest in conserving and sustaining resources to the aquifer in times of drought”).  (Opinion at 19)
• "Aqua Texas seeks relief that could considerably alter water rights in Texas and would impact a basic resource upon which Trinity Springs [TESPA] members and others rely for their central operations.” (Opinion at 35)

The decision is the latest in a longstanding battle against Aqua Texas, which has for years over-pumped Texas Hill Country’s groundwater during drought conditions when all groundwater users face limited supplies, as do natural springs. Refusing to be held accountable, Aqua Texas is now in federal court prosecuting a lawsuit it filed against the local groundwater district, seeking to prevent the enforcement of groundwater production and drought curtailment rules in a challenge that potentially affects the rights of all groundwater users in the state.

For at least two years, Aqua failed to follow the limits on its groundwater pumping permit and abide by the same reductions in pumping imposed by the District on all users of the aquifer due to the extreme drought conditions. The District and TESPA allege that Aqua Texas over-pumped its groundwater pumping permit by more than 150 million gallons. Additionally, Aqua has failed to repair leaks in their water distribution system that has wasted as much or more than 20% of the water in the line, which is millions of gallons of precious groundwater. The Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District denied Aqua’s applications to renew groundwater permits in 2023. In January 2024, seeking to avoid accountability, Aqua sued the District in federal court.

If Aqua prevails in court with some of its requests to invalidate Texas laws protecting our water resources, current state law to protect and manage Texas water resources would be dismantled, undoing decades of work that would impact generations to come. The state would see a significant loss of groundwater, affecting countless local residents and businesses.

The case remains in federal court pending further action on Aqua’s equal protection claims, as well as their claim that their groundwater property was illegally "taken" by the district's denial of their permits. The full decision can be viewed here. More information on Aqua’s past actions, including the dispute in federal court, can be found at https://ourwaterourtexas.com.

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