League of independent V oters of Texas Water Principles and Positions
Local control, conservation and independent science in the 2015 Texas Legislative Session.
1. State's Needs: State water policy as codified must secure our water resources in perpetuity by balancing the
development and conservation of water (groundwater and surface water) through the application of sound science while
protecting the groundwater interests of all property owners and surface water interests of the State. The legislature, in
carrying out its duty to develop policies and statutes, must act in full agreement with the Conservation Amendment to
the Texas Constitution.
LIVT Position: The legislature must ensure that the protection of all interests in groundwater (produced, as well
as saved in place), and that the public duty to balance development of all water sources (groundwater and
surface water) against the duty to conserve the aquifers for future generations, are reflected in the Water Code
as state water policy, thereby ensuring state water supplies in perpetuity.
2. Groundwater Availability: The foundation of groundwater policy in Texas is to accurately predict the amount of
water that can be made available in perpetuity from aquifers in conjunctive management with surface waters. When
both water systems are healthy, through drought and in plenty, the State should be able to sustain a healthy economy
and environment. The legislature has established the desired future conditions (DFC) process, based on sound
science and established by groundwater management areas (GMA), as the means to accomplish this objective as an
adaptive process.
LIVT Position: The current and ongoing DFC process (with the application of new, specific criteria) should be
allowed to proceed uninhibited and using sound science, to periodically and thereby accurately estimate the
amount of water available for development without irreparably damaging aquifers.
3. Groundwater Conservation Districts: The legislature has decided that groundwater conservation districts (GCD)
are the state's preferred method of groundwater management. Groundwater conservation districts are empowered to
prevent waste and manage groundwater resources by requiring permits for water wells, developing comprehensive
management plans, and adopting rules that limit production based on the authority contained in the Water Code and the
district’s TWDB-approved management plan. These powers and duties include the ability to regulate the production
and distribution of groundwater within the District, both for local use as well as export, constrained by the desired future
conditions established for the aquifers.
LIVT Position: Groundwater conservation districts (GCD), under oversight of local elected officials and thus
directly responsible to their constituents, should be maintained as the preferred method of managing
groundwater in the State. Their authority and discretion to make rules and regulatory decisions should not be
removed or diminished, but rather must be maintained and refined when necessary for clarity. The legislature,
in providing uniform statutes to guide Districts, has a duty to enable the Districts to exercise their
responsibilities freely and without undue restraint and without usurping the powers, duties, and local control of
the Districts. A clear path of unbiased appeals must be ensured. Directors, as public servants, must be as free
from coercion as possible and protected from personal liability for their official acts.
4. Groundwater Ownership/Affected Persons: Landowners own groundwater in place. The Water Code empowers
them to produce a fair share of water, though the quantity is not specified, and to sever (sell) their ownership rights. The
legislature must also provide protection for water in place (saved), without the requirement to produce. Providing
statutory recognition for the rights of one and not the other infers bias. A landowner is, among other entities, an
"affected person". An affected person should have the opportunity for due process in protecting his/her groundwater in
administrative processes including permitting.
LIVT Position: The Texas Supreme Court and the legislature have made it clear that landowners own the
groundwater in place below their land. Clarifying legislation is needed to avoid favoring production over
saving groundwater and thus giving all landowners access to participate in administrative reviews and judicial
appeals.
5. Aquifer Management/Permitting: GCDs have the authority and duty to manage the aquifers to meet objectives set
by the legislature and the state constitution, including setting and achieving the DFC of the aquifers. Districts rely on
available science and objective criteria to estimate how much pumping can be permitted. To effectively manage, a
district needs the ability to regulate various factors within its territorial jurisdiction and in cooperation with its neighboring
districts.
League of independent Voters of Texas * www.IndependentLeagueTX.org * 512-‐213-‐4511 LIVT Position: To retain local control and keep regulation of groundwater in GCDs, the legislature should NOT
erode the regulatory authority of Districts by removing or restraining their decision-making powers or by giving
regulatory authority for ASR wells and brackish water production to TCEQ.
6. GCD oversight & appeals: The legislature has established processes for affected persons to appeal decisions
made by GCDs. Administrative appeal processes vary greatly in efficiency, effectiveness, diligence, quality of evidence,
and cost. The first level of judicial appeal is to a district court, only after an affected person has exhausted all
administrative remedies. The legislature is considering various ways of re-structuring these appeal processes.
LIVT Position: To retain local control and keep regulation of groundwater in GCDs under local oversight, the
legislature should NOT give final authority on regulatory decisions, especially desired future conditions, to the
TWDB, TCEQ, or any other state agency.
7. Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR): Drained or partially drained areas of some sand aquifers have been used to
store surface water or treated waste water underground during wet seasons for recovery during dry seasons or
drought. The primary advantage is that water loss due to evaporation is minimized, unlike above-ground reservoirs.
This practice has proven to be practical and beneficial. The legislature is trying to develop policies and rules that would
enable and encourage ASR.
LIVT Position: See 5. above.
8. Brackish Water/Subsidence: Deep subdivisions of many aquifers are composed of brackish water that contains
higher concentrations of salts. Though separate units, usually the brackish and fresh water are in the same aquifers, so
pumping the brackish water may impact the availability of fresh groundwater. Desalination (De-Sal) is an expensive
process to make deep aquifer brackish water potable, but is cheaper than De-Sal of sea or bay water. Pumping of
coastal aquifers often causes subsidence, whereas Central Texas aquifers are in more stable geographic deposits, not
prone to subsidence. The legislature is trying to develop rules that will promote De-Sal as a supply option.
LIVT Position: See 5. above.
9. Water Planning: The State Water Plan brings together the plans developed by regional water planning groups
throughout the state. Water plans seek to quantify the demand for water, the supplies of both surface and groundwater
available, and the gap between supply and demand. The increased reliance on groundwater has caused the regional
planning groups to give this resource a great deal more attention. The legislature is trying to develop rules for the
inclusion of groundwater and groundwater projects in the planning process.
LIVT Position: Regional planning is only effective if all supply options, management strategies and demands
for water are on the table, whether the supply or the demand involves local, imported or exported water, as the
case may be. For example, excluding a project as massive as Vista Ridge from one or more of the three
regional plans affected by it, Region L, Region G and Region K, would produce anomalies between regions and
ultimately in the State Water Plan.
10. Sound science: The legislature has established policies regarding the science used in managing surface water
resources of the state. These policies should set the bar for the science used to manage groundwater resources
regulated by groundwater districts. Management of groundwater resources should be evaluated periodically and
adapted to reflect both improvements in science and changes in projected human needs for water. Science policies
include establishing a science advisory committee to serve as an objective scientific body (to include independent
scientists who are not employed by those with a financial interest in outcomes, including “think-tanks”) to advise and
make recommendations to help provide overall direction, coordination, and consistency.
LIVT Position: The legislature should establish standards for funding and developing the science used in
managing groundwater that mirror the standards used to manage the state’s surface waters.
League of independent Voters of Texas * www.IndependentLeagueTX.org * 512-‐213-‐4511