Edwards Aquifer may require more conservation soon. How is it protected during drought?

The Edwards Aquifer Authority mentioned the serious drought is no longer dramatically impacting the Edwards Aquifer as a result of there are felony protections no longer present in every other groundwater conservation district.

The EAA is in control of regulating how a lot water is pumped from the aquifer and it tracks the go with the flow of the Comal and San Marcos Springs.

Roland Ruiz, with the Edwards Aquifer Authority, mentioned the closing historical drought within the Nineteen Fifties brought about Comal Springs to forestall flowing for almost 5 months.

In the overdue 80s, there was once a rising fear that the aquifer would no longer be capable to serve the swiftly rising San Antonio house.

“San Antonio was growing and there was concern that there would not be enough water in the Edwards for everyone, for everyone’s continued use. So someone very smartly said, ‘There’s endangered species there. Let’s use them as a leverage point to try to get a management plan in place,’” Ruiz mentioned.

A lawsuit was once filed below the Endangered Species Act claiming that there have been no protections in position for the species residing within the aquifer, just like the Texas Blind Salamander.

That’s when the Edwards Aquifer Authority Act was once codified to keep watch over the aquifer ranges and spring go with the flow.

“Although levels are low, spring flows are low, but they’re continuing to flow. And so, all we’re doing is using these tools to manage through the drought to get us to the next rainy season,” Ruiz mentioned.

For the primary time, individuals who pump water from the Edwards Aquifer may just quickly be requested to go into probably the most stringent conservation efforts.

Currently, allow holders are in Critical Stage Period 4, which is a 40% annual relief.

Ruiz mentioned it expects to go into Critical Stage Period 5 for the primary time, this means that other people with lets in for pumping water should scale back their annual water by way of 44%.

“We’re kind of teetering between stage four and stage five. So things are not looking, you know, great. But it could be much worse if these programs were not in place,” Ruiz mentioned.

Unlike every other groundwater conservation district, there is a felony cap on how a lot water may also be pumped out of the Edwards Aquifer.

Ruiz mentioned the EAA can most effective pump 572,000 acre-feet. An acre-foot is roughly 326,000 gallons, which is sufficient water to hide an acre of land about 1 foot deep.

The legislation states that there is a cap at the choice of lets in given out and the EAA mentioned it has given out all of its just about 2,200 lets in.

“When someone wants to drill a new well, they want to establish. For the Edwards, they don’t come to us to get a new permit. They have to go out on the market and find a willing seller,” Ruiz mentioned.

Ruiz mentioned the EAA does no longer monitor how a lot water is pumped in real-time. Instead, it assessments water utilization on an annual foundation. Based on closing 12 months’s information, allow holders didn’t use the entire water they have been allocated regardless of experiencing Critical Stage Period 4 restrictions like we’re experiencing now.

“We didn’t get close to the cap, the reduced cap as a result of the cutbacks. There was actually about 76,000 acre feet of water that could have been used that didn’t get used. It was left on the table,” Ruiz mentioned.

Municipal lets in use probably the most water from the aquifer, with just about 60% of the licensed water utilization closing 12 months.

Donavan Burton, with the San Antonio Water System, mentioned SAWS holds maximum of the ones municipal lets in.

“The entire Edwards Aquifer Authority, they permit 572,000 acre-feet of the entire aquifer through all parties and everybody total throughout out for everybody. Of that, we have about 260,000 acre-feet,” Burton mentioned.

The San Antonio Water System hasn’t ever exceeded its restrict and it attributes that to diversifying its water sources via desalination, water tanks, and pumping from different our bodies of water like Canyon Lake.

“During drought periods, we absolutely need all those different sources so that you’re not completely reliant on one source that may or may not be there in a particular year,” Burton mentioned.

Last 12 months, just about 100 allow holders exceeded their restrict out of two,259 overall. When a allow holder is going over their restrict, the EAA has a sliding scale of consequences relying on how a lot water they used and what vital level duration was once in position.

Ruiz mentioned there is a tradition of stewardship surrounding the Edwards Aquifer.

“They understand and they really take it seriously, I think. So I think it’s important to acknowledge that it’s not so much a regulatory agency imposing its will on people, but it’s people understanding and acknowledging their role in the stewardship of the resource,” Ruiz mentioned.

Last 12 months, irrigation used 31% and business used 7%.

There is a complete of two,259 lets in. Shared under is the choice of lets in and their use:

• Municipal: 595 lets in

• Industrial 416 lets in

• Irrigation 1,248 lets in