Bastrop, Tx–The Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District board extended its temporary ban on new permits to drill for water in the most prolific underground formation in the area at a meeting Wednesday. A board resolution extended the moratorium until some key data is available from state water planners, including the Texas Water Development Board.
The current statewide water planning process calls for determining a number of basic factors including what is called managed available groundwater (MAG) and desired future conditions for aquifers (DFC). The Lost Pines board, which oversees groundwater resources in Bastrop and Lee County, cannot by itself determine those numbers, and when that work will be complete is not clear to officials.
Lost Pines officials imposed a moratorium on new drilling into the Simsboro aquifer last month amid growing pressure from private water interests to boost allowable pumping sharply and soon. District officials fear they may have already issued drilling permits for more water than is likely to be available over the next 50 years without depleting the aquifer.
Extending the ban was denounced by officials of a water marketing group, End-Op, which hopes to complete a deal to sell up to 56,000 acre feet of water a year to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority for use in the San Marcos area or further south. As much or more Simsboro water is also being sought in Lee and Bastrop County by other interests, including the Brazos River Authority.