Join The Transient, The Texas Tribune’s each day e-newsletter that retains readers on top of things on essentially the most important Texas information.
Texas businesses reported 252 new instances of groundwater contamination throughout 2023 within the Texas Groundwater Safety Committee annual report.
The newest report compiles 2,870 open instances of groundwater contamination, a few of which date again a long time. Practically each county in Texas is impacted by the issue. Throughout 2023, Texas regulators notified 34 native authorities — from El Paso to Houston — that newly-identified contamination may influence their public ingesting water. An extra 289 property house owners have been notified that groundwater contamination might influence their personal wells.
Groundwater contamination is dear to remediate and might linger for years or indefinitely. Public water utilities take a look at their wells for regulated contaminants and shut off wells when mandatory. However the contamination danger is extra insidious at personal water wells, which aren’t topic to water high quality requirements.
Texas depends on groundwater from aquifers for about 55% of its water provide. Because the inhabitants grows and the local weather adjustments, groundwater will make up an excellent bigger piece of the pie. Texas voters created a $1 billion fund in 2023 to develop extra water sources for the state, together with desalination of brackish groundwater.
“Any groundwater contamination is a cause for concern,” mentioned Adam Foster, the director of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts. “It needs to be reported properly and addressed.”
Annual report summarizes contamination
The Texas Groundwater Safety Committee brings collectively 9 state businesses and TAGD, the alliance of groundwater districts. The safety committee coordinates the actions of those businesses underneath Texas legislation, which requires that “groundwater be kept reasonably free of contaminants that interfere with present and potential uses of groundwater.”
The committee releases an annual report on groundwater contamination confirmed within the earlier 12 months. This 12 months’s report, launched in October, covers groundwater contamination documented in 2023. The report, and a map with the placement of present groundwater contamination, is obtainable on the Texas Fee on Environmental High quality web site.
TCEQ, the state’s environmental regulator, and the Railroad Fee, which regulates oil and fuel drilling and different extractive industries, each doc instances of groundwater contamination of their jurisdiction for the report.
An important Texas information,
despatched weekday mornings.
Eighty p.c of the present contamination instances, or 2,321 instances, fall underneath the TCEQ. The remaining instances are with the Railroad Fee.
Presently there are 224 public water provide wells which are thought-about contaminated, in line with the report. There are roughly 17,900 public water provide wells within the state.
However the company indicated that two public water provide wells have been added to the listing in 2023. The primary is the Hart Municipal Water Provide in Castro County within the Panhandle, the place benzene and complete xylenes have been discovered. TCEQ spokesperson Richard Richter mentioned the supply is unknown however the water utility stays in compliance with laws. The second is the Grayson Enterprise Park in South Houston, the place chlorobenzene and vinyl chloride have been discovered.
The only most typical groundwater air pollution supply in Texas is fuel stations, which make up a 3rd of all of the instances. For that cause gasoline, diesel and different petroleum merchandise resembling benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes are the commonest contaminants of groundwater. In some instances the supply of contamination is unknown.
New groundwater contamination confirmed in 2023 included chlorinated solvents at a dry cleaner in Collin County, complete petroleum hydrocarbons from a pipeline leak in Nueces County and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, on the Austin Bergstrom Worldwide Airport.
“If TCEQ-regulated activities do impact groundwater, TCEQ will investigate the possible source of contamination and notify well owners in the vicinity of any groundwater contamination,” Richter wrote in an electronic mail.
Richter mentioned that firms or people violating state water safety legal guidelines are issued a discover of violation or enforcement, relying on the severity of the violation.
“In either case, the respondent would be required to undertake all corrective action necessary,” he mentioned.
Groundwater air pollution can influence plans for future water provides. The town of Midland purchased a property in Winkler County a long time in the past to make sure a long-term water provide. What the town didn’t rely on was groundwater contamination from legacy oil and fuel operations. The town is within the midst of a multimillion -dollar remediation effort.
The report says TCEQ makes use of a “risk-based” method to groundwater contamination. The report notes that in some instances it isn’t “technically possible or cost effective” to remediate the groundwater.
Along with the two,870 lively instances of groundwater contamination, regulators have closed the recordsdata on hundreds of others. In some instances, regulators remediate groundwater to satisfy security requirements. In different instances, regulators go away the contaminated groundwater in place and undertake restrictions, referred to as institutional controls, to restrict use of the water. These controls can embody covenants to forestall the groundwater from getting used sooner or later.
TCEQ’s Richter mentioned the company doesn’t observe what quantity of instances are remediated versus adopting controls to limit use of the groundwater.
TCEQ encourages members of the general public in search of extra data on groundwater contamination instances to contact the company or submit public file requests.
Report raises questions for rural groundwater and personal wells
Groundwater administration is important because the Texas financial system grows and floor water availability, resembling rivers and reservoirs, stays flat or declines.
“As the state continues to grow we’re relying more and more on our groundwater resources,” mentioned TAGD’s Foster. “Pretty much all of our surface water is permitted so there’s really not any more access to surface water.”
Agriculture is the most important shopper of groundwater statewide, in line with the Texas Water Growth Board. Reliance on groundwater varies across the state, which is split into water planning areas. In area F, which stretches from the Permian Basin east towards San Antonio, groundwater makes up greater than 80% of the water provide. In Area Okay, which covers the Decrease Colorado River together with Travis County, groundwater offers solely 28% of the water provide.
Groundwater hydrologist Ronald Inexperienced, a contractor with the Southwest Analysis Institute in San Antonio, mentioned groundwater testing in rural Texas is usually restricted. Inexperienced has suggested groundwater districts in South Texas and the Permian Basin and located there was little groundwater testing in rural areas with lively oil and fuel drilling. For that cause he thinks the precise variety of groundwater contamination instances might be a lot larger than the report’s complete.
“There just are so few wells and so few samples of wells that have been collected and analyzed,” he mentioned of these areas. “There’s no way you have an accurate reflection of how the groundwater has been impacted.”
He mentioned most testing is performed round cities with municipal wells. “You find it where the light shines on it,” he mentioned.
That might be regarding for the greater than 1 million Texans who depend on water from personal wells, which aren’t topic to state and federal water security requirements. Nicely house owners are chargeable for the protection of their water.
TCEQ mailed notices to 289 personal nicely house owners throughout 2023 about contamination probably impacting their wells. Notices have been despatched to nicely house owners in Northwest Houston close to Ashburn Industries and in Bridge Metropolis close to the Louisiana state line, amongst different places.
TAGD’s Foster recommends that personal nicely house owners take a look at their water no less than every year. He mentioned testing for indicator compounds can establish potential points for extra focused testing.
“A lot of groundwater districts have testing programs where you can come in and get your water tested for free or at a significantly reduced cost,” he mentioned.
The Texas Water Growth Board additionally offers informational sources for personal nicely house owners.
At the very least one state consultant is eyeing further sources for groundwater in Texas. Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from East Texas, launched Home Invoice 1400 for the upcoming 2025 legislative session. The invoice would create a Groundwater Science Analysis and Innovation Fund that will fund actions to enhance groundwater science, enhance effectivity of groundwater use and defend groundwater high quality.
