Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District approves permits for 31 new wells, prompting concerns

HEARNE, Texas (KBTX) -Groundwater resources play a crucial role in providing approximately half of the global population with drinking water, while also serving as a vital source of irrigation for the agricultural sector that sustains our food supply.

The Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District (BVGCD) has given the green light to issue more than two dozen permits for new water wells, prompting concerns among residents who fear the potential depletion of their own wells. However, officials from the district assure residents that there is no cause for alarm.

During a packed public hearing in Hearne Thursday, 31 permits were issued allowing applicants to extract between 600 gallons per minute (gpm) and 2,750 gpm. Collectively, these permits grant a maximum total of just over 38,000 gallons of groundwater per minute.

The handful of residents in attendance who voiced their concerns at the hearing believe that the approved amount of water extraction is excessive and could deplete the area’s water resources.

Robertson County resident speaking at Thursday’s public hearing (Donnie Tuggle/Bryan-College Station)

One Robertson County resident expressed their worries, questioning, “Do y’all guarantee that my family will last another hundred years where I live outside Calvert, outside the city limits, can you guarantee I’m going to have water for another 100 years there, or is it going to be depleted?”

Among the permits approved, 12 were granted to Badgerjack Resource Holding LP, 6 to High Timber Resources, LP, and 13 to Corpora Farms.

Conservation officials sympathized with the residents’ concerns but highlighted that state law mandates the approval of permits as long as they meet the necessary requirements.

“They met everything that we asked for in the rules and had the legal right to produce groundwater, and so if you have those, all those tenants, you’re going to get your permit,” said Alan Day, General Manager of the Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District.

Water pump in Robertson County (Donnie Tuggle/Bryan-College Station)

Unlike permits granted last year, which allowed water to be exported out of the area, the groundwater from the 31 permits issued on Thursday will remain locally.

Last year the conservation district issued permits to Upwell Brazos Valley Farm, LLC paving the way for them to construct 13 new wells. The company acquired around 9,000 acres in Robertson County, located just outside the city limits of Hearne, in 2021. At the time, it was estimated that Upwell Brazos Valley Farm could drill enough water wells and extract an amount of water exceeding the combined yearly total of the cities of Bryan and College Station, along with Texas A&M University.

Residents voiced their concerns during that permitting process but Day reiterated that the law must be upheld.

“Regardless of whether it’s going out of the district or used in-district, it all ultimately goes back to the management of the water level in the aquifer, regardless of where it goes,” Day said.

Alan Day, General Manager of the Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District. (Donnie Tuggle/Bryan-College Station)

In response to concerns about water levels in local aquifers, Day assured residents that there is no reason for worry. “

We have long ago set a desired future condition within each of those aquifers. That’s what we do, and we have a very prescribed way of doing that. We measure water levels, static water levels, and we know what the trend is and we know where things stand,” explained Day.