2024 Strategic Plan

Fortuna fortes adiuvat
“Fortune favors the prepared”

Mission

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will strive to develop, promote, and implement water conservation and management strategies to protect water resources for the benefit of the citizens, economy, and environment of the District.

Background

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District (PCUWCD) is a local unit of government established by Texas Legislature to govern, manage and protect groundwater. The purpose of the district, per Texas water code 36, Section 36.00.15, is to provide for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharging and prevention of waste of groundwater and of groundwater reservoirs or their subdivisions and to control subsidence caused by the withdrawal of water from those reservoirs. It also has an obligation under Texas Water Code 36.107 to develop a groundwater management plan that will state how the district will meet that purpose. Under Texas Water Code 36C Section 36.101, the District has the authority to adopt and enforce rules that the district feels are needed to carry out that purpose.

Water is unique in that it is at once vital to sustaining life, but is also a commodity to be bought and sold. In Texas, groundwater conservation districts are the preferred means under the law to ensure local control of groundwater resources. These districts are especially important in regions like West Texas, where there is almost no surface water (lakes, rivers, streams). Not so long ago, the remoteness of Presidio County made the problems facing other parts of the state seem like a world away. But with the state’s population projected to double by 2050, the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District (PCUWCD) should take advantage of the relative lack of development within the district currently to prepare for the challenges ahead. This strategic plan is intended to serve as a means to identify and address those challenges.

Management Challenges, Goals and Objectives

Challenge 1: Protection of Existing Users

Groundwater in Texas is governed by the legal doctrine known as the Rule of Capture. The Rule of Capture essentially allows a landowner – with very few exceptions – to pump as much groundwater as the landowner chooses without liability to neighbors who claim that the pumping has caused their wells to go dry.

Groundwater is also governed by Chapter 36 of the Texas Water Code, which empowers communities to create local groundwater districts to balance the competing rights of all landowners through permitting and rulemaking to ensure beneficial use of groundwater resources. Most water wells in Presidio County are used for domestic purposes only or to water livestock and wildlife. These wells are exempt from regulation under the Texas Water Code. Wells for all other uses, including commercial, agriculture, industrial, and export, are non-exempt and subject to the permitting policies of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District. Such users must obtain an operating permit (also known as a production permit) from the District that is subject to certain restrictions that protect neighboring users and, in turn, protect the permit holders themselves against the potential adverse effects of a future user or users who could come into the area and start pumping water for a new business or operation.

Another exemption in the Texas Water Code is 36.121, which is a special rule inserted into the Texas Water Code by a politician from Midland. When groundwater districts were considered by the Texas Legislature a few decades ago, this politician worried that Midland could fall victim to overzealous regulation. As a result, he contrived to have language inserted into the code that exempts any city with a population of roughly 133,000 or less (based on Midland’s population at that time) from the authority of a local groundwater district. The rule became known as the “Midland exemption”.

Marfa and Presidio currently operate under this exemption. Water is also a major source of revenue for these cities. But 36.121 poses a hidden risk. For example, if a water marketer were to purchase or lease some of the Government Land Office land adjacent to one of the City of Presidio’s wells and apply for a permit to export water, the District would look at the potential impacts on all neighboring wells except for the city’s wells because they are exempt from the District’s authority. Since the City of Presidio currently faces no major users who could potentially have an adverse effect on its water supply, the District believes that the time is now for the City to obtain an operating permit to better protect its groundwater against future users. An operating permit would enable the District to include conditions in any future operating permits for other users explicitly requiring new users to reduce their pumping if Presidio’s municipal wells experience a drop in water levels. Without an operating permit, the cities of both Presidio and Marfa are not protected to the greatest extent possible against future users. If a future permit holder’s operations were to have adverse effects on water levels in a municipal well, the city could sue the permit holder. The city could sue the District. But such an approach would be expensive, divisive, and potentially unsuccessful. Operating permits are the best option available under the law for cities to optimally safeguard their groundwater supplies.

Once the cities have agreed to obtain operating permits, the District will approach the existing water supply corporations within the county to encourage them also to obtain operating permits to protect their operations. Now that the District is a taxing entity, operating permits will no longer involve the payment of fees for the volumes of groundwater produced each year by the permit holder.

Goal 1.0  Protect the groundwater resources of cities and public water supply corporations in Presidio County

Objective 1.1  The District will take necessary steps to encourage the cities to obtain operating permits.

The District will negotiate a volume of water that is agreeable to each city and the District under a new operating permit. This amount will be based on historic use and the projected future needs of each city. Per its rules, the District will hold a public hearing before granting each city its initial operating permit. Each city’s operating permit will be subject to annual renewal, at which time each city may request a change in volume, as necessary. Any change to the terms or conditions of an operating permit will be subject to a new public hearing. The same procedure will apply to the operating permits for the public water supply corporations currently operating within the District.

All municipal utilities issues and infrastructure decisions will remain the sole responsibility of each city or supply corporation. Once the operating permits have been issued, the City Council of each city will pass a resolution authorizing one of Presidio County’s state legislators to introduce the legislation necessary to remove Presidio County from the jurisdiction of Texas Water Code 36.121.

Action items

1. Meet with city officials, present to city councils, hold public meetings, and begin operating permit negotiations.

2. Reach agreement on terms and conditions of operating permits with each city.

3. Hold public hearings and approve operating permits for each city.

4. City councils pass resolutions relinquishing exemptions under Chapter 36.121 of the Texas Water Code.

5. Texas Legislature passes appropriate legislation removing Presidio County from the jurisdiction of Chapter 36.121 of the Texas Water Code.

6. Meet with boards of water supply corporations, hold public meetings, and begin operating permit negotiations.

7. Reach agreement on terms and conditions of operating permits with each public water supply corporation.

8. Hold public hearings and approve operating permits for each public water supply corporation.

Challenge 2:  Groundwater Sustainability 

According to the Texas Demographic Center, the population of our state is projected to double by 2050. Growth of this magnitude will necessarily entail increased water use. As a result, sustainable water production will be indispensable to meeting the needs of current users, while accommodating growth. Even if Presidio County does not directly experience the levels of growth seen elsewhere, we are likely to feel the pressure on our water supplies from neighboring cities, such as El Paso and Midland/Odessa. It should also be borne in mind that sustainable management of groundwater will remain vitally important in a region like ours that relies virtually exclusively on aquifers.

A good umbrella term for the sustainable management of our aquifers is “groundwater sustainability,” which the U.S. Geological Survey defines as the “development and use of ground water in a manner that can be maintained for an indefinite time without causing unacceptable environmental, economic, or social consequences.” Another important term is “sustainable yield,” which is sometimes referred to also as “safe yield.” According to Dr. Robert Mace of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, the “sustainable yield” is “the amount of groundwater that can be produced to achieve groundwater sustainability.”

Although Texas currently does not require the sustainable management of the state’s aquifers nor the consideration of sustainable management, Presidio County is in a fortunate position at this moment in time. With the exception of some of the West Texas Bolsons in the northwest of the county (which are being slightly overproduced at 1.1 times the sustainable yield), the Presidio and Redford Bolsons (in the south of the county) are currently being produced below the sustainable yield and the Igneous Aquifer is being produced right at the sustainable yield. In other words, groundwater production in our region has not yet exceeded sustainable production. This provides us with a rapidly closing window of opportunity to gather the data necessary to reach a regional consensus around the sustainable management of our aquifers. As Mace points out, “In most (if not all) cases in Texas where desire-driven sustainable management has occurred, it has occurred where groundwater production was at or below the maximum sustainable amount of production, thus avoiding the formidable politics of having to reduce existing use.”

As a member of Groundwater Management Area (GMA) 4 (which includes the groundwater districts of Brewster, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth, and Presidio counties), the District will have the opportunity to gain greater knowledge of groundwater availability through Joint Planning. This state-mandated process involves groundwater availability modelling and the definition of Desired Future Conditions (DFCs) related to the acceptable level of drawdown in each relevant aquifer within the GMA. The TWDB is also in the process of updating the groundwater availability models for the Igneous and West Texas Bolsons aquifers. GMA 4 will seek to use these models to inform its decisions about DFCs for each relevant aquifer based on the modeled available groundwater (MAGs). All of these data will be incorporated into the District’s groundwater management plan, a state-mandated document that the District is required to update every 5 years. The District should use this opportunity to gain a solid understanding of the sustainable yield of each aquifer within its jurisdiction and apply that understanding to its future permitting decisions and educational outreach efforts.

Goal 2.0 Provide for the sustainable management of groundwater in Presidio County by understanding groundwater availability and sustainable yield of region’s aquifers

Objective 2.1 Expand data collection efforts by increasing the number of monitoring wells from 7 to 25

Action items

1. Purchase and install equipment in 18 additional monitor wells.

2. Collect and configure data.

3. Contribute available data to NGWMN and TWDB.

Objective 2.2 Create 3D hydrogeologic model and aquifer management framework for Presidio County (West Texas Bolsons and Igneous Aquifer)

Action items

1. Apply for funding for 3D hydrogeologic model.

2. Hire consultants to create 3D hydrogeologic model and aquifer management framework.

3. Work with consultants on creation of 3D hydrogeologic model and aquifer management framework.

Objective 2.3 Actively participate in the Joint Planning process within Groundwater Management Area 4 and define sensible Desired Future Conditions for the District’s relevant aquifers based on sustainable yield, wherever possible

Action items

1. Determine budget necessary for research and modelling activities to ensure detailed understanding of individual aquifer behavior and to define reasonable DFCs for all relevant aquifers within the District.

2. Ensure approval of necessary budget for research and modelling activities.

3. Define Desired Future Conditions for the District’s relevant aquifers within the scope of the Joint Planning process.

4. Complete Joint Planning process and initiate Groundwater Management Plan.

5. Finalize draft Groundwater Management Plan and complete public input process.

6. Submit Groundwater Management Plan to TWDB for approval.

Objective 2.4  Create 2025-2030 Groundwater Management Plan based on modeled available groundwater (MAGs) from the Joint Planning Process

Action items

1. Finalize draft Groundwater Management Plan and complete public input process.

2. Submit Groundwater Management Plan to TWDB for approval.

Objective 2.5  Provide collected data to the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network (NGWMN) of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will continue to expand its network of monitor wells with funding from the United States Geological Survey and the Horizon Foundation. These data will be served to the NGWMN via the District’s API and will also be provided to the TWDB.

Action items

1. Continue expanding network of monitor wells.

2. Collect and configure data.

3. Contribute available data to the NGWMN under USGS grant obligation and to TWDB for local, regional, and state water planning.

Challenge 3:  Emerging Contaminants

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), “Emerging contaminants, or contaminants of emerging concern, can refer to many different kinds of chemicals, including medicines, personal care or household cleaning products, lawn care and agricultural products, among others.” A contaminant is considered "emerging" because of the discovery of a new source or a new pathway to humans.

These contaminants include chemicals, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - a group of man-made chemicals that include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and thousands of other compounds with at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.  PFAS have been used widely over the past century in manufacturing, firefighting and thousands of common household and other consumer products. Also known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are persistent in the environment (and in the human body) – meaning they don’t break down and they can accumulate over time.  Once in the environment, PFAS will continue to move or 'cycle' through a variety of media including soil, groundwater, surface water and air.  PFAS enter the soil and creeks when wastewater containing PFAS is discharged (intentionally or accidentally) from landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Soil and groundwater contamination can occur in areas that have leaking septic systems or where PFAS-containing fertilizers or fire-fighting foam have been applied to the ground.

A specific group of contaminants of emerging concern in West Texas includes the chemicals associated with hydraulic fracturing activities. Located just 50 miles north of Marfa, the southern region of the Permian Basin, known as the Delaware Basin, has seen increased oil and gas exploration in recent years. The Delaware Basin contains billions of units of hydrocarbons that are released by injecting some 11.5 million gallons of water per well (equivalent to about 17 Olympic-sized pools) into the ground to shatter the shale. Most of this water (called “flowback”) then returns to the surface along with any water that existed in the formation and was released along with the hydrocarbons (called “produced water”). This water, also known as “brine”, is sometimes reused for multiple cycles. But it eventually becomes so contaminated that it has to be disposed of in depleted oil and gas caverns deep in the earth (known as “injection wells”). The process involves the injection of this brine under extremely high pressure. Sometimes this high pressure can force contaminated water up abandoned oil and gas wells (including test wells) into the shallower aquifers that hold our drinking water (see Figure 2 below).

Figure 2: How disposal fluids can contaminate aquifers and soil
[Source: Dr. Ron Green]

Water from these injection wells is also returning to the surface. Some of the most well-publicized examples of this phenomenon are occurring in Pecos County, where several abandoned wells have been spewing highly toxic brine for decades now [see Figure 3 below].

Figure 3: Lake formed by toxic brine spewing from abandoned well since 2003 in Pecos County
[Source: Sergio Chapa on Twitter]

As the volume of wastewater grows from oil and gas operators to our north, it seems prudent to begin gathering baseline water quality values in Presidio County for the kinds of biocides and anti-scaling agents routinely used in hydraulic fracturing fluids.

The artificial fracturing of subsoil rocks is particularly troubling since a recent report by the USGS found that “groundwater in areas with fractured rocks” is most vulnerable to contamination from pharmaceutical agents and other emerging contaminants.

Goal 3.0  Test groundwater for emerging contaminants 

Objective 3.1 Apply for funding to begin groundwater testing for emerging contaminants within the District

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will obtain grant funding to conduct a study to identify emerging contaminants.

Action items

1. Identify wells of interest, in addition to the District’s monitoring wells, for inclusion in emerging contaminants study.

2. Contact corresponding landowners about participation in emerging contaminants study.

3. Identify consultant(s) to generate budget and framework for emerging contaminants study.

4. Apply for grant funding.

Objective 3.2  Initiate emerging contaminants study

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will work with scientific experts to conduct an emerging contaminants study. This study will provide the District with water quality values to identify any existing contaminants and to serve as a baseline in the event of future water contamination.

Action items

1. Finalize budget and scope of emerging contaminants study with consultant.

2. Conduct emerging contaminants study.

3. Use findings of emerging contaminants study to formulate plan of action and/or water quality monitoring program.

Challenge 4:  Climate Variability

According to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS), the summer of 2023 was the hottest summer ever recorded on Earth since global recordkeeping began in 1880. This past summer, the Texas Tribune reported that “Heat waves — and the record-breaking temperatures they bring — are becoming more common and severe. In the past decade in Texas, there were 1,000 more days of record-breaking heat than a normal decade.” However, some parts of Texas are seeing bigger temperature increases than others. Figure 4 below presents a map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing that Presidio County and Far West Texas are seeing some of the highest increases in average temperatures of anywhere in the state.

Figure 4: Average temperature increases across Texas
[Source: NOAA]

The greater Big Bend region forms the northernmost reach of the Chihuahuan Desert. As a result, Presidio and surrounding counties are located in one of the most arid parts of the state with prolonged dry spells and very low rainfall, averaging 14 inches of rain annually (compared with 50+ inches in the Houston area and 30+ inches in the San Antonio area). The challenging conditions that have always existed in Presidio County make it a perfect laboratory for the scientific study of approaches to deal with the effects of climate variability.

This laboratory should be used to accomplish two aims. The first aim should be to support ongoing studies and/or conduct new studies to understand the change that is already occurring based on changes in spring flows, environmental flows in creeks, and water volumes reaching the Rio Grande River. A data snapshot of current conditions could be compared with past data to provide a basis for future trends. The second aim should be to study and demonstrate the potential benefits associated with restoration of degraded watersheds, aquifer recharge enhancement techniques, and widespread rainwater catchment to increase environmental flows and decrease dependence on groundwater.

The District believes that if these techniques can be successfully refined and implemented in the arid climate of Far West Texas, then they could be readily adapted and applied in wetter parts of the state with exponentially greater results. If the planting of native grasses and trees, for example, can be proven to lower surface temperatures and increase soil moisture, then these sorts of interventions could be instituted in more populated areas of the state to prepare for higher temperatures and lower precipitation in the future. Presidio County’s “worst-case” conditions provide an ideal environment for studying and exploring the best paths toward achieving the resilience and readiness that will be necessary to cope with the challenges we can already see coming. The relative lack of development and population growth in Presidio County also offers an opportunity to find and optimize nature-based solutions that can eventually be applied anywhere, regardless of wealth or demographics (“If it can be done here, it can be done anywhere.”)

Goal 4.0   Study and address climate variability

Objective 4.1  District will collaborate with local Texas Water Development Board scientist to create snapshot of current groundwater levels for comparison with groundwater levels from 1961 TWDB study.

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will work with TWDB scientist Cody Bjornson to complete study of groundwater levels in Marfa basin.

Action items

1. Assist in efforts to identify owners of wells from 1961 TWDB study.

2. Assist with efforts to contact well owners about participation in new study.

3. Assist with identification of proxy wells in cases where original wells are unable to be accessed.

4. Provide any other assistance necessary to support study.

Objective 4.2 District will study nature-based solutions to address climate variability

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will obtain grant funding to study potential approaches to address the effects of climate variability and implement projects to provide greater resiliency against the effects of climate variability. These projects will include a rainwater catchment program, managed aquifer recharge studies, watershed and grasslands restoration efforts, and tree planting.

Action items

1. Apply for grant funding.

2. Obtain funding.

4. Implement managed aquifer recharge studies.

5. Formulate rainwater catchment program and identify partners.

6. Identify watershed and grassland restoration areas and partners.

7. Identify tree-planting areas and partners.

Objective 4.3 District will implement nature-based solutions to address climate variability

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will implement nature-based solutions with grant funding in collaboration with identified partners and in accordance with formulated plans.

Action items

1. Obtain findings from managed aquifer recharge studies for use as basis of aquifer recharge enhancement program.

2. Implement aquifer recharge enhancement program.

3. Implement rainwater catchment program with identified partners.

4. Implement watershed and grassland restoration program with identified partners.

5. Implement tree-planting program with identified partners.

Challenge 5:  Transboundary Aquifers

A 2022 study published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) titled “Transboundary Aquifers: Challenges and the Way Forward,” states that aquifers “represent very large resources of fresh water with some individual aquifers yielding enough water to supply regions for many years.” As surface water becomes scarcer due to climate variability, groundwater is rapidly becoming a strategic resource worldwide, especially along the international border between the U.S. and Mexico. Presidio County shares two aquifers with the Mexican state of Chihuahua: the Presidio and Redford bolsons (see Figure 5 below).

Figure 5: Presidio and Redford bolsons
[Source: Texas Water Development Board]

Dr. Rosario Sanchez Flores of the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) at Texas A&M University has identified some 72 aquifers along the U.S.-Mexico border, up from an official count of 11 just eight years ago. Of these 72 aquifers, at least 28 report good aquifer potential and water quality. Fourteen of these 28, including the bolsons of Presidio and Redford, are located between Texas and Mexico and all of them report good to moderate aquifer potential and good to moderate water quality. In her contribution to the UNESCO report cited above, Dr. Sanchez asserts that the areas along the Texas-Mexico border “appear to be the most important for transboundary aquifer potential.” Her findings also reveal “the increasing strategic value of groundwater resources that are shared in the region and that have the potential to become a driver for binational security.” However, “the topic has received limited attention at the binational level and even [fewer] funding priorities for continued research.” The study reflects two essential realities: 1) transboundary aquifer potential and quality are above average in the border region between Presidio County and the Mexican state of Chihuahua and 2) these shared systems are being used indiscriminately by both countries with no legal framework to protect them against depletion.

When asked at the 2023 Texas Groundwater Summit in San Antonio whether local groundwater districts should initiate discussions directly with their counterparts on the Mexican side of the border to negotiate some sort of framework agreement around the transboundary aquifers, Sanchez replied, “That is exactly what you should be doing.” Other suggestions have included using the memorandum of understanding that currently exists between the City of El Paso and the City of Juarez concerning their shared aquifers as a template and involving Region E of the Far West Texas Water Planning Group to participate in region-wide negotiations.

Goal 5.0 Address lack of regulatory framework around transboundary aquifers in Presidio County

Objective 5.1  District will collaborate with Region E and Mexican counterparts to create regulatory framework around Presidio and Redford bolsons.

The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District will work with its counterparts on the Mexican side of the border and with Region E to create a regulatory framework around the Presidio and Redford bolsons.

Action items

1. Obtain memorandum of understanding between City of El Paso and City of Juarez as template.

2. Meet with Region E to discuss potential involvement and strategy.

3. Identify counterparts on Mexican side of border.

4. Formulate framework agreement and implementation timeline.

5. Approve and implement framework agreement.

Challenge 6:  Education and Outreach

Access to accurate information is crucial to the mission of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District. As Presidio, Marfa, and the unincorporated areas continue to grow and develop, a clear understanding of the rules and laws applicable to groundwater will be more critical than ever. Readily accessible information must form an integral part of the District’s proactive approach to building rapport and providing value to local governments, long-standing residents, and newcomers to the area.

Goal 6.0 Cultivate an educated public that understands groundwater issues and supports District’s efforts.

Objective 6.1 The District will have at least 2 educational opportunities a year to educate the public, hold public meetings, and/or partner with other organizations to inform the public on various issues and build consensus

Action items

1. Supplement District webpage with frequently asked questions (FAQs).

2. Hold public meetings and educational events on pertinent, current issues.

3. Build education and outreach partnerships with other Districts, government entities, and organizations.

Conclusion

The central importance of groundwater in Presidio County cannot be overstated. At the same time, the issues surrounding groundwater can be contentious if not handled with care. The District will take a pro-active, pragmatic, and common-sense approach to confronting and resolving the current and future challenges to our groundwater by educating landowners, elected officials, and the general public, identifying and cultivating partners, and seeking to build the broadest consensus possible. The District’s ultimate goal is to effectively manage this invaluable resource through responsible local control to ensure a prosperous future for all residents of Presidio County.

Photo ©Carolyn Macartney