UPDATE: Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District

Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District

The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District (CCGCD) on Monday night approved the City's operating permit application for existing well no. 2760, which is known in the City of Fair Oaks Ranch as well CR-1. Last month, the City filed a revised permit application that would reduce the total permitted water production at the well from approximately 30 acre-feet (9.8 million gallons) per year to 4.03 acre-feet (1.3 million gallons) per year.

History of CR-1

The Fair Oaks Water Company, the precursor to Fair Oaks Ranch Utilities, registered the CR-1 well with the state in 1997, and it has produced between six million and nine million gallons of water annually. The City operates 29 water wells in the City. All the City wells except for CR-1 operate within the confines of the Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District as decided by the voters of Fair Oaks Ranch in 2004. The City purchases additional surface water from the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority (GBRA) to provide for City residents.

Until late 2023, the City operated CR-1 largely without incident. In September 2023, Cow Creek groundwater district staff approached City staff demanding the City file for an operating permit for CR-1. City staff, unaware of the district's rules or any prior district involvement, began researching relevant information related to the well. Soon after, on October 12th, the district sent a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the City alleging the City operated its CR-1 well in the Cow Creek district without an operating permit. The district further alleged, without documentation, that the district had attempted to contact the City for many years to obtain an operating permit.

In February of this year, the City submitted an operating permit application to the district with a variance request for the full 30 acre-feet of production. The district countered that it would only allow a permit for the maximum allowed in the current rules, which is 4.03 acre-feet. This would cut the City's total water production at CR-1 by over 85 percent.

The City argued its variance for the full 30 acre-feet was justified based on three points. First, the well was registered with the State of Texas in 1997, which predates the existence of the Cow Creek groundwater district, and it should therefore be subject to the rules at the time of the original state registration. Second, the groundwater district's own rules for total water production in effect at the time of the well's existence and at the time of the district's formation were much higher than the narrower threshold the district was now enforcing. Finally, other similar utilities, including Boerne and Comfort (WCID 1), were already permitted in the Cow Creek district for multiple times more than the amount of water that Fair Oaks Ranch requested in its permit. Nonetheless, the district rejected the City's variance request. Therefore, the City filed a revised permit in the format requested by the district.

What's next

Even though this existing well has supported thousands of residents since 1997, the City wants to continue building working relationships with the Cow Creek district and the residents within the district. The City will next apply for and follow the process for a Transfer Application, which will formally allow the City to transfer its existing water rights from the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District into the City, which operates under the Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater District. In order for the City to increase its production, the City will have to acquire additional groundwater rights from adjacent properties.

While each individual residential (or "domestic") well is entitled to 9 million gallons per year, this permit limits the total City production to 1.3 million gallons per year. Fortunately, the City incorporates redundancy into its system by employing and maintaining dozens of wells, securing additional surface water rights from GBRA, and providing for proper storage and pressures to maintain the safety, quality, and resilience of the City's water system.

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