HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – A federal judge granted a Hill Country environmental nonprofit the right to intervene in an ongoing federal lawsuit between the Hays Trinity Aquifer Conservation District and water supplier Aqua Texas.
In August, the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association, TESPA, filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit to, “[protect] its members’ private property – their groundwater – from the further negative impacts of Aqua’s continued disregard for regulation and limitations to its groundwater use,” an August press release read.
Lawsuit background
Aqua Texas filed a lawsuit in late 2023 against the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, saying the district has provided “unlawful and unequal treatment of Aqua Texas” as well as a “complete disregard for Aqua’s state law duty to provide ‘continuous and adequate’ water service to its customers,” per court filings.
This lawsuit was filed after the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District accused Aqua Texas of overpumping by almost 90 million gallons of water in 2022 , resulting in a nearly $449,000 fine issued against the water provider.
How does Texas law govern our groundwater?
Then in August 2023, district officials said they wouldn’t renew Aqua Texas’ current permits for 2024 if the groundwater provider did not pay the fine…