WIMBERLEY, Texas — Following a legal battle in Hays County, people who call Wimberley home crowded into the city’s community center Friday night to discuss what’s being done to protect their water.
The Hays County Trinity Groundwater District fined Aqua Texas nearly $450,000 in 2023 for over-pumping the Trinity Aquifer. That fine led to Aqua Texas filing a federal lawsuit against the district in January.
Water and environmental groups believe Aqua Texas, which they described as a plague in the community, needs to be held accountable. The groups, who brought out a legal team during the meeting, said water is the economic backbone of their community and that if action isn’t taken, it will cost them their livelihood.
The Trinity Edwards Spring Protection Association (TESPA) and The Watershed Association said they plan to file a petition to revoke Aqua Texas’ Certificate of Convenience and Necessity with the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC). It’s a response people who live in the city agree is necessary.
TESPA added that they will offer to help the Trinity Groundwater District with its legal bills.
“It’s common sense,” Donna Richards said. “[Water] will run out.”
Richards has lived in Wimberley for about 30 years and said she doesn’t believe Aqua Texas respects the resources that they rely so heavily on.
“We live in an area that experiences droughts and low water problems and it’s just bad for the environment. And this corporation does not respect that,” Richards said.
RELATED: Water company files federal lawsuit against Hays County conservation district
Popular spring-fed watering holes Jacob’s Well and Blue Hole Regional Park experienced record low water levels last summer and conservationists say over-pumping by Aqua Texas in 2022 contributed to them running dry.
Kelley Shand, who relies on water for her ranch, said the people of Wimberley consistently do their part to conserve because they know it’s the only water they have.
“We’re catching water in the sink … We’re doing all these things, not flushing the toilet … And then you find out water is being wasted in so many other places,” Shand said. “The things we plant and the things that we think are so important sometimes that really in the grand scheme of life, having water is a lot more important than our lawn.”
Village of Jacobs Well 