Texas companies reported 252 new instances of groundwater contamination throughout 2023 within the Texas Groundwater Safety Committee annual report.
The most recent report compiles 2,870 open instances of groundwater contamination, a few of which date again many years. Almost each county in Texas is impacted by the issue. Throughout 2023, Texas regulators notified 34 native authorities — from El Paso to Houston — that newly-identified contamination might affect their public consuming water. An extra 289 property homeowners had been notified that groundwater contamination could affect their personal wells.
Groundwater contamination is dear to remediate and may linger for years or indefinitely. Public water utilities take a look at their wells for regulated contaminants and shut off wells when obligatory. However the contamination threat is extra insidious at personal water wells, which aren’t topic to water high quality requirements.
Texas depends on groundwater from aquifers for about 55% of its water provide. Because the inhabitants grows and the local weather adjustments, groundwater will make up a fair bigger piece of the pie. Texas voters created a $1 billion fund in 2023 to develop extra water assets for the state, together with desalination of brackish groundwater.
“Any groundwater contamination is a trigger for concern,” mentioned Adam Foster, the director of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts. “It must be reported correctly and addressed.”
Annual report summarizes contamination
The Texas Groundwater Safety Committee brings collectively 9 state companies and TAGD, the alliance of groundwater districts. The safety committee coordinates the actions of those companies below Texas regulation, which requires that “groundwater be stored fairly freed from contaminants that intrude with current and potential makes use of of groundwater.”
The committee releases an annual report on groundwater contamination confirmed within the earlier 12 months. This 12 months’s report, launched in October, covers groundwater contamination documented in 2023. The report, and a map with the placement of present groundwater contamination, is accessible on the Texas Fee on Environmental High quality web site.
TCEQ, the state’s environmental regulator, and the Railroad Fee, which regulates oil and gasoline drilling and different extractive industries, each doc instances of groundwater contamination of their jurisdiction for the report.
Eighty % of the present contamination instances, or 2,321 instances, fall below the TCEQ. The remaining instances are with the Railroad Fee.
Presently there are 224 public water provide wells which can be thought of contaminated, in accordance with the report. There are roughly 17,900 public water provide wells within the state.
However the company indicated that two public water provide wells had been added to the record in 2023. The primary is the Hart Municipal Water Provide in Castro County within the Panhandle, the place benzene and complete xylenes had been discovered. TCEQ spokesperson Richard Richter mentioned the supply is unknown however the water utility stays in compliance with laws. The second is the Grayson Enterprise Park in South Houston, the place chlorobenzene and vinyl chloride had been discovered.
The one most typical groundwater air pollution supply in Texas is gasoline stations, which make up a 3rd of all of the instances. For that cause gasoline, diesel and different petroleum merchandise similar to benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes are the commonest contaminants of groundwater. In some instances the supply of contamination is unknown.
New groundwater contamination confirmed in 2023 included chlorinated solvents at a dry cleaner in Collin County, complete petroleum hydrocarbons from a pipeline leak in Nueces County and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, on the Austin Bergstrom Worldwide Airport.
“If TCEQ-regulated actions do affect groundwater, TCEQ will examine the attainable supply of contamination and notify effectively homeowners within the neighborhood of any groundwater contamination,” Richter wrote in an electronic mail.
Richter mentioned that corporations or people violating state water safety legal guidelines are issued a discover of violation or enforcement, relying on the severity of the violation.
“In both case, the respondent can be required to undertake all corrective motion obligatory,” he mentioned.
Groundwater air pollution can affect plans for future water provides. Town of Midland purchased a property in Winkler County many years in the past to make sure a long-term water provide. What the town didn’t rely on was groundwater contamination from legacy oil and gasoline operations. Town is within the midst of a multimillion -dollar remediation effort.
The report says TCEQ makes use of a “risk-based” method to groundwater contamination. The report notes that in some instances it isn’t “technically attainable or value efficient” to remediate the groundwater.
Along with the two,870 energetic instances of groundwater contamination, regulators have closed the recordsdata on 1000’s of others. In some instances, regulators remediate groundwater to satisfy security requirements. In different instances, regulators go away the contaminated groundwater in place and undertake restrictions, often known as institutional controls, to restrict use of the water. These controls can embody covenants to stop the groundwater from getting used sooner or later.
TCEQ’s Richter mentioned the company doesn’t monitor what quantity of instances are remediated versus adopting controls to limit use of the groundwater.
TCEQ encourages members of the general public in search of extra info on groundwater contamination instances to contact the company or submit public file requests.
Report raises questions for rural groundwater and personal wells
Groundwater administration is crucial because the Texas financial system grows and floor water availability, similar to rivers and reservoirs, stays flat or declines.
“Because the state continues to develop we’re relying increasingly on our groundwater assets,” mentioned TAGD’s Foster. “Just about all of our floor water is permitted so there’s actually not any extra entry to floor water.”
Agriculture is the largest client of groundwater statewide, in accordance with the Texas Water Improvement Board. Reliance on groundwater varies across the state, which is split into water planning areas. In area F, which stretches from the Permian Basin east towards San Antonio, groundwater makes up greater than 80% of the water provide. In Area Okay, which covers the Decrease Colorado River together with Travis County, groundwater gives solely 28% of the water provide.
Groundwater hydrologist Ronald Inexperienced, a contractor with the Southwest Analysis Institute in San Antonio, mentioned groundwater testing in rural Texas is usually restricted. Inexperienced has suggested groundwater districts in South Texas and the Permian Basin and located there was little groundwater testing in rural areas with energetic oil and gasoline drilling. For that cause he thinks the precise variety of groundwater contamination instances could possibly be a lot larger than the report’s complete.
“There simply are so few wells and so few samples of wells which were collected and analyzed,” he mentioned of these areas. “There’s no approach you will have an correct reflection of how the groundwater has been impacted.”
He mentioned most testing is carried out round cities with municipal wells. “You discover it the place the sunshine shines on it,” he mentioned.
That could possibly be regarding for the greater than 1 million Texans who depend on water from personal wells, which aren’t topic to state and federal water security requirements. Properly homeowners are accountable for the security of their water.
TCEQ mailed notices to 289 personal effectively homeowners throughout 2023 about contamination probably impacting their wells. Notices had been despatched to effectively homeowners in Northwest Houston close to Ashburn Industries and in Bridge Metropolis close to the Louisiana state line, amongst different areas.
TAGD’s Foster recommends that non-public effectively homeowners take a look at their water not less than yearly. He mentioned testing for indicator compounds can establish potential points for extra focused testing.
“Plenty of groundwater districts have testing applications the place you possibly can are available and get your water examined free of charge or at a considerably lowered value,” he mentioned.
The Texas Water Improvement Board additionally gives informational assets for personal effectively homeowners.
At the very least one state consultant is eyeing further assets for groundwater in Texas. Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from East Texas, launched Home Invoice 1400 for the upcoming 2025 legislative session. The invoice would create a Groundwater Science Analysis and Innovation Fund that may fund actions to enhance groundwater science, enhance effectivity of groundwater use and defend groundwater high quality.
This text initially appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/17/texas-groundwater-contamination-report-pollution/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and interesting Texans on state politics and coverage. Be taught extra at texastribune.org.
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