Digging deep, in all the wrong ways

Image courtesy of Statesman.com

Recent droughts in Texas have caused a surge in private water well drilling in parts of Austin and the rest of the state. Homeowners are tapping into the northern parts of the Edwards Aquifer and most of the drilling happens in the wealthier neighborhoods such as Pemberton Heights, Tarrytown and Old Enfield. These areas are outside of any water conservation district and therefore the previously mentioned law of the "biggest pump" applies. The number of new wells drilled more than doubled from 19 to more than 47 in the last two years. The seemingly good news is that these new wells are used primarily for watering lawns and therefore decrease the use of city water from Lady Bird Lake. But with little knowledge of that particular area of the aquifer and no restrictions on pumping negative effects are bound to appear.

No efforts have been started to control the drilling of new wells or the amount of pumping. But, authorities are taking notice of the trend, and as Assistant Director of Austin Water Utility Daryl Slusher said "we're definitely watching it. We are definitely concerned about the impact of folks doing this." Any attempts to limit this pumping on private land will also be halted by Supreme Court's landmark ruling this February.

For the homeowner, the economics of drilling a well make sense - initial cost of the well is around $20,000, but it allows the user to save about $500 a month on the water bill. Counting just the hotter months of the year (May-September) and the well pays for itself in less than a decade. And this is just for your regular half-acre lot. But according to the same homeowner, the amount of water that went into his lawn jumped by about 30% since the installment of the well. This is the scary part.

Drilling private wells undermines the water conservation culture that some groups in Texas are trying so hard to instill. Once the well goes in, the owner has no incentive to limit the pumping, in contrary, the more water they pump the fast the investment will pay for itself. With more water available the owners are also less likely to switch to more drought-resistant, native landscaping techniques. With no way to monitor the amounts of water that people are pumping onto their land and no end to droughts in sight this new trend may cause serious depletion of the precious resource.

Image courtesy of Austin Daily Photo

Since groundwater in Texas is not considered to be a public resource and in areas outside of groundwater conservation districts the pumping of water is not controlled may this resource suffer from a case of tragedy of the commons? With climate change intensifying droughts throughout the state and ongoing population growth the demand for water will continue to increase over time. It seems that converting groundwater to a public resource may be the only logical step in mitigating future issues and providing enough water for all citizens of Texas.