Travis County considering water-use rules for development

Controversial vote pending

Matt Dietrichson, Feb 02, 12.

The Travis County commissioners may vote soon on a controversial set of rules as a moratorium on development in the western part of the county is scheduled to expire, according to The Austin Statesman:

The county has been working on the rules since the moratorium on projects using groundwater from the Trinity Aquifer began in October 2010. The moratorium was extended in September when a more stringent set of rules was proposed than those set to be considered by the Commissioners Court today. The county angered some landowners when it banned developments using water from the massive Trinity Aquifer, which stretches from North Texas to west of San Antonio and passes through western Travis County, to give a stakeholder committee time to develop regulations as some residents were seeing their wells dry up.

The new countywide proposal, discussed by the court in its meeting last week, allows for more flexibility in developments using groundwater than last year’s proposal but would add regulations for some projects using surface water. Some have called those regulations too strict and possibly illegal.

Already built or planned subdivisions and those with five or fewer lots that use surface water or have a rainwater collection system to back up groundwater would be exempt from the rules.

The surface water regulations would limit rooftops, roads and other surfaces that don’t allow rainfall to penetrate into the ground to cover 30 percent for residential subdivisions and 45 percent for commercial developments.

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