San Antonio's Edwards and Trinity aquifers, a lifeline for roughly 2 million thirsty Texans, are now facing increased environmental risks due to a new state law, the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance reports. The research indicates that Senate Bill 2038, designed to ease the grip of municipal regulations by allowing landowners to opt out of a city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), could be paving the path toward potential disaster for these crucial water sources. In a study published earlier this month, shocking findings revealed a troubling forecast for the area's natural waterways.
Since taking effect last September, the law has spawned a slew of disannexation petitions, with over 17,000 acres of land from at least 13 cities poised to slip out of municipal safety nets and into a regulatory wild west. According to the San Antonio Report, GEAA Policy Manager Rachel Hanes found that "cities do not have any real means to reject or disapprove an ETJ release petition." The consequences of this sea change in oversight, while ostensibly affording landowners a taste of freedom, could sully water quality, much like unchecked development in Hays and Travis counties is already illustrating.
Local ETJ ordinances currently serve as a bulvert against ecological hazards, regulating everything from tree preservation to impervious cover, thereby ensuring the water remains clean and the land use compatible with community needs. The problem with the new law? Once these lands uncouple from city jurisdictions, weaker county and state regulations take over. And that spells trouble for tree cover protections and other environmental safeguards that have so far helped to maintain a semblance of balance, as Hanes told the San Antonio Report.
Meanwhile, Annalisa Peace, executive director of the GEAA, raised the alarm bell about developers already wriggling through the loopholes to bypass stringent aquifer protections. "It's very concerning to us, because municipalities — several of them — have done a good job in trying to protect their water supplies, their groundwater supplies, and this just pulls the rug out from under them,” she said. With the specter of climate change looming and development accelerating, the weakening of such safeguards draws a worrying picture for the future health of not only the Edwards Aquifer but all Central Texans reliant upon its vitality.
What's to be done? The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance believes an amendment or repeal of SB 2038 is in order, advocating for continued stringent municipal regulations over land within aquifer recharge and contributing zones. Moreover, they suggest bolstering the legal muscle of county authorities in matters of water quality and land use.
