Case Study of Emerging Groundwater Management Issues at the Forefront of Large-scale Production from a Confined Aquifer: The Vista Ridge Project

Abstract

Continued population growth, increased demands for water and declining water availability are statewide water concerns in Texas. The development and movement of water from where it is to where it is needed brings with it benefits to the receiving area and concerns for the area of origin. The Vista Ridge project serves as an on-point example and case study of such concerns and processes that can mitigate, in part, negative impacts that are informative to other Texans who will soon be facing similar pressures.. Impacts on the water levels in existing wells made the Vista Ridge Project a focus of significant public discussion in 2022, including Texas House and Senate interim session hearings. This paper spotlights groundwater management issues prominent in the Vista Ridge Project that will likely be of concern with other Texas groundwater projects in the near future. These issues involve well mitigation, significant impacts from groundwater production across groundwater conservation district boundaries, meaningful consideration of nine factors in Texas Water Code §36.108(d), the balance between limiting groundwater production, development of fair share doctrines, the role of the Texas Water Development Board in the