Texas Water Company told developers it can't provide water for their projects, due to drought and population growth.  

A private utility company in the Hill Country says it doesn’t have enough water to supply nine planned Comal County housing developments —leaving the fate of those projects unclear and highlighting the impact drought and population growth are having on the region. 

Texas Water Company, which serves about 78,000 people in seven Hill Country counties, had received requests to provide water service for the developments, which combined call for more than 4,000 new homes. 

But in a letter to developers, Texas Water Company said that the state's ongoing drought has placed "unprecedented demands" on its resources and   

The company has about 30,000 water connections in its system, and that number has been climbing by about 1,000 to 1,200 people per year, said Aundrea Williams, president of Texas Water Company. The utility gets more than half of its water from Canyon Lake, which is currently at a record low. 

“These combined factors have placed unprecedented demands on our water resources, requiring us to make difficult but necessary decisions,” Williams wrote in a letter to the developers, which was shared on Facebook by Comal County Commissioner Jen Crownover.that it must give priority to its current customers.

“After extensive evaluation, we regret to inform you that we are unable to provide water service for your project at this time,” the letter said. “Given current conditions, we must temporarily pause new service commitments to uphold our responsibility to provide customers water when they turn on their faucets and remain in compliance with state regulatory requirements for system redundancy and resiliency.”

The letter said the company would issue a refund of the developers’ deposits. 

Texas Water Company is a subsidiary of SJW Group, a California-based company that also operates in Connecticut and Maine. In Texas, it operates in Bandera, Blanco, Comal, Hays, Kendall, Medina and Travis counties, with the largest number of customers in Comal. 

The company has implemented Stage 4 watering restrictions in Comal, Blanco and Kendall counties, banning its customers in those counties from all outdoor water uses except for sustaining livestock, vegetable gardens and orchards. Less restrictive rules are also in place in other parts of its service area. 

Waiting for conditions to improve

In Texas, water utilities have geographic areas where they have the exclusive right and obligation to provide service, called “certificates of convenience and necessity.” That obligation is a responsibility to the existing connections, not a mandate to add new connections, Williams told the Express-News. 

“Given that we don’t have agreements with these developers, they’re not existing connections,” she said, and the utility’s commitment is to its existing customers. 

According to the rules of the Public Utility Commission, which regulates water utilities in Texas, a retail public utility with certificates of convenience and necessity “is obligated to respond to a qualified applicant’s request for service 'as soon as is practical after receiving a completed application,'” an agency spokesperson said in a statement.

Failing to provide service within 180 days of accepting an application from a qualified applicant "may constitute refusal to serve," the rule states, unless "good cause" is shown. That may result in penalties, revocation of the certificate or granting the certificate to another utility to serve the applicant. If a utility refuses to serve an applicant, the utility must tell the applicant why in writing and inform them they have the option to file a complaint with the commission, the agency said. 

Williams said the pause on new connections is in place indefinitely, until water supply conditions improve. 

“When you look at the slate and want to make sure that we can meet our commitment to our existing customers, that’s what led us to the decision that we made with respect to future developments, until we either come out of drought or some component of that equation changes,” she said. 

“I wish I could predict the weather,” she said. “We don’t have a finite date for when something might turn around.” 

Williams declined to name the developers that received the letter. 

Crownover, the county commissioner, said in her social media post that the developments are spread across Comal County, primarily in areas outside New Braunfels to the west and north. The projects have a combined total of 4,182 proposed lots, she said in the post, although she also declined to name the projects. 

She identified one of the developments as the Broken Cedar Ranch project on the north side of Canyon Lake, which has recently drawn scrutiny and criticism from residents over developer Lennar Homes' request to discharge treated wastewater from the development into the lake. 

Crownover said she hasn’t heard directly from any of the developers, but “I do know the water company has and they’re ready for that.”

“I’m sure there will be some lawsuits and stuff like that,” Crownover said. “It’s sad if they want to waste time and money and not respect this decision and read the room and see this really isn’t a good time for this now.”

In a letter to customers announcing the suspension of new service, Williams said the company is “investing in system interconnectivity to enhance water movement, reduce water loss and bolster system reliability.”

That includes using leak detection technology and installing electronic meters to monitor water loss, she said, and working on infrastructure to bring in an additional 6,000 acre-feet of water to the system. An acre-foot is a metric used in the water industry to refer to the amount of water needed to cover 1 acre in 1 foot of water; it equates to about 326,000 gallons.

Those new water rights were acquired in 2023 when Texas Water Company purchased KT Water Development and KT Water Resources, Williams said. There’s an existing well field to pump the water, but the company is still working to connect it to its system. 

The company is also looking for more water rights to buy, but water that’s reliable in quality and quantity is hard to come by, she said. There are no additional rights available from Canyon Lake, she said. 

“We are always looking for additional sources of water,” she said.

In addition to the 51% of its current water portfolio directly from Canyon Lake, Texas Water Company gets 37% of its water supply from groundwater wells in the Trinity Aquifer. About 12% is water purchased from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, which manages the lake and the Guadalupe River basin and also has water rights from the Carrizo Aquifer.

Williams said feedback to the decision from existing customers has been “an overwhelming positive response,” and Crownover said her constituents have echoed that. 

“I think people are so incredibly relieved,” she said. 

“I applaud them for their courage to do this,” Crownover said. “I know that they’re in business to sell water… but you’ve got to be smart about it and do right by the citizens you have. Without water, none of the rest of it matters.” 

Like much of the Hill Country and the Interstate 35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin, Comal County has seen swift population growth in recent years. The county's population has jumped from about 108,000 in 2010 to more than 200,000 currently, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Crownover said the area is in “pretty dire straits” with water supplies, and said she’s hoping state legislators make changes to water management going forward, but said the temporary pause can help “keep things at bay until the state takes some bigger actions.” 

Crownover said she believes the decision to decline water service will halt the projects.

“There’s no path forward,” she said, unless the developers change their plans to minimum 5-acre lots and require residents to drill their own wells.

Counties have limited control over development in unincorporated areas, so once a project has received approval from the necessary utilities and state agencies and has met all requirements, the county must approve them.

“There is not a thing we can do at that point,” she said. 

“I’m really excited that the water company did flex their authority here, and I’m happy to support them in the decision,” Crownover said.

That would help ensure there is enough water during drought conditions, and protect the county’s economy as well, she said.

“So much of our economy is tied, especially in Comal County, to water recreation — the lake, the river, the springs that feed the river,” she said. “Without those, a lot of the opportunity around here dries up, even if you can still turn your tap on.” 

Liz Teitz

Reporter

Liz Teitz covers environmental news and the Hill Country for the San Antonio Express-News. She writes about the San Antonio Water System, news in New Braunfels and Comal County and water issues around Central Texas. She can be reached at liz.teitz@express-news.net.

A 253-plus-acre commercial/residential development is proposed for land on the east (right) side of Manzano Mile in Marble Falls. Staff Photo by Dakota Morrissiey

A 253-plus-acre commercial/residential development is proposed for land on the east (right) side of Manzano Mile in Marble Falls. Staff Photo by Dakota Morrissiey

The Marble Falls City Council on February 18, approved the formation of a public improvement district to support up to $50 million of necessary utilities for a proposed 253-acre development along Manzano Mile. The developer now will be able to break ground on the project in March.

The Manzano Mile project has been on the city's books since at least December 2024, when the developer applied for the formation of a PID to help fund it.

The City Council's approval followed a public hearing on the district during its Tuesday meeting. On February 4, the council approved a development agreement to greenlight the project.

According to Marble Falls legal consultant Gregory Miller of Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP, all relevant property owners were mailed notices of the February 18, public hearing, and notices were published in the local newspaper of record.

The PID is a collaboration between the city, the developer, and a lender to fund the installation of utilities to service future properties within the confines of the district. Under this funding model, the developer is lent money to complete the installation of essential infrastructure, like roads, water hookups, drainage, and electricity. A bond company will then take over the loans and be paid back over time by the future property owners who will use the infrastructure. It is then the city's responsibility to collect the funds and pass them along to the bond company.

With the formation of the Manzano Mile PID complete, the developer can begin construction after 20 days, which lands on March 10. The next step in the process is the creation of a service and assessment plan, which will help determine the exact payment structure to levy payments from future property owners to pay back the initial loans that will be used to install utilities.

The Manzano Mile development will span about 253 acres along roughly 1.8 miles of Manzano Mile, from the intersection of RR 1431 to the end of the road, near Colt Elementary School. The development is approved to contain 1,500 living unit equivalents, or a[[rozimately the amount of utilities utilized by a standard single-family home with 3.5 occupants. It is zoned for combined residential and commercial use and will likely have single-family homes, multi-framily units, and apartments.

DailyTrib

The Trump administration's Interior Department said on Friday it had officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and the Alaskan peak Denali to Mount McKinley.

President Donald Trump ordered the name changes as part of a flurry of executive actions hours after taking office on Monday, making good on a campaign promise.

"As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America's highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley," the Interior Department said in a statement.

Water is the lifeblood of our region. Thirteen Texas rivers have their headwaters in the Hill Country, and for centuries the residents and stewards of these lands have recognized the critical importance of protecting water quantity and quality for future generations.

 A public hearing is Feb. 18 on the formation of a public improvement district for a new development along Manzano Mile in Marble Falls. The proposed development, Pleasant Valley Estates, will span roughly 253 acres across the road from Marble Falls High School. 

  The meeting will be held at City Council Chambers at 800 3rd Street, Marble Falls, TX 78654   

Tuesday February 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM

 Quarry and Mine Permit Applications Open for Public Comment - LCRA - Energy, Water, Community

PLEASE SEE BELOW AND ACT BEFORE FEBRUARY 7th TO SUPPORT OUR NEIGHBORS IN BURNET COUNTY AND OUR OWN NATURAL RESOURCES THAT PROVIDE CLEAN WATER FOR OUR BEAUTIFUL LAKE LBJ. THE IMPACTS OF THIS PERMIT PASSING COULD ALTER OUR BEAUTIFUL HILL COUNTRY FOREVER!   

The LCRA Permit for water usage/impacts has been submitted by Asphalt Inc. for the proposed quarry/mining facility that will be right next to Inks Lake and Longhorn Caverns. See attached flyer for a good summary of impacts expected by this facility if it is approved. Please go to the link below to the LCRA comment form for this permit and voice your opposition and request a Public Meeting. The more voices heard against it will only help us fight this thing!  

Quarry and Mine Permit Applications Open for Public Comment - LCRA - Energy, Water, Community

 Home 

Here is an example of comments submitted for reference:

I strongly object to the proposed quarry/mining facility included in this permit application. There are several issues and concerns that cannot be adequately mitigated without creating a severe impact to the local residents and damaging a beautiful resource that is this area of the Hill Country. The LCRA is tasked with preserving our precious water resources and preventing any proposed construction that may harm these resources and LCRA should deny this permit. I request a Public Meeting for the community to be able to demonstrate the strong opposition to this facility. The people that will be directly impacted by this facility should have the say in whether it is approved or not, but that responsibility lies with LCRA. Do not approve this permit. There is nothing they can do in terms of mitigation measures that will eliminate the concerns listed below. The only mitigation is to deny this permit. 

Several issues that absolutely will occur if this facility is approved: 

- DEPLETION OF GROUND WATER (THESE FACILITIES TYPICALLY USE VAST QUANTITIES OF WATER MONTHLY - PROJECTED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 750,000 GALLONS PER MONTH) PUTTING A SEVERE STRAIN ON OUR ALREADY TAXED GROUNDWATER SUPPLY; AREA WELLS COULD RUN

DRY

• THREAT TO OUR ECOSYSTEM: TOXIC RUN-OFF FROM THE FACILITY CAN DRAIN INTO OUR AREA LAKES. BLASTING COULD POTENTIALLY DAMAGE IMPORTANT LANDMARKS SUCH AS LONGHORN CAVERNS. DUST GENERATED BY THESE PLANTS CAN KILL TREES AND VEGITATION AND NEGATIVELY AFFECT WILDLIFE

• LARGE NUMBERS OF TRAFFIC-CRIPPLING 18-WHEELERS (POTENTIALLY OVER 100 PER DAY) DRIVING THROUGH TOWN

• SOUND CAUSED BY THE BLASTING IN THE ROCK CRUSHING PROCESS WILL CARRY FOR MILES IN ALL DIRECTIONS AFFECTING THE TRANQUILITY AND BEAUTY FOR WHICH THE AREA IS KNOWN.

• IMPACT ON IMPORTANT TOURISM DESTINATIONS SUCH AS CAMP LONGHORN, INKS LAKE STATE

PARK, AND LONGHORN CAVERNS STATE PARK.

• HEALTH ISSUES: PARTICULATE MATTER FROM DUST CREATED BY THE PLANT CONTAINS HARMFUL SILICA THAT CAN TRAVEL FOR MILES AND IS PARTICULARY HARMFUL TO CHILDREN,

SENIORS, AND PEOPLE WITH RESPIRATORY ISSUES.