East Texas Water Fight Not Over: Senate Strips Pause from Groundwater Export Bill

Photo by Rita Shipp.

Everyday water sources, like this rural well in East Texas, could be affected if large-scale groundwater pumping moves forward in the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer.

AUSTIN, Texas — Just two weeks after state lawmakers appeared to give East Texans a victory in the fight to protect their groundwater, the plan to pause large-scale water exports has sprung a leak.

As the East Texas Banner reported on Aug. 26, the Texas House approved a bill that would have created a two-year moratorium on new water export permits, giving the Texas Water Development Board time to study the sustainability of high-volume pumping from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. That aquifer stretches beneath much of East Texas—including Jasper, Newton, Tyler, Hardin, Angelina and Sabine counties—and feeds into rivers and lakes that supply both communities and agriculture.

But when the bill reached the Texas Senate, lawmakers stripped out the moratorium clause. Without that safeguard, permit applications can now proceed, including one from a Dallas investor seeking to drill massive wells in Anderson and Henderson counties to ship millions of gallons of groundwater north each year.

Local Impact Still Looms

Water experts warn that aggressive pumping in one part of the Carrizo-Wilcox can ripple across the region, lowering private wells, straining farms and ranches, and reducing groundwater flows into rivers like the Neches and Angelina. Those rivers feed into Lake Sam Rayburn, East Texas’ largest reservoir and a lifeline for both drinking water and recreation.

For families in Jasper, Newton and Tyler counties, that means the water in your private well, the creeks on your land, or even your fishing trips on Lake Sam Rayburn could be directly impacted if large-scale pumping moves forward up north.

Local leaders and agricultural groups had celebrated the House version of the bill as a needed timeout. Now, the fight shifts back to groundwater conservation districts, which will face pressure to either deny or tightly regulate export permits.

What’s Next

With the statewide pause removed, East Texans may see more battles play out at the local regulatory level—and possibly in the courts—over who controls access to the region’s most vital natural resource.

Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, who authored the original House bill, warned last month: “If we don’t protect our water now, we may not have it later. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Harris represents Anderson, Freestone and Navarro counties, where opposition to the water export plan has been strongest.