In 2020,
there were 8.9 million
acre-feet per year of groundwater supplies.
In 2070, however, groundwater levels are expected to decline to 6 million acre-feet due
to increased demand
from a growing
population.
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Water is good for Texas
Groundwater
About 60 percent of water used throughout Texas comes from groundwater.
Texas groundwater is sourced from 31 aquifers, with nine major aquifers holding about 97 percent of all groundwater avaialable in the state.
Groundwater not only serves families and local communities but also businesses and commercial industries. In 2019, nearly 74 percent of groundwater in Texas was used for irrigation purposes — water for plants and crops that feed millions of Texans.
Uses of Groundwater by Use Category, Texas, 2019
Groundwater Protection
Texas is home to 98 groundwater conservation districts (GCDs), each of which locally develops groundwater management plans to protect groundwater. GCD management plans are submitted to and approved by the TWDB. Roughly 70 percent of the state is represented by GCDs, including 72 percent of the state’s aquifers.
Edwards Aquifer Authority
The Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) is a regional GCD created in 1993 as a direct result of the Edwards Aquifer Authority Act.
The EAA estimates that 2.6 million acre-feet that could have been pumped from the Edwards from 1997 to 2014 was preserved as a result of its regulatory measures.
A significant portion of the EAA budget is reinvested into the greater San Antonio region through water quality control, aquifer protection and research, abandoned well awareness and education programs.
Groundwater Management Areas
Priority Grounwater Management Areas are:
- Brisco, Swisher and Hale County PGMA
- Central Texas - Trinity aquifer PGMA
- Regan, UPton and Midland County PGMA
- Hill Country PGMA (includes Northern Bexar County Study Area )
- North - Central Texas Trinity and Woodbine PGMA
Groundwater management areas (GMAs) are geographical regions designated to “provide for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharging and prevention of waste of the groundwater and of groundwater reservoirs.” There are 16 GMAs in Texas, each of which includes at least one GCD.
Priority Groundwater Management Areas
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality designates Priority Groundwater Management Areas (PGMAs) as geographic areas “experiencing, or expecting to experience, within 50 years, critical groundwater problems including shortages of surface water or groundwater, land subsidence resulting from groundwater withdrawal, or contamination of groundwater supplies.”
This is one in a series of reports the Comptroller has prepared on water in Texas.
Questions?
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the material on this page, please contact the Comptroller’s Data Analysis and Transparency Division.