“Water is the new oil” as Texas cities square off over aquifer pipeline plansFast-growing Georgetown plans to pump 89 million gallons a day ...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Fast-growing Georgetown plans to pump 89 million gallons a day from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer but the project is being fought by Bryan, College Station and Texas A&M University, which depend on the same water.
A water pipeline project by Recharge through Lee County into Williamson County pictured on March 28, 2025.
A water pipeline project by Recharge passes through Lee County into Williamson County, on March 28, 2025. Credit: Dylan Baddour / Inside Climate News
This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment.
In Central Texas, a bitter fight over a $1 billion water project offers a preview of the future for much of the state as decades of rapid growth pushes past the local limits of its most vital natural resource.
On one side: Georgetown, the fastest-growing city in America for three years straight, which in 2023 signed a contract with an investor-funded enterprise to quickly begin importing vast volumes of water from the Simsboro Formation of the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer, 80 miles to the east.
On the other side: the cities atop the Simsboro that rely on its water. Bryan, College Station and the Texas A&M University System, a metro area with almost 300,000 people, have sued the developer to stop the project. A trial is set for the first week of May.
Attached link
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/31/texas-water-pipeline-dispute-georgetown-bryan-college-station-aquiferTaxonomy
- Aquifer
- Water Supply
- Community Supply
- Water Supply Design
- Water Supply Regulation