Introduction
Del Rio is a city located in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Del Rio’s current water portfolio consists of one water source, the San Felipe Springs, which has multiple “outlets.” The city currently draws water from two of springs’ ten “outlets.” The spring sits atop the corner of the Edwards-Trinity Plateau Aquifer which is mostly unconfined and has historically relied comfortably on precipitation for recharge. Despite this history, the city is now facing a number of challenges such as drought and groundwater depletion. In acknowledgment of decreased spring flow, the city has begun drilling a municipal well north of the San Felipe Springs, tapping deeper into the local groundwater from the Edwards-Trinity Plateau Aquifer. Though proposed as an effort to diversify the city’s water profile, the new well continues to draw from the same groundwater resources as the naturally occurring San Felipe Springs. In this post, we explore three main strategies that can serve as alternatives to the city’s ongoing well work. First, we suggest water reuse through more intensive wastewater treatment can be implemented at one of the already existing city wastewater treatment plants. Secondly, we propose a restructuring of water pricing to promote demand management among residents and commercial users, while increasing available funds for the water department’s investment into new infrastructure. Finally, we argue that the city of Del Rio, along with Val Verde County, should join a Groundwater Conservation District to aid in the continued health and recharging of the Edwards-Trinity Plateau Aquifer.
Figure 1: A map showing water and wastewater treatment plants in Del Rio
Challenges
The core challenge to water management in Del Rio, Texas centers on the city’s encounters with regional drought. In the face of state-wide droughts, a decrease in aquifer recharge has led to the lowering of water tables and subsequent drying of many natural springs (Elbein, 2024). For Del Rio–where the San Felipe Springs serve as the city’s sole water source–this depletion of groundwater resources poses a major threat (Gleason, 2024a).
Throughout the spring and summer of 2024, Del Rio has been experiencing the pressure of ongoing drought across Texas (Gleason, 2024a). In a meeting with the City Council, the Assistant City Public Works Director, Greg Velazquez, reported the San Felipe Creek saw a nearly 10 million gallons per day decrease in flow from March to April, while the San Felipe Springs Water Treatment Plant’s production of treated water declined by roughly a million gallons per day (Gleason, 2024a). As of August 2024, the city was operating under its Stage 2 Drought Contingency Plan, with mandatory watering schedules and outdoor water use being prohibited (City of Del Rio, 2023). Without control of spring flow or alternative water sources, the city has been left scrambling to meet the water demand of its residents, industry, and local agriculture.
Decreased flows in the San Felipe Springs–and ultimately into the San Felipe Creek are tied to the region’s groundwater. Fresh water from the Edwards-Trinity Plateau Aquifer flows into the San Felipe Springs where the water table reaches the surface. The natural springs then flow into San Felipe Creek and through Del Rio before reaching the Rio Grande River (San Felipe Creek Master Plan, 2012). As the region continues to experience droughts, groundwater from the aquifer is increasingly pumped to the surface for irrigation and domestic use, lowering the water table (Elbein, 2024). Without sufficient rainfall to recharge groundwater resources, drought produces a positive feedback loop which depletes the aquifer and risks drying the natural springs. In a 2024 study from Texas State University’s Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, researchers found that 30 percent of the state’s historic springs have dried up (Galaviz and Mace, 2024). With the city’s dependence on the San Felipe Springs, spring failure is simply not an option. Community and government action to address this challenge, however, has been mixed.
While the 2021 Plateau Region Water Plan acknowledges that Del Rio experiences the lowest levels of rainfall and aquifer recharge in its water plan area, no Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) has been established for the region (Plateau Region Water Plan, 2021). While local activists have formed the Southwest Water Coalition and demanded for government action to improve conservation efforts across the city, these demands have had little impact (Gleason, 2024e). In October 2024, the city adopted revised water conservation and drought contingency plans which remained largely unchanged from the 2019 versions (Gleason, 2024f). Additionally, activist Sandra Fuentes complained that political failings, such as the siphoning of water department funds to underperforming departments and private selling of pumped water to other nearby cities, were unaddressed by existing water management plans (Gleason, 2024e). While the city council has yet to respond to these allegations, efforts to supplement the San Felipe Springs with a deeper groundwater well to the north of the springs are underway (Gleason, 2024b). While increased pumping of groundwater is sure to negatively impact spring flow, the exact consequences of this added municipal well are uncertain.
Recommendations
Our approach to improving water infrastructure and policy in Del Rio, TX contains three main strategies that will prioritize creating resilient systems in tandem with better conservation practices for a city that exists in a relatively dry area. The first approach is the incorporation of recycled water to diversify Del Rio’s water portfolio. The second approach is a restructuring of water pricing to actively discourage excessive water use. Lastly, we propose that Del Rio and Val Verde County establish a Groundwater Conservation District, like many of the nearby counties in South Texas. These strategies will address the growing threat of longer and more extreme droughts due to climate change, and ensure that Del Rio has the proper institutional and structural support in cases of emergency.
- Wastewater Reuse
As surface water is largely unavailable for city use, wastewater reuse is one of Del Rio’s few options to diversify its water portfolio. The construction of a wastewater recycling plant, however, is a long term and expensive investment for the municipality to undertake. To minimize added piping and costs, we propose that the plant could possibly be co-located with the existing San Felipe Wastewater Treatment Plant or the Silverlake Wastewater Treatment Plant, as shown in the graphic below. We also theorize that the non-potable wastewater from our proposed project may be used for irrigation, especially on the San Felipe Golf Course. Even through the production of solely non-potable recycled water, this project can reduce local dependency on groundwater through the San Felipe Springs. By reducing dependency on groundwater, Del Rio can then allow the Edwards-Trinity Plateau Aquifer to recharge in the long term.
Figure 2: How wastewater can be circulated and used in a city.
- Demand Management by Restructuring Water Pricing
The City of Del Rio publicly owns and operates the city’s water supply and wastewater collection within its Utilities Department. The city’s Utilities Department is supervised and regulated by the Del Rio Utilities Commission, a registered Public Utility Commission through the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Residents thus pay the city for both drinking water and wastewater collection, with an assurance of quality service from both the local and state levels of the Public Utilities Commission.
As a public utility provider, the City of Del Rio establishes the price of water consumption through the Code of Ordinances. The city’s water rates were last updated in 2021. As of October 2021, Del Rio’s water rates are based on a flat rate per 1,000 gallons model with a minimum monthly fee, distinguishing rates between several different water customer types. The minimum monthly fee, or base fee, for city water customers is set according to water meter size in the table below:
Figure 3: Current water pricing in Del Rio, TX
Beyond these set minimums, there are a number of adjustments to the usage flat rate cited in the code for special cases. The rates for customers outside city limits are set 1.15 times higher than for those within city limits. To change drinking water rates, the City of Del Rio would need to amend Section 29-22 of the city’s Code of Ordinances. This process would begin with the Del Rio Utilities Commission submitting a full report and official recommendation for a rate change to the City Council. If approved, the city’s Code of Ordinances would be amended to reflect a new set of rates or rate structure.
The current structure of water pricing in Del Rio does not encourage excessive water use, however the code states in Section 29-85 that, “during the next round of rate analysis the potential to modify the rate structure to actively discourage increased water use will be reviewed.” In line with this section of city code, we suggest the use of an increasing block rate structure as a politically viable means to reduce demand. Under an increasing block rate structure, demand is controlled by charging a higher rate for each additional “block” of consumption. For example, the city could charge its preexisting rate of $3.49 per 1,000 gallons of residential use for the first 5,000 gallons of water consumption. Then, for each additional 1,000 gallons up to 10,000 total residential gallons, the city could charge an increased fee of $6.98. This structure could then continue into blocks of continuously greater usage and rates.
With an increasing block rate structure, households and businesses in and around Del Rio are actively encouraged to monitor and minimize water usage. Unlike a simple increase of the flat rate, this pricing structure also places the greatest financial burden on the largest water users. As a result, water department revenue is able to increase without adding to the hardships of low-income households that are already managing their water demand.
- Groundwater Conservation District
Without the implementation of groundwater conservation legislation, Texas law provides landowners with unrestricted rights to the groundwater beneath their properties. In Val Verde County (where Del Rio is located), this has resulted in the permitting of over 650 groundwater intake sites, as recorded to the Texas Water Development Board. Despite serving over 70 percent of the county’s residents with municipal water, Del Rio’s Water Department operates only 2 of these active intakes. This illustrates that while the majority of the county’s population remains dependent on the continued viability of the San Felipe Springs, a small minority of landowners in the county are left with unrestricted use of the area’s fleeting groundwater resources.
Figure 4: Number of groundwater intakes in Del Rio, TX
Despite these trends in population and well distribution, Val Verde County remains one of the only counties in Groundwater Management Area 7 without a Groundwater Conservation District. Under Texas’ Groundwater Conservation District program, local governments are required to facilitate the development, implementation, and regular updating of a groundwater management plan. These districts further provide state-level resources and oversight of local and private water management. To implement a Groundwater Conservation District in Val Verde County, the local government must simply petition the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), secure 50 resident signatures, provide administrative and funding details, and list 5 potential temporary directors.
The creation of a Groundwater Conservation District has historically struggled to gain widespread support from Val Verde landowners. In the early 2010s, landowner John Littlejohn purchased a variety of properties and water rights in Val Verde County, promising to pump 16 billion gallons per year of water to struggling cities such as San Angelo and San Antonio. While much of Littlejohn’s plans fell through, corporate interest in Val Verde’s water and land remained a challenge for local conservation movements. In 2021, an article published in Forbes magazine described how a Chinese billionaire bought 140,00 acres of land in Texas (specifically in and around Val Verde) to develop the Blue Hill Wind Farm. This project not only raised significant concerns regarding national security but also faced a lot of local opposition due to the environmental impacts of a wind farm. Del Rio residents continue to struggle with the profit-driven interests of private landowners, especially when it comes to the legislature surrounding groundwater. We speculate that creating a Groundwater Conservation District has been placed on hold because of the area’s conflicting stakeholder interests.
Despite these challenges, a GCD can allow the mandating of local water education programming which will increase the success rate of a conservation campaign. In addition to this, it will streamline funding for groundwater-related initiatives while also providing the legal structure of private groundwater use. Finally, A GCD will hold local governments accountable for the maintenance of water infrastructure and the conservation of groundwater.
Conclusion
Del Rio can begin to proactively address its water scarcity through three initial steps. The first is wastewater reuse which will diversify the city’s water source portfolio. Restructuring of water pricing in the area will enable officials to manage household and commercial water demand, while also raising funds for much needed infrastructure investment. Finally, the creation of a Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) will streamline groundwater-related initiatives and provide an enforceable legal structure to mandate the management of groundwater extraction.
Citations
City of Del Rio, Code of Ordinances. https://library.municode.com/tx/del_rio/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH29WA_ARTIINGE_S29-22RAATSEWICI. Access on October 28, 2024.
City of Del Rio, Utility Billing, Service Rates. https://www.cityofdelrio.com/government/departments/utility-billing. Accessed on October 28, 2024.
City of Del Rio. (2023). Memorandom: Stage 2 Drought Contingency Plan. https://www.cityofdelrio.com/home/showpublisheddocument/8419/638271070115400000
Elbein, S. (2024). Declining Texas Springs Point to Possible Risks for State Water Supplies. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4517255-texas-springs-decline-water-supplies-possible-risks-climate-change-groundwater-pumping/
Hyatt, John. “Why a Secretive Chinese Billionaire Bought 140,000 Acres of Land in Texas.” Forbes, 9 Aug. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2021/08/09/why-a-secretive-chinese-billionaire-bought-140000-acres-of-land-in-texas/.
Satija, N. (2014, January 29). Rio Grande Water Users Fear Groundwater Pumping Project. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2014/01/29/groundwater-pumping-project-could-hurt-rio-grande/
U.S. Census Bureau. “SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS.” American Community Survey, ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles, Table DP03, 2021. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDP5Y2021.DP03?t=Official Poverty Measure:Poverty&g=050XX00US48465&y=2021&d=ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles&moe=false. Accessed on November 2, 2024.
U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2021 Poverty Guidelines. https://aspe.hhs.gov/2021-poverty-guidelines. Accessed on November 2, 2024.
Gleason, K. (2024). City’s New Well Is, “Plus Or Minus,” A Year, Expert Say. The 830 Times. https://830times.com/citys-new-well-is-plus-or-minus-a-year-expert-says/
Varis, O., Enckell, K., & Keskinen, M. (2014). Integrated water resources management: horizontal and vertical explorations and the ‘water in all policies’ approach. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 30(3), 433–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2014.912130
Gleason, K. (2024a). Ongoing Drought Cutting City Water Source. The 830 Times.
Gleason, K. (2024b). City’s New Well Is, “Plus Or Minus,” A Year, Expert Says. The 830 Times. https://830times.com/citys-new-well-is-plus-or-minus-a-year-expert-says/
Gleason, K. (2024c). Rain Sets New Del Rio Record. The 830 Times.
Gleason, K. (2024d). Resident Asks Council For Flood Relief. The 830 Times.
Gleason, K. (2024e). Local Activist Touts Water Coalition, Call For New Fee Schedule. The 830 Times. https://830times.com/news-local-activist-touts-water-coalition-call-for-new-fee-schedule/
Texas” with an Analysis on the Fractal Character of Springflow. The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. Texas State University. https://www.meadowscenter.txst.edu/research/environmental-flows/revisiting-major-historical-springs.html