Anderson County is in a battle for its most valuable natural resource

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Redtown Ranch Holding LLC has applied for a groundwater production permit application seeking to drill 21 high-capacity wells in Anderson and Houston counties. The project would authorize the extraction of more than 10 billion gallons of groundwater a year from the Carrizo and Wilcox aquifers – the same water source that supplies water to all residents of both counties. The notice for the application of the permits was run by the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater District, which serves Anderson, Cherokee and Henderson counties, in the May 20 issue of the Palestine Herald-Press.
Redtown Ranch LLC Groundwater Well Permit Application Map
Redtown Ranch LLC Groundwater Well Permit Application Map
Another permit has been applied for by Pine Bliss LLC for 24 wells. This set of wells are to be located in Henderson County, and within the Queen City Sand, Wilcox Group and Carrizo/Reklaw Formation aquifers. This well set would be located just north of Frankston in Coffee City, pulling from the Anderson and Henderson county water supply sources.
Pine Bliss LLC Groundwater Permit Application Map
Pine Bliss LLC Groundwater Permit Application Map
Redtown Ranch is a 7,250-acre property on the Trinity River with portions that lie in both Anderson and Houston counties. While it's not clear exactly who owns the ranch, hedge fund manager Kyle Bass is associated with the property through Conservation Equity Management, of which he is CEO.
Johnnie Parker
'This is a water war. How are you going to stop it, if it can be stopped?" - Johnnie Parker
Pine Bliss is owned by 24th Parallel Holdings LP, which is also associated with Conservation Equity Management Partners.
There are 19 listed municipal water user groups in Anderson County, including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice supplies for Coffield and the Beto Gurney & Powledge Units that these wells could affect.
Attempts by the Herald-Press to interview Kyle Bass, or anyone with Conservation Equity Management Partners with regard to their intent or purpose of the wells were unreturned as of press time Friday, June 6.
In a report by KETK News, Bass issued the following statement:
'The great state of Texas is in the midst of a water supply source crisis. Our drilling applications are intended to be part of the solution to that crisis. We seek authority pursuant to current Texas law to drill wells that we will test to collect actual field data to prove up the results of the rigorous hydrogeologic modeling and analysis we have conducted that supports the issuance of production and export permits based upon the best available sound science in compliance with all applicable Texas laws. Our drilling applications are the first step in our ongoing constructive dialogue with the Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District. Following our completion of the aquifer testing pursuant to our drilling permits, we will continue the process by reporting our findings and data to the District along with our application for additional permits authorizing production and exploration.'
KETK also reported that in a document providing background on their applications to NTVGCD, Conservation Equity Management said they aren't seeking to produce or export any water from the area at this time. The first phase of their project was creating water models they're now trying to validate by drilling.
'Let's be clear: we are not seeking to produce or export water at this time. Texas law requires a permit to drill any well — we cannot 'wildcat' and then apply after the fact,' Conservation Equity Management said. 'Once wells are drilled, they will be tested according to the standards of both the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and NTVGCD. We will then submit those results to the district.'
KETK reported the document then states that if the data produced from the drilling in the second phase of their project validates their model, they'll enter their third phase.
Battle lines drawn
Rep. Cody Harris issued a letter of protest to the NTVGCD on behalf of Anderson County on May 29.
'As chairman of the Natural Resources Committee in the Texas House of Representatives, a good portion of my time is spent ensuring that Texas communities, and rural East Texas communities specifically, have their needs and relied upon water resources. Anderson County cannot afford to have its water supply literally pulled away from other areas of the state and I will fight to keep this from happening,' Harris stated in the letter. 'While we are working rigorously at the state level to propose and enact significant legislation that will not stand by while attempts are made to drain my own district.'
Rep. Trent Ashby, who represents Houston County in District 9, also wrote a letter of protest to the NTVGCD dated May 31.
'As a lifelong resident of East Texas and a member of the Texas Houston of Representatives, I have consistently supported responsible groundwater management and local control over water resources. This proposed project is deeply troubling. The sheer volume of water involved – equivalent to the annual usage of more than two million Texans – raises serious concerns about aquifer depletion, potential impacts on surrounding private and municipal wells, and the long-term sustainability of our region's water supply,' stated Ashby in his letter. 'Even more concerning is the lack of transparency in the application. The permit fails to include essential information regarding drawdown modeling, export intentions and mitigation strategies – elements that are not only expected but required by Texas law and the administrative rules of the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District. Rural East Texas cannot be treated as a water bank for distant urban development, particularly when proper due diligence has not been observed.'
According to Houston County Sheriff Zak Benge, a former Game Warden, this issue is vitally important.
'Imagine Houston County Lake (which has a capacity of 19,500 acre-feet, holds between 6.37 or 8.8 billion gallons of water, according to the Texas Almanac) being drawn down to empty 2.5 times a year,' he said in a statement on social media. 'That's about the equivalent amount of water that will be taken and sold somewhere else. This will affect your local water supplies that are provided by your municipalities, anyone with a well for their home or livestock and anyone with spring fed creeks or ponds. It will affect you and your children in the future.
'We need to all be vocal and united in this fight to protect our resources, our water and our way of life.'
Action in Anderson County
According to Anderson County Judge Carey McKinney, the posting in the paper was the first notification to community leaders and water districts that this 'type of activity' was happening within the county.
Two special meetings on this issue have been held by McKinney at the Anderson County Annex. The first was a community meeting held Friday, May 31.
The second was a special called meeting of the Commissioners Court on Wednesday, June 4, to consider and take action to authorize the county judge to file a request with the NTVGCD for the purpose of contesting the granting of applications to drill 21 wells for Redtown Ranch, and the 22 water wells for Pine Bliss LLC.
'This is going to affect every citizen in Anderson County,' McKinney said in his opening statements of that meeting.
Prior to a unanimous vote of approval, the Commissioners opened the floor to allow concerned residents who had signed up to speak to address the well issue.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Greg Chapin said he and County Extension Agent Truman Lamb believe it will affect the agriculture industry in Anderson County.
'Truman and I met on this, and the agriculture impact this is going to have, just on the growth of grass or crops, the productions of that, the small scale water wells of these individuals, these mom and pops, their gonna hit first, they are gonna be struggling for those wells to produce for them, then it's gonna start working over our bigger industries and water producers,' Chapin said. 'It's coming from the lowest level all the way to the top. It's gonna hurt everybody, I feel.'
Billy Jack Wight, a resident of Elkhart with property near Redtown Ranch, questioned the Commissioners on whether or not the new owners of Redtown Ranch had the necessary electrical capabilities to power generators for the wells to pull this amount of water.
Houston County Judge Jim Lovell, who was present for the meeting, informed the group that shortly after this group acquired the ranch they spent $1 million running a three-phase line from Houston County Electric Co-Op to the ranch. That was already in place.
McKinney noted this will affect Lake Palestine, which is owned by Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority. There are three entities that have contracts for water supply and storage with UNRMWA – the city of Palestine, which can pull a little over 20 million gallons per day – this is fed through the Neches River; the city of Tyler which can receive 60 million gallons of raw water per day and the city of Dallas.
Johnnie Parker, owner of PH20 Eco Solutions LLC, a company that uses forward osmosis technology to recycle and reuse water, told the commissioner they are in for a fight.
'This is a water war,' Parker said. 'How are you going to stop it, if it can be stopped?
'What y'all are facing is bad. These people are going to take your water and they are going to use it for profit and what they are going to do is they are going to take it from here, impound it somewhere else, they are going to hold it until you don't have water anymore for you to provide for your communities and your families and then when that happens, it puts the pressure on you and then you have to go back and rebuy your commodities, your resources that you allowed them to take out of here.'
Parker told the Commissioners they were on a short time frame to address the issue. He said everyone in the county needed to put all their differences aside and work together and encouraged everyone to send in a contest into the ground water district.
Houston County Sheriff Zak Benge
'We need to all be vocal and united in this fight to protect our resources, our water and our way of life" - Houston County Sheriff Zak Benge
How residents can help fight back
Chapin encouraged everyone to send in a written contest to the NTVGWD.
'This is just building the momentum to get it started, to try to file in injunction to slow them down, and then at that point, if we can get lawyered up enough, lobbied up enough, to be able to go in and change some laws, that could protect us on the amounts they can take out or whether they can do it at all, that's where we got to start at. So if this is a one year process, or a five year process, this is a battle and it's a fight, and the more we go, we need to build more momentum to try to get more representation in the next session (in Austin) so that we can change the laws to take and defend our communities and what we do with this water.'
'The way the laws are written right now, this is a perfectly legitimate business that can be approved and passed through,' Pct. 2 Commissioner Mims said. 'Everything in the state is permitting it right now. We have no way of stopping anything and that is why we are asking for the public and everybody's support in helping us.'
Anyone who wishes to protest the application for these wells is encouraged to provide a written notice/email to the district with reasons why you are contesting the wells, meaning how these wells would be detrimental to your own well, lakes, stock ponds, other water sources and access to water. The deadline to contest the wells is 11 a.m. Thursday, June 19.
Notice can be emailed to [e-mail] or mailed to:
Neches & Trinity Valleys GCD
PO Box 1387
Jacksonville, TX 75766
If you send a contest in by email, you should get an email back acknowledging your contested email was received by the NTVGCD.
A hearing will be scheduled upon receipt of written notice to the district and all parties will be notified of the hearing time and date.
If no one contests the application, the hearing will be canceled.
This district's rules are on the NTVGCD website at www.ntvgcd.org.
Letter from Rep. Cody Harris
Letter from Rep. Cody Harris
Letter from Rep. Trent Ashby
Letter from Rep. Trent Ashby
The 19 listed municipal water user groups in Anderson County
There are 19 listed municipal water user groups in Anderson County, including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice supplies for Coffield and the Beto Gurney & Powledge Units that these wells could affect.