What’s the Issue? Pumping increasing volumes of groundwater can lead to land subsidence, more flooding and a loss of storage capacity in our aquifers. Surface water costs more. Montgomery County does not have enough groundwater to rely on it alone. As residents of The Woodlands, we need a long-term water supply that protects property values, provides safe drinking water and remains affordable. Surface water can help meet that need, but it comes with higher costs.

What Do Your Woodlands Residents First Candidates Support? We support greater use of surface water to protect our aquifers and preserve the long-term reliability of our groundwater wells. We have supported increased throughput at the surface water plant. We are currently evaluating the technical merits and costs of increasing our use of surface water from the plant. We remain committed to coordinated county leadership to address our long-term water challenges.

Dig Deeper? In 2010, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District Board, or LSGCD, hired hydrogeologists to determine how much groundwater could be pumped each year without causing additional irreversible compaction of our aquifers as the county grew.

Hydrogeologists recommended limiting groundwater pumping to 64,000 acre-feet per year. To help meet that goal, a $500 million surface water treatment plant was built on Lake Conroe, and the county’s large users entered into an agreement called the Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP). To finance the plant, the users paid an SJRA fee based on water use. This agreement shared the plant’s fixed costs and reduced the need for extensive redundant water transmission lines while helping curb groundwater pumping.

That agreement was immediately challenged in court. Without a meaningful requirement to reduce groundwater use, the GRP lost much of its force. Since then, county groundwater pumping has risen sharply, and subsidence measurements have exceeded pre-GRP rates.

A 2024 U.S. Geological Survey report documents notable declines in aquifer levels across Montgomery County, signaling increasing stress on groundwater resources. Additionally, a growing number of water utilities that depend solely on groundwater are proactively seeking alternative water sources to supplement continued groundwater drawdown. Over the past several years, the SJRA’s GRP Review Committee has experienced increased demand for surface water from multiple water production entities.