BUDA, Texas (KXAN) – A company that wants to pump millions of gallons of water from an aquifer up to Buda insists there is enough water for everyone. But nearby well owners remain skeptical and fear their water source will dry up.
“I don’t think anyone has the right to come in here and take this water away from us,” said Vicki Hujsak, who lives in the Deer Lake neighborhood in Wimberley. “We’re hoping that as soon as possible, the judge will put an injunction on that action.”
Hujsak is also the president of the Trinity Edward’s Springs Protection Association which filed a lawsuit against Electro Purification, the Houston-based company who wants to pump millions of gallons of water each day from the Trinity aquifer.
“This is something that’s irreplaceable,” Hujsak added. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.”
The company called a press conference Monday to clear up what it called misinformation.
“Number one message is, there is a lot more water than people have been led to believe,” said John Hatch with Electro Purification.
The company hired a private contractor to test the area and reported six out of the seven wells they looked at produced nearly 2.5 gallons of water a day, and that meets state water quality guidelines.
“If your well is in the Upper Trinity Aquifer, if your well is in the Edward’s Aquifer, if your well is in the Lower Trinity Aquifer, you’re not hydraulically connected to the Middle Trinity Aquifer,” said Kaveh Khorzad.
In other words, the company says most people will not be impacted. But for people like Hujsak, whose well is in the Middle Trinity Aquifer, the company is trying to determine the extent which wells are impacted. And it is why she and others remain concerned.
When it comes to the Middle Trinity Aquifer and other layers of groundwater, Electro Purification says it is also paying to monitor them in the next phase of testing.