Summary: Parker County has the most water wells in Texas. The most recent annual Texas Groundwater Protection Committee report documents 2,870 active cases of TX groundwater contamination. Groundwater provides more than half of the state’s water supply.
Latest Update: posted 07 January, 2025
Tags:#FortWorthWater
Of the 2,870 active cases of groundwater contamination in TX, a dozen are in Parker County and none are in Willow Park.
Parker County has the largest number of water wells in Texas. [1]
The most recent annual Texas Groundwater Protection Committee report documents 2,870 active cases of groundwater contamination around the state. [2]
Groundwater provides more than half of the state’s water supply. [2]
The most recent annual Texas Groundwater Protection Committee report documents 2,870 active cases of groundwater contamination around the state. Texas agencies, that make up the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee, reported 252 new cases of groundwater contamination during 2023 in the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee annual report. [2]
Texas voters created a $1 billion fund in 2023 to develop more water resources for the state, including desalination of brackish groundwater.
Willow Park Civics Sources and Resources
[1] Upper Trinity Water Well Report by County, Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District
[2] Texas regulators report more than 250 new cases of groundwater contamination, The Texas Tribune, 17 December 2024, Excerpts
An annual report documents 2,870 active cases of groundwater contamination around the state. Groundwater provides more than half of the state’s water supply.
Texas agencies reported 252 new cases of groundwater contamination during 2023 in the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee annual report.
The latest report compiles 2,870 open cases of groundwater contamination, some of which date back decades. Nearly every county in Texas is impacted by the problem. During 2023, Texas regulators notified 34 local authorities — from El Paso to Houston — that newly-identified contamination could impact their public drinking water. An additional 289 property owners were notified that groundwater contamination may impact their private wells.
Groundwater contamination is costly to remediate and can linger for years or indefinitely. Public water utilities test their wells for regulated contaminants and shut off wells when necessary. But the contamination risk is more insidious at private water wells, which are not subject to water quality standards.
Texas relies on groundwater from aquifers for about 55% of its water supply. As the population grows and the climate changes, groundwater will make up an even larger piece of the pie. Texas voters created a $1 billion fund in 2023 to develop more water resources for the state, including desalination of brackish groundwater.
Annual report summarizes contamination
The Texas Groundwater Protection Committee brings together nine state agencies and TAGD, the alliance of groundwater districts. The protection committee coordinates the activities of these agencies under Texas law, which requires that “groundwater be kept reasonably free of contaminants that interfere with present and potential uses of groundwater.”
The committee releases an annual report on groundwater contamination confirmed in the previous year. This year’s report, released in October, covers groundwater contamination documented in 2023. The report, and a map with the location of existing groundwater contamination, is available on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website.
TCEQ, the state’s environmental regulator, and the Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas drilling and other extractive industries, both document cases of groundwater contamination in their jurisdiction for the report.
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