Regional Water Plan: Region C, 2016, Volume 1. Main Report Page: 5D.177
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5D.7 Freestone County
Figure 5D.7 is a map of Freestone County. Most Freestone County water user groups use groundwater
from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer to meet their current needs. By far the largest demand in Freestone
County is for steam electric power. Supplies for steam electric power come primarily from surface water:
" Upstream diversions of Lake Livingston water by contract with Trinity River Authority (TRA)
" Purchase of water from Richland-Chambers Reservoir from Tarrant Regional Water District
(TRWD) through TRA
" Lake Fairfield supplies.
Freestone County is in the Mid-East Texas Groundwater Conservation District (3), which also includes Leon
and Madison Counties. The Mid-East Texas GCG is part of Groundwater Management Area 12, which
along with TWDB has developed a groundwater model and modeled available groundwater values for this
area since the publication of the 2011 Region C Water Plan. Based on the new modeled available
groundwater as determined by the Texas Water Development Board (TWBD), current groundwater
pumping from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Freestone County far exceeds the modeled available
groundwater. The modeled available groundwater in the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is 5,223 acre-feet per
year, and 2011 pumping from the aquifer was 9,496 acre-feet per year.
However, a very large portion of the current pumping (about 5,000 acre-feet per year) is associated with
the dewatering of lignite mines. By TWDB rules, this use is counted as part of the mining demand for
regional planning and requires a reliable supply within the modelled available groundwater for the county.
However, dewatering for mining is exempt from permitting and not subject to control by groundwater
districts.
As required by TWDB, this plan calls for the use of other sources of supply (surface water from Corsicana
and Tarrant Regional Water District) to reduce use of the Carrizo-Wilcox to the modeled available
groundwater. It is unclear if any entities will in fact decrease their pumping from the aquifer based on the
recommendations in this plan. One result of this approach is that the plan shows a large unmet need for
mining use, associated with lignite mine dewatering. We expect the mining and the use to continue
regardless.
The proposed water management strategies for Freestone County include:
" Additional water for steam electric power from TRWD (Richland-Chambers Reservoir) through
TRA
" Indirect reuse for steam electric power from TRA2016 Region C Water Plan
5 D.177
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Freese and Nichols, Inc. Regional Water Plan: Region C, 2016, Volume 1. Main Report, report, December 2015; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth838641/m1/535/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.