NASA research reveals low aquifer levels and conservation districts continue local work

By Leslie Lee

The surface water impacts of the drought are easy to see, as many lakes have closed public boat ramps, Groesbeck’s dependence on the depleted Navasota River nearly resulted in a water crisis, and low reservoirs are revealing mysteries and artifacts.

Because aquifers are hidden from sight and more difficult to measure, the drought’s impact on groundwater supplies is not as obvious.

Now data recently released by NASA has revealed just how bad groundwater levels are.

Groundwater levels in much of Texas are at the lowest levels in more than 60 years, according to new national maps produced by NASA using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) mission. The maps are distributed by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The latest groundwater map shows large patches of maroon over eastern Texas, indicating severely depressed groundwater levels. The maps, publicly available on the Drought Center's website, are generated weekly by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, using Grace gravity field data calculated at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas Center for Space Research.

"Texas groundwater will take months or longer to recharge," said Matt Rodell, a hydrologist based at Goddard, in a NASA news release. "Even if we have a major rainfall event, most of the water runs off. It takes a longer period of sustained greater-than-average precipitation to recharge aquifers significantly. Over a long-term dry period, there will be an effect on groundwater storage and groundwater levels.” 

While those long-term effects are yet to be seen, groundwater conservation districts (GCDs) across the state continue working to manage local groundwater resources.

Districts are also taking the opportunity to educate the public about the importance of groundwater, said Stacey Steinbach, executive director of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts (TAGD). 

“Many of our districts have frequent educational seminars, and some have programs in local schools,” Steinbach said. “But now, because of the drought, districts are stepping up and providing even more needed information on groundwater. They are answering questions from the public, educating their permit holders and educating local organizations about the importance of groundwater management.”

TAGD members represent 77 local groundwater conservation districts in Texas and more than a dozen groundwater-related consulting firms, law firms, and other businesses.  

“Our mission is promoting local, sound management of groundwater in the state,” Steinbach said. “And the great thing about local management of groundwater is that it allows you to address the specific issues that are unique to that district.”

Providing a needed link between local management and state authorities, one TAGD member serves on the state Drought Preparedness Council.

“Our Vice President, David Van Dresar, of Fayette County Groundwater Conservation District, serves on the council, which helps facilitate communication between state agencies and GCDs,” Steinbach said.

For more information on NASA’s GRACE project, see this news release. For more information on TAGD, visit their website.