Bech Bruun, P.G., et al., report that groundwater is a vital, yet hidden, natural resource that lies beneath Texas. More than 60 percent of water used in Texas comes from groundwater in 9 major and 21 minor aquifers. An aquifer is a geologic formation that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs. Major aquifers produce large amounts of fresh groundwater over large areas of the state, while minor aquifers produce smaller amounts of freshwater over large areas or larger amounts over smaller areas. There are also other aquifers in Texas that may represent significant local sources of groundwater. The major and minor aquifers, extending beneath 81 percent of the land area of Texas, include confined aquifers that are fully saturated, holding water under pressure, and unconfined aquifers that are partly saturated, where the water table surface is free to rise and decline.
This report presents information on the geology and hydrogeology of the confined and unconfined aquifers of Texas, including the quantity and quality of the groundwater that they contain, the volume of flows from the aquifers to the surface waters of the state, and the volume of flows between the aquifers. This report fulfills the requirements of House Bill 1232, which was passed by the 84th Texas Legislature and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 28,
2015.
The total estimated quantity of fresh and brackish-to-saline groundwater in Texas aquifers is 16.8 billion acre-feet. Major aquifers contain an estimated 12.6 billion acre-feet of groundwater; minor aquifers contain an estimated 4.24 billion acre-feet of groundwater. Not all of this groundwater, however, is recoverable because of aquifer limits and the state of current technology. Between 25 and 75 percent of this volume may be recoverable, but this range does not account for possible economic, environmental, or legal consequences of such pumping.
The Gulf Coast and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers, in the coastal plains of Texas, cover about 30 percent of the state and account for two-thirds of the groundwater in storage. Although more groundwater is pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer than all other aquifers combined, the total recoverable groundwater storage remaining in this aquifer amounts to between 95.3 to 286 million acre-feet, or between 2 and 5 percent of the recoverable groundwater in storage in Texas.
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