Companies are leasing land over aquifers, buying farmers' water rights and pooling them to sell water to cities. These companies are possibly becoming a threat to LCRA's water monopoly of the area. Aquifer water will provide a second source of water for cities. Notice how close the Carrizo/Wilcox Aquifer is to eastern Round Rock.

END-OP and Blue Water are local water supply companies. They are planning to pipe water from the Simsboro strata of the Wilcox Aquifer in Lee, Milam, Burleson and Bastrop Counties. The Simsboro has 8 times the total capacity of all the reservoirs in the State combined.  It has about 200 million acre feet of stored water.  Lakes Travis and Buchanan combined have only 445,000 acre feet of firm water.  The Aquifer has no evaporation, is sand-based so the water moves through it slowly and has excellent water quality. Water experts consider it drought-proof.

Some cities are planning their own wells into the aquifer. San Marcos , Kyle, Buda and 4 other water supply companies (Maxwell, Martindale, County Line and Crystal Clear) have formed the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency. They plan to pipe water from the Carrizo/Wilcox Aquifer system to their respective areas.

The plan for Region G (the Brazos River basin ) has aquifer water as the long-range, cost-effective water supply for Williamson County . Why is BCRUA using drought-prone Lake Travis first when they have drought-proof aquifer water in their own basin?

Cities have a choice: Buy from the water companies and avoid the costs of infrastructure OR join with other cities forming groups like the Hays Caldwell PUA, or the BCRUA, and put in their own infrastructure for aquifer water.