February 11, 2021

The 2017 Texas state water plan projects total supply deficits of 4.8 and 8.9 million acre-feet under drought-of-record conditions by the year 2020 and 2070. Reductions in groundwater supply account for 95% of anticipated declines in supply. In their recent article in the Texas Water Journal, "Exploring Groundwater Recoverability in Texas: Maximum Economically Recoverable Storage," Justin Thompson, Charles Kreitler, and Michael Young provide an analysis of groundwater extraction feasibility and simulate maximum economically recoverable storage for conditions representative of the central section of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. Their results indicate that certain uses may be limited to as little as 1% of current groundwater availability estimates. They suggest that Texas may need an alternate approach for estimating groundwater recoverability.