Explosive growth strains Texas water supplies
The Central Texas Interstate 35 corridor continues to see explosive growth, with cities like Georgetown, Liberty Hill, New Braunfels, and San Marcos expanding rapidly. Liberty Hill’s population has more than doubled since 2020, and Georgetown recently surpassed 100,000 residents. Metro areas such as Austin and San Antonio are expected to double by 2050, growth driven by job creation, suburban migration, and massive industrial investment.
This growth demands not just more housing and infrastructure but also dramatically more water. To meet this demand, large groundwater pipeline projects have been proposed. They would transport fresh water from East and Central Texas aquifers, such as the Carrizo-Wilcox and Simsboro, to cities farther west and south.
A Turning Point: Legal and Public Resistance Grows
A major May 2025 test case challenging Upwell Water’s Carrizo-Wilcox export pipeline to Georgetown has added legal uncertainty to the situation. Although the court upheld the project’s permits, it acknowledged concerns from affected landowners and groundwater districts, allowing for further administrative reviews that could delay or limit future expansion. The decision has become a rallying point for communities facing similar proposals.
Public pushback across several East Texas counties has intensified, with town halls and official objections highlighting growing concern over aquifer depletion and lack of local oversight.
As public concern has grown, lawmakers from East Texas have asked Gov. Greg Abbott to include water rights on the agenda for a special legislative session. The goal is to bring state-level focus to balancing economic development with aquifer sustainability. Ideas include h3er modeling standards, export permitting reviews, and clearer public input processes.
The Case for Brackish Groundwater Desalination
While competing interests persist over freshwater exports, a less contentious alternative is gaining ground: brackish groundwater desalination, particularly through BWRO (brackish water reverse osmosis) desalination systems. BWRO systems draw from aquifers that are not used for drinking water. Brackish aquifers, which are mildly saline groundwater formations, are common throughout Central Texas and have been identified by the Texas Water Development Board as a key resource for sustainable growth.
Because brackish water is far less salty than seawater, BWRO systems cost significantly less to operate and require much less energy. Typical BWRO operating pressures are just 150 to 300 psi, compared to more than 800 psi for seawater RO. According to the Texas Water Development Board, the average municipal cost for BWRO desalinated water in Texas is $357 to $782 per acre-foot, in contrast to seawater desalination at $800 to $1,400 per acre-foot.
But while lawmakers are trying to avert a crisis with funding for desalination, public sector adoption of these solutions remains years away.
Water-as-a-Service®: A Turnkey Solution for Municipalities
In contrast to the slower traditional design-bid-build project model, Seven Seas Water Group has developed an efficient infrastructure delivery model called Water-as-a-Service® (WaaS®) that keeps all aspects of projects under one roof, from in-house financing to design, construction, operations, and maintenance.
With build-own-operate financing and leasing arrangements available, decision-makers who want BWRO desalination can move forward without the red tape. WaaS® allows communities to adopt BWRO technology without taking on large capital debt by replacing all the technical, compliance, and logistic complexities with a single, easily budgeted bill for services used, with no surprise maintenance or repair costs.
WaaS® is already making an impact in the Lone Star State.
- Alice, Texas: Seven Seas is delivering a 2.7 million-gallon-per-day (12,274 cubic meters per day) BWRO desalination plant to the city under a long-term WaaS® agreement, helping it avoid debt while gaining long-term supply security.
- South Texas Water Authority (STWA): Serving Kingsville and neighboring communities, STWA partnered with Seven Seas for a regional solution that supports population growth without draining nearby freshwater aquifers.
East Texas knows Seven Seas through Houston-based subsidiary AUC Group, a top provider of municipal drinking water and wastewater systems in the region.
Resilient Growth Without Costly Competition for Resources
As demand increases across Central Texas, long-distance pipeline projects face rising costs, delays, and growing public resistance. Municipal leaders seeking smarter, more flexible options can benefit from Seven Seas’ full-service water and wastewater infrastructure with no upfront capital burden, ensuring that cities and businesses maintain resilience even as the water landscape becomes more volatile.
Brackish groundwater desalination, delivered through Water-as-a-Service®, empowers communities to expand on their own terms without regional disputes, bond debt, or dwindling freshwater sources. Thanks to modular design and a focus on decentralization, Seven Seas can operate plants on a wide range of scales and under more difficult and remote conditions.
Contact the experts at Seven Seas Water Group to learn how your city or utility can develop a local, cost-effective BWRO solution to ensure long-term water security for decades to come.