1. Synopsis of Groundwater
and Agriculture on the
Texas Gulf Coast
Presented by Ronald
Gertson
Regional Water Planner;
Coastal Bend GCD President;
Rice producer and rural water
advocate

2. Surface Water for Ag Increasingly
Unreliable
LCRA cut off water to rice producers in three
coastal counties for the first time ever reducing
total rice acreage in Texas by 30% for 2011
Other surface water providers had similar plans,
but received rainfall sufficient to supply
irrigation water
LCRA’s Water Management Plan decreases
irrigation water availability as municipal and
industrial demands increase

3. Surface Water Unreliability =
Growth in Groundwater Demand
25
20
15
20
10
16
4
5 4
0
5
0
4 4
3 3 3
0
1 1 1
0 0 0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
New Wells (Commercial, Industrial, Municipal New Wells (Agricultural Irrigation

4. Coastal Bend GCD Facts
MAG = 178,000 ac-ftac-
7-yr average annual reported use = 142,367 ac-ft
ac-
Increase in permitted volume since last annual
use reports tallied = 28,104 ac-ft
ac-
The increase in groundwater permitted volume
resulting largely from decreased surface water
reliability puts Coastal Bend at risk of exceeding
its MAG soon unless restrictions are imposed.

5. Additional Forces at Play.
Agriculture is by far the largest water user in the
area
Record high farm commodity prices are making
irrigation affordable for crops previously not
irrigated on the gulf coast
Water demands highest when weather driest –
have seen 125% higher water use in dry years
than in wet years

6. Water Planning and Agriculture
Water demand is expected to be higher than
supply from now on
State Water Plan projecting ag demand to
decrease by 17% by 2060 due mainly to
decreasing groundwater availability in the
Ogallala and Gulf Coast Aquifers
Irrigation drops from using 60% of available
water in 2010 to 45% in 2060

7. Critical Food Supply Situation
The UN predicts that the world food supply
must increase by 70% by 2050 to feed the
world’s population
Many of the world’s main food production
regions rely heavily on aquifers that are not
being sustainably managed and therefore will be
unable to sustain current food production

8. The Bottom Line
Texas agriculture must produce more food and
fiber with less water
This will require:
Innovations yet unseen
Creative and unique partnerships
Active participation by all – producers and
consumers
Shifts in diets yielding sustainable shifts in
production or vice versa