Anderson County Commissioners Court on a June 2025 meeting authorized the county judge to file requests with the Trinity Valley Groundwater Conservation District to contest permit applications for 21 water wells by RedTown Ranch LLC and 22 water wells by Pine Bliss LLC, with county legal assistance and an engagement letter with Allison Bass and Associates.

The court motion — carried by voice vote — directs the judge to submit contests under the district's hearing rules (section 12) and to coordinate with county general counsel and the retained law firm to prepare filings before the district's deadline. "The contest has to be filed by June 19 at 11:00," Judge McKinney told the court, emphasizing the time-sensitive nature of the process.

Why this matters: county officials and water-system managers told the court the combined permit applications propose removing more groundwater than Anderson County's allocated safe yield. The county presentation cited a permit total of about 10,183,500,000 gallons per year (about 33,132.15 acre-feet) for the proposed projects and noted Anderson County's projected safe annual withdrawal at about 27,024 acre-feet. "If you add that to what they're talking about taking out ... we're talking about 43,125 acre-feet coming out," the judge said, citing district and Texas Water Development Board data distributed to the court.

Speakers at the meeting and technical concerns

County Judge McKinney led the presentation that described the notice process, the June 19 filing deadline, and the figures the county is using to assess impact. He said local water-system operators and neighboring counties are coordinating contests and gathering usage data for the filings. "We're trying to gather what each water system — how much water they actually use in a year," McKinney said.

Brandon Cowart, representing Lone Pine Water, flagged a discrepancy between the numeric counts in the permit notices and the applicant maps. "If you guys will look in there ... instead of RedTown being 21, the company map shows 32 wells," Cowart said. He added that Pine Bliss's map appears to show 27 wells plus one test well, raising questions about the final scale of proposed drilling.

Houston County Judge Jim Lovell, who joined by phone, told the court the RedTown Ranch already has a three-phase power line in place to support pumping infrastructure. "Prior to any news about this ... they spent a million dollars running a 3-phase line from Houston County Electric Co-op to the ranch," Lovell said, describing existing capacity to power large pumps.

Technical and legal voices at the meeting urged coordinated, funded responses. Charles McReynolds, a retired Texas Commission on Environmental Quality engineer, warned that large withdrawals can outpace recharge and cited multi-year recharge times for the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer. Perrin Roller, a professional engineer representing Norwood Water Supply Company, encouraged water providers to pool resources to pay for legal and hydrologic work. "It is not gonna be a cheap ordeal," Roller said, urging a pro rata funding approach among water systems.

Public commenters, industry and county officials stressed local impacts: cattle producers, small-well owners and water-supply operators warned of falling water levels, increased costs and risks to future development. Johnny Parker, owner of PHDO EcoSolutions LLC, described the larger market dynamics: "They're going to take it from here ... and they're going to hold it until you don't have water anymore ... and then you're going to have to buy your water back," he said.

Court action and next steps

The court voted to authorize the county judge to file the contests with assistance from general counsel and the retained law firm; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Hill and approved by voice vote. The court record does not contain a roll-call tally. The court also discussed and approved consent items including routine bills and budget amendment numbers 46 and 48 by separate motion.

Court staff and speakers identified several immediate tasks for residents and water systems: file individual contests for each permit application (the court clarified that a separate contest is required for each LLC/application), gather meter counts and annual withdrawal figures from local water systems, and consider pooling legal and engineering resources for an injunction or more extensive litigation and technical review. The judge's office indicated it will circulate an example contest template and help coordinate copies of hydrology reports and other documents for counsel review.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to authorize the county judge to file contests with the Trinity Valley Groundwater Conservation District against permit applications for 21 wells by RedTown Ranch LLC and 22 wells by Pine Bliss LLC (assist with general counsel/Allison Bass & Associates): seconded by Commissioner Hill; approved by voice vote.
- Consent agenda (bills, budget amendment #46 and #48): Motion by Commissioner Chapin; seconded; approved by voice vote.

What remains uncertain

Speakers noted differences between the permit notice counts and the applicant maps, the ultimate destinations of the pumped water, and whether the district could approve a reduced extraction amount rather than deny permits outright. The district's rules and the state statutes governing groundwater hearings will frame the timing and scope of any hearing. County officials repeatedly emphasized that contests must be timely and that broad local participation will strengthen the county's position.

Community follow-up

County staff and water-system leaders asked residents and private-well owners to submit individual contests where applicable, to provide estimates of annual withdrawal to the county, and to consider joining coordinated funding for counsel and hydrogeologic analysis. The county indicated it will share the district website links, application packets and a template for interested parties.

Ending

The commission closed the item by directing staff to proceed with the engagement letter to counsel and to begin assembling evidence and interested-party lists for the district contests. The court framed the effort as a multi-county, multi-stakeholder response to a fast-moving permitting timeline.