Texas Edwards Aquifer protection plans

The Edwards Aquifer Protection Program of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulates activities that could pollute the Edwards Aquifer, a drinking water source for San Antonio and surrounding central Texas communities. Anyone planning a regulated activity over the regulated zones of the aquifer must have a protection plan reviewed and approved by TCEQ before disturbing soil at the site.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name these plans among its standard record sources. For a property in central Texas they are still worth checking, for two reasons.

• A plan is a record of what was approved. An Edwards Aquifer protection plan outlines the best management practices to be put in place and maintained during and after construction to keep contaminants in stormwater from reaching the aquifer. Regulated activities include construction, land clearing, and the installation of aboveground or underground storage tanks. TCEQ says an approved site is then monitored for compliance.
• The setting raises the stakes. TCEQ explains that the Edwards is a karst aquifer: fractures, caves, sinking streams and sinkholes act as conduits from the surface, so surface pollution from stormwater runoff or spills directly affects the aquifer's water quality. A release over a regulated zone is a reason to look closely.

What a plan can include

TCEQ lists these plan types:

• a water pollution abatement plan;
• an organized sewage collection system plan;
• an underground storage tank facility plan;
• an aboveground storage tank facility plan;
• a contributing zone plan.

A tank facility over the aquifer may therefore have an Edwards plan in addition to its Petroleum Storage Tank registration.

Which properties it covers

Only portions of the Edwards Aquifer are regulated by TCEQ. The program applies to the aquifer's recharge, transition and contributing zones, and TCEQ's map viewer shows whether a location is over a regulated zone. The rules are in 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 213.

Where to look a site up

• TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer Protection Program page links the map viewer and a list of protection plan applications under review, by county.
• TCEQ directs questions to its regional offices: Austin, at 512-339-2929, for Williamson, Travis and Hays counties, and San Antonio, at 210-490-3096, for Comal, Bexar, Medina, Uvalde and Kinney counties.

Getting the file

TCEQ offers three routes to its records: TCEQ Records Online for records already scanned, an email to the Central File Room (cfrreq@tceq.texas.gov) to view or copy paper and microform records, and a Public Information Request for records that are not available through the file room or that contain confidential information.

Sources

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality pages, read September 30, 2026:

• Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, last modified September 11, 2026.
• Edwards Aquifer Protection Plans, last modified July 22, 2026.
• Groundwater and Wells, last modified February 4, 2026.
• Access Records from our Central File Room, last modified July 17, 2026.