The multi-faceted groundwater protection program includes locating, identifying and assessing all Edwards wells, prioritizing a list of known abandoned wells and implementing the required action for reducing potential risks to groundwater quality. Initiatives designed to protect water quality in the area of the Recharge Zone include: Special handling and storage of regulated materials; assessing and monitoring conservation easements; improving the implementation and maintenance of rural and urban best management practices; and training first responders to reduce potential Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (EARZ) impacts resulting from accidents and emergencies. Additionally, the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program (EAPP) and Edwards Aquifer State Resource Concern (EA SRC) programs also protect natural recharge quality and quantity.
First in 2000 and again in 2005, 2010 and 2015, San Antonio voters elected to support a one-eighth-cent sales tax to protect land over the environmentally sensitive Recharge and Contributing Zones of the Edwards Aquifer via the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program (EAPP).
In collaboration with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the EAA offers financial assistance in addition to NRCS funding for selected beneficial practices in the EA SRC. Selected practices eligible for funding are listed on page 3 of the EASRC Brochure as Primary Focus zones for landowners approved through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
To protect and preserve the region’s primary groundwater supply, the EAA requires notification of spills of regulated materials (PDF) that occur over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.