It was standing room only in the District Courtroom in Freestone County, Texas last week as concerned Water Supply entities, elected county officials, and local landowners gave voice to their reservations concerning three drilling and operating permits requested by an out-of-state company seeking to build a salmon farm a few miles north of Fairfield, Texas.

National Sustainable Enterprises (NSE Lonestar, LLC) of Roswell, Georgia is seeking to drill and operate three new water production wells on Freestone County property owned by Cynthia Outlaw.

The permits, and a Public Hearing, were on the Tuesday, June 22, 2021 agenda for the Mid-East Texas Groundwater Conservation District (METGCD).

This district manages groundwater in Freestone, Leon and Madison counties.

The ground water in the proposed NSE Lonestar permits is to be used for an aquaculture system on a proposed salmon farm, and subsequent irrigation, on the 1,414-acre Outlaw Ranch.

According to the applications, the proposed depth of the wells would be 350 feet, and the proposed production rate for each well would be 316.67 gallons per minute.

This groundwater would come from the Hooper layer of the Wilcox Aquifer.

These drilling and operating permits are actually a refiling of perviously approved permit applications that expired.

Those permits were granted on August 27, 2019 and authorized NSE Lonestar to complete the wells within 180 days.

According to letters sent to adjoining landowners, the COVID pandemic and related issues contributed to a temporary halting of the proposed salmon farm.

The proposed water wells were not drilled, and the permits expired after the 180 days.

In their letter requesting a Contested Case Hearing, the CIty of Streetman stated that these permit applications would authorize “the staggering volume 500,000,000 gallons per year” from an aquifer that various cities, water supply corporations, and private well owners rely on for their lives and livelihoods.

As of press time, The City of Teague, The City of Kirvin, and the South Freetone Water Supply Corporation have filed a similar request.

They contend the following:

–Based on METGCD’s management plan, the proposed salmon farm operation would utilize more than 33% of all groundwater available for all purposes in the Wilcox aquifer;

–Allowing one project developer to have more than one-third of all avialable groundwater is irresponsible and unfair to the residents of Freestone County;

–METGCD’s management plan does not even mention aquaculture as a legitimate purpose of use of groundwater;

–NSE Lonestar’s intent to use the water for irrigation is false and misleading, as the amount is five times what is needed for irrigation, according to METCGD’s management plan; and

–NSE Lonestar’s drilling permit applications incorrectly show the purpose of groundwater to be “public water supply” rather than “commercial industrial,” as listed in the operating permit applications,

No action was taken on the Water Well Drilling/Operating Permits during the June meeting, in order to address the multiple requests for a contested case hearing.

Several attendees expressed an interest in obtaining a copy of the hydrogeologic report that was prepared for this project. That report may be found online at mideasttexasgcd.com

The next meeting for METGCD will be held in Centervile, Texas on Tuesday, August 24, 2021.

For questions, contact their office at 936-348-3212.