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Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN In addition to the above functions, the EAA Act gives the EAA the authority to conduct research on topics relevant to regional water resources management. This authority includes the ability to conduct or contract for research on topics including water quality, water resources management, the augmentation of springflow, and the development of additional water supplies. The EAA began developing regulations in 1996 to implement the EAA Act. The EAA's powers apply only to the use and management of the Aquifer within the EAA's boundaries. Except for water quality, as described below, the EAA has no regulatory powers over portions of the Aquifer outside of its boundaries, or over other groundwater within its boundaries. Moreover, the EAA has no authority over surface water resources. The EAA's water quantity jurisdiction is limited to the Aquifer within its boundaries, including all of Bexar, Medina, and Uvalde counties, and parts of Atascosa, Comal, Caldwell, Hays, and Guadalupe counties. This is the Plan (or Permit) Area proposed for coverage by the incidental take provisions of the HCP. Additionally, the EAA has extraterritorial water quality jurisdiction within a buffer zone extending five miles from its boundaries. Although the EAA's regulatory authority is limited to its jurisdictional boundaries and the five-mile buffer zone, the use and management of the Aquifer affects a much larger area. In addition to being the primary water source for over two million users within the EAA's boundaries, discharges from the Aquifer are also believed to supply a significant portion of the flow in the Guadalupe River Basin downstream of Comal and San Marcos Springs, particularly in drought conditions. 2 In 2007, the Texas Legislature passed of Senate Bill 3 (SB 3) amending the EAA Act to, among other things, . . . for the period beginning January 1, 2008, the amount of permitted withdrawals from the aquifer may not exceed or be less than 572,000 acre-feet (ac-ft) of water per calendar year . . subject to adoption and enforcement of a Critical Period Management (CPM) plan with withdrawal reduction percentages in the amounts indicated in Tables 1 and 2 of Section 1.26(b) of the EAA Act. Withdrawals are managed according to the index well levels or the Comal or San Marcos Springs flow, as applicable, for a total withdrawal reduction in Critical Period Stage IV of 40 percent of the permitted withdrawals under Table 1-1 for the San Antonio Pool and 35 percent under Table 1-2 for the Uvalde Pool. TABLE 1-1 CRITICAL PERIOD WITHDRAWAL REDUCTION STAGES FOR THE SAN ANTONIO POOL Critical Period Comal Springs San Marcos Springs Index Well J-17 Withdrawal Reduction Stage Flow (cfs) Flow (cfs) Level (MSL) - San Antonio Pool I <225 <96 <660 20% II <200 <80 <650 30% III <150 N/A <640 35% IV <100 N/A <630 40% cfs = cubic feet per second; MSL = mean sea level 2 th Senate Bill 3 (Act of May 28, 2007.), 80 Leg. R. S. ch 1430, §§ 12.01-12.12, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 5848, 5901. 1-5