All five Permian discharge applications—for the Pecos River basin—are currently under TCEQ review and comments are open now. You can submit comments or request a public meeting through TCEQ’s eComment site.
- NGL Water Solutions Permian (Reeves County) — #WQ0005445000 — Proposed permit details —
- Solaris Water Midstream (Reeves County) — #WQ0005471000 — Proposed permit details —
- Solaris Water Midstream No. 2 (Culberson County) — #WQ0005474000 — Proposed permit details —
- Texas Pacific Water Resources (Reeves County) — #WQ0005454000 — Proposed permit details —
- Select Water Solutions (Reeves County) — #WQ0005495000 — Proposed permit details —
Readers living in Texas can also subscribe to TCEQ’s permit notices, which allow Texas residents to get notice of projects planned for their zip code—or monitor its long list of pending wastewater permits.
Anyone can comment, but those who are directly impacted by these discharges—downstream landowners, irrigators, water users, and people who rely on the Pecos—can go further. If enough write in, they can push the agency into a contested hearing—a trial-like proceeding where they can challenge the permit’s facts. And if they’ve commented, they can establish the standing to challenge a project in court.
At some point in the coming months, the agency will start issuing draft permits, which will start a 30 day counter, after which comment will close.
For those who are impacted, environmental advocates say, the key things to do are are:
- Taking good records of how you use the affected waterway for business, recreation or irrigation
- Commenting within 30 days of the issuance of a draft permit to establish standing, and
- Getting organized before the permits drop, because once they do, things move fast.
Veterans of this process emphasize that the odds of successfully getting a permit denied or revoked are low. But contested hearings, court battles and local comments form a broader drama of local democracy that can sway elected officials, persuade companies to seek greener pastures, and become grist for electoral or legislative efforts at reform—as the grassroots campaigns against data centers have shown.
If you or someone you know relies on water near the proposed discharge sites, owns or works affected land, irrigates downstream, or has information that could help document the risks, contact Future Heist. We can help connect people with public-interest environmental lawyers following these cases.