"You can't even sell your house if you don't have a reliable source of water." Jared Thompson owns The Well Doctor, a well service company. He said it to KUT in March 2026 while describing how much it costs Hays County homeowners to chase falling aquifer levels. His remark is about selling, but it matters more to someone buying. A buyer looking at acreage near Wimberley this fall is buying land where getting a new well depends on what the household plans to use the water for. Even when a well is allowed, the district can't tell you how deep the water will be next year.
So the water source has moved to the front of the design process. The one source you fully control is the roof you haven't drawn yet.
The moratorium has an exception, and the exception sets the plan
The Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District covers Wimberley and western Hays County. Its gauge readings dated October 3, 2026 show the district in its Emergency Stage, with a 40% curtailment of groundwater pumping district-wide and 30% inside the Jacob's Well Groundwater Management Zone. The district-wide stage began in September 2024. The Jacob's Well zone stage began in March 2024.
During this stage the district won't accept New Well Construction Notifications for non-exempt uses. Its drought rules allow only two kinds of new wells right now: replacements for existing permitted wells and wells for exempt uses.
On a Wimberley parcel, the exemption that usually matters is a residential or domestic well. The district defines it as a well used solely by a single private household and incapable of producing more than 25,000 gallons per day. That covers water inside the home, a home-based business, lawn and family garden or orchard irrigation, domestic animals, a pool for a single residence, and a lined stock pond under a quarter acre. The district's August 2026 rule text also defines a domestic shared well that serves up to four single-family homes on the same or adjoining properties, under the same 25,000-gallon cap. The well form lists commercial use and community systems serving more than four dwellings as non-exempt.
For a buyer, that means the program for the property affects whether a new well is possible at all. A plan that adds a commercial operation goes past the exempt categories the district lists, and new non-exempt wells are closed.
The rules aren't settled ground in every detail. The district amended its rules on well permits, spacing, drought management and the Jacob's Well zone effective August 6, 2026. On August 24, 2026, Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra upheld the district's authority to halt new permitting during severe drought. The case is a dispute with Aqua Texas, and the Wimberley View reports that some of its issues still go to trial. A minimum tract size for an exempt well wasn't something we could confirm from the published materials, so confirm acreage eligibility for a specific parcel with the district directly.
An exempt well is permitted water, not promised water
The exemption gets you past the district's paperwork. It does nothing about the aquifer.
Thompson told KUT that water levels in Wimberley and Dripping Springs used to come back up to about 500 feet after heavy rains and were sitting around 660 to 690 feet. District general manager Laura Thomas said pumps are being lowered and wells replaced with deeper ones throughout western Hays County. KUT also reported that new wells in northern Hays County are being drilled into the confined Lower Trinity Aquifer, which has no ability to recharge.
The same KUT report put the maintenance costs in dollars. Lowering a pump can cost $1,500, replacing one usually runs about $7,500, and drilling a deeper well can cost upward of $75,000. In Radiance, a small community in northwestern Hays County, the second community well went dry in 2025. Residents went back to the original well under a boil-water order that lasted more than six months, and the community took out a $40,000 loan for a new well.
Water hauling is the usual backup, and it is under strain too. The district's drought page says local drillers are responding to more dry wells and burnt-out pumps, and that water haulers are trucking at full capacity. Wimberley's Hydro Haulers Bulk Water Delivery lists trucks that carry 2,000 gallons of drinking water. The district puts the chance of the drought ending in the next six months at less than 6.5 percent. Ending it would take 26 inches of rain.
The utility tap has a known price, but only some parcels can get it
On parcels inside its service area, the Wimberley Water Supply Corporation replaces the uncertainty of drilling with a fee schedule. Its 2026 rates for new service list a $36 monthly base rate for a 5/8-inch meter and a $5,383 equity buy-in. One-time charges include $584 for meter installation, $180 for membership, $75 for inspection, $25 for filing and a $1,000 HTGCD connection fee. The sheet's own example totals $7,288 with a box, and it warns that tap, road-cut and boring costs can be extra.
That fee schedule tells you what service costs. It doesn't tell you whether a given parcel can get it. You need confirmation that the parcel is inside the service area and that capacity is there. Longer-term supply planning is still at an early stage. On July 7, 2026, Hays County authorized negotiating an agreement of up to $50,000 with Accenture to explore a regional water partnership with Wimberley and Woodcreek. That work is planning. It doesn't commit to any new line or connection.
| Source | What decides it | Figures on record | What to confirm before you're committed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exempt domestic well | Single household or up to four homes on a shared well, 25,000 gallons per day or less | Pump lowering about $1,500; pump replacement about $7,500; deeper well upward of $75,000, per KUT, March 2026 | Acreage eligibility and current setbacks with HTGCD |
| Wimberley WSC connection | Service area and capacity at the parcel | $5,383 buy-in; $7,288 example one-time total on the 2026 sheet | Service availability letter; tap and boring costs |
| Rainwater as primary supply | Roof area and storage volume | 3,000 sq ft of roof and 30,000 gallons of storage meet indoor needs, per a 2025 Meadows Center study | Treatment design and tank siting |
The roof becomes the water source you design
In April 2026 the Hays Free Press reported on a 2025 study by The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University. The study found that a 3,000-square-foot roof with 30,000 gallons of storage can meet indoor household water needs statewide, even during severe drought. Marisa Bruno, water program manager for the Hill Country Alliance, called correctly designed rainwater harvesting a reliable alternative to groundwater. The article also notes that water for household consumption has to be properly filtered and disinfected.
From an architect's point of view, the important part of that finding is the unit it uses, which is roof area. Most site plans treat the roof as a style choice and the water supply as something the civil engineer handles. On a rainwater homesite, the collecting roof is the supply. The study's benchmark covers indoor use. Irrigation and a pool, both of which the exempt-well definition allows, aren't included in that figure. Covered outdoor rooms, a detached garage and a workshop roof all add capture area if they drain to storage. RainKeepers, a Wimberley company, describes a local home with a 16,000-gallon tank and a planned additional 10,000-gallon tank to serve a studio and workshop. Hill Country Rainwater, also based in Wimberley, says it has installed more than 500 potable whole-home systems.
The Texas Water Development Board gives $8,000 to $10,000 as a typical cost for a single-family system. It notes that professional installation and disinfection for drinking water can add to that, so read the figure as a general benchmark, not a Wimberley bid. Several local incentives take some cost out of the build:
- Texas exempts rainwater-harvesting equipment and supplies from state sales tax when the buyer gives the supplier Form 01-339.
- According to Hays CAD, Hays County offers a property tax exemption for systems of at least 2,500 gallons, and the City of Woodcreek offers one for systems of at least 10,000 gallons. Both require the system to be the household's primary supply. The system must be operating before January 1, and applications are due before April 30.
- The City of Wimberley waives its building permit issuance fee for single-family new construction or remodels that use rainwater as part of the primary water supply. Plan review, inspection and site development fees still apply.
Everything has to fit on the same lot
Wells, tanks and septic systems all need space, and the setbacks overlap. The district's February 2025 rules required a lower-output well to sit 150 feet from existing wells and 100 feet from an adjacent property line. They also set 50 feet from a septic tank and 100 feet from a drain field. The August 2026 amendment revised Rule 4, the section that sets these distances, so check the current numbers before you rely on them. On a narrow or steep tract, those circles can leave the well, the drain field and a 30,000-gallon tank competing for the same flat ground near the house.
County platting rules are also likely to change. Hays County released a draft of revised Development Regulations on July 20, 2026. The draft would strengthen water-availability certification before a final plat is recorded. The county's interim Development Services director expects it to reach Commissioners Court in late fall or early winter 2026. Until then it is a proposal, not an operative standard. Buyers looking at land that still has to be platted should plan for that timing.
What to resolve during due diligence
- Write down the intended use of the property, because that decides whether a new well is exempt.
- Ask HTGCD whether the parcel qualifies for an exempt domestic well and which setbacks apply after the August 6 amendment.
- If the parcel already has a well, get the well log and service history, and budget against KUT's pump and deepening figures.
- Request written confirmation of Wimberley WSC service availability and the tap, road-cut and boring costs for that address.
- Have a schematic drawn early enough to measure the collecting roof area and find level ground for storage outside the septic setbacks.
A few common questions
Does the drought moratorium stop me from building a house? The district bars new non-exempt wells. It still accepts wells for exempt uses, including a single-household domestic well.
Are exempt well owners curtailed? The drought plan makes curtailment mandatory for non-exempt users and strongly encouraged for exempt users.
Is the Jacob's Well zone handled differently? Its drought stages are tied to Jacob's Well spring flow, and it is currently at 30% curtailment compared with 40% district-wide.
If you're weighing a parcel near Wimberley, Allen Auth can help you work through the water plan before the option period ends. That includes measuring roof area on a preliminary plan, siting tanks around septic setbacks and comparing a WSC tap against a well. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
