He came in with a plat map and a smile. Forty-six thousand new neighbors later, she still hasn't asked where the water comes from.
Meet the subdivisionFrom 163,608 residents to 209,166, per the Census Bureau. Hays grew about 25% over five years too.
Promises infrastructure "that supports growth, protects water resources." Heavy on the first half.
Rooftops, cul-de-sacs, a new tap on every lot. Never met a pasture he didn't want to plat.
Trinity under Wimberley, Edwards to the south. Same straw, more mouths.
The groundwater district only gets paid when a new well goes in. Every subdivision is a love letter.
The groundwater district under Wimberley can't levy taxes or production fees. Its main income is one-time fees on new wells and connections. So its budget only grows when more straws go into the aquifer. In 2025, the one bill that would have changed that passed both chambers. She fought it. The governor vetoed it.
Her HB 2817 became SB 863. It lets utilities whose service areas straddle the Edwards Aquifer Authority line use Edwards water across the whole area, including the part outside the Authority's jurisdiction. The bill's own analysis says those utilities had been inadvertently violating state law for over three decades. Her campaign's version: it helps utilities "responsibly serve areas near, but outside, EAA boundaries."
He'd been sneaking out for thirty years. She made it official.
In fairness: she filed HB 2265, which would have given Comal County land-use authority around Canyon Lake and the Guadalupe River. Counties in Texas have almost none. It died in committee. Every Hallmark heroine gets one moment at the window where she almost calls it off.
Remember Aqua from episode one? TESPA says it's adding new homes as customers around Wimberley, with plans for hundreds more, while its Woodcreek II wells ran over their legal limit. In Comal, a commissioner says the recent extreme growth rates have put a lot of pressure on infrastructure. Roads, jails, water. All of it.
A coalition of Hill Country counties sets its legislative wish list: proof of groundwater before new subdivisions get approved, county authority over impervious cover, tougher permits for aggregate mining. It's a menu for taming the suitor. Local coverage doesn't list her at the table.
Written by us. Nobody said these words. The sod was laid this morning.
GROWTH (gesturing at 400 identical roofs)
I built all this for you.
CARRIE
Where does the water come from?
GROWTH
The same place as always.
CARRIE (relieved)
Then there's plenty.
Somewhere below, a well drops another foot. Nobody meters it.
People are moving here either way. Growth needs homes, roads and schools, and property owners have the right to build. SB 863 fixed a decades-old legal glitch without raising anyone's rates.
Growth isn't the problem; unplanned growth on a shared aquifer is. Counties asked for the tools to check water before approving subdivisions. Her one enacted water law eases service at the aquifer's edge and does nothing to limit pumping.
Every subdivision needs a foundation.