"What About the Water?"

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The Texas Hill Country continues to be under assault from irresponsible development. And this one hits much closer to home for yours truly. 

As the Guajalote Ranch Lennar Development has made the most significant news, Lennar is at it again. This time in a development called Juniper Ranch off of FM 306 almost immediately next to Canyon Lake. 

What it is

Juniper Ranch (formerly "Canyon Ranch Unit 1") is a Lennar Homes subdivision under construction in Comal County near Spring Branch, northwest of Canyon Lake and directly across from the established Mystic Shores neighborhood. It's a high-density development platted for five to six homes per acre — about 1,500 homes on 400 acres. For contrast, neighboring Mystic Shores has 2,200 home sites on lots ranging from one to 20-plus acres, with residents on septic systems that county rules require to sit on at least an acre.

The core dispute

The fight centers on a wastewater treatment plant. Utilities Inc. of Texas, a subsidiary of Nexus Water Group, plans to discharge about 300,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater into a dry creek system that crosses private land before entering Devil's Hollow and Canyon Lake. TCEQ approved the permit in 2021, but it has since expired, and the company applied to renew it — that renewal is what residents are fighting. 

Property rights. The "unnamed tributary" the effluent would flow down is, in practice, residents' backyards. Mystic Shores resident Frank Hutchins framed the contradiction sharply: homeowners are legally barred from spraying their own septic effluent onto a neighbor's property, yet the developer's plan would send treated effluent directly behind his home — asking whether Texas property rights apply to everyone.

Groundwater contamination. Canyon Lake sits in the Edwards Aquifer Contributing Zone, above the Cow Creek formation in Devil's Hollow. A geophysicist and Mystic Shores resident, Ron Harris, argued that because the discharge path runs over karst terrain — porous limestone riddled with faults and fractures — much of the effluent would seep into the ground before ever reaching the lake, potentially entering the Cow Creek formation where most local water wells draw from, with water moving downward possibly in as little as a day.

Algae/phosphorus. Residents contend the permitted phosphorus level — one milligram per liter — is far too high and would fuel algae blooms in Canyon Lake; they're pushing for a cap of 0.02 milligrams per liter.

Documented problems already

This is where Juniper Ranch differs from Guajolote — the harms aren't only projected. Even with the plant not yet operational, construction runoff has hit neighbors. A TCEQ investigation found Lennar in violation of four TCEQ codes, including lacking permanent pollution-abatement measures before occupancy, failure to meet Chapter 213 and Contributing Zone Plan requirements, failure to remove sediment discharges and control construction debris, and failure to maintain temporary Best Management Practices such as silt fencing and rock berms. Residents Terry Shake and Steve Wright reported drainage problems, pooling stormwater, and foundation risks on their land. Shake said runoff left a thick, impermeable layer of silt across his property, and he had to pay out of pocket to clear a berm so water could pass.

A fraud thread in the backstory

There's an unusual wrinkle predating Lennar. Canyon Ranch was originally initiated and permitted under Gram Vikas Partners Inc. per the 2020 TCEQ application; Lennar obtained a portion of the property in April 2025 under the Juniper Ranch name. A 2022 election to create a Municipal Utility District in the development was later found fraudulent. A man named Christopher Williams — a friend of the son of Gram Vikas president Kelley Leach — changed his driver's license and voter registration to claim residence on the property, casting the single vote that passed the MUD bond, despite never staying more than two days. Williams pleaded guilty to election fraud in April 2025 and got probation; Leach's case remains on appeal. Worth noting: this fraud is tied to the prior owner, not Lennar.

Where it stands

As of the summer, TCEQ had received more than 800 comments on the renewal. The Juniper Ranch website showed five homes sold and 15 move-in ready — the plant only begins operating once enough homes are sold. Opponents — organized as Mystic Shores Neighbors (a conservation committee under the POA) and Fischer Neighbors — are fighting on several fronts. They are challenging the permit, with a window to request a contested case hearing after TCEQ responds to the comments. They're also petitioning TCEQ to give Canyon Lake the same Chapter 311 protections that ban wastewater discharge into Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and the Highland Lakes, and Fischer Neighbors is pushing for legislation giving local governments and property owners more say in development decisions. One advocate even suggested Lennar capture and sell the treated effluent instead of discharging it.

How it compares to Guajolote Ranch

The two are close cousins — both Lennar, both Hill Country, both wastewater-into-karst fights with the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance involved. Key differences: Juniper Ranch is smaller (1,500 homes vs. ~2,900), the discharge is lower (300k vs. up to 1M gallons/day), the operator is a third-party utility (Utilities Inc./Nexus) rather than Lennar's own entity, the receiving water is Canyon Lake rather than Helotes Creek, and Juniper carries the added election-fraud history from its prior owner. Both feature documented BMP failures and silt runoff onto neighbors.

Where the process sits now

The opposition's next formal move is a contested case hearing request. As their attorney laid it out, TCEQ has 60 days (probably longer given the volume) to respond to the more than 800 comments; once that response is issued, opponents have 30 days to evaluate it and decide whether to request a contested case hearing. So the near-term timeline runs on TCEQ's clock — expect the comment response sometime in the fall, then the 30-day window.

What makes the outlook a challenge for opponents

The structural realities favor the permit going through, unfortunately, which is why changes in legislation are need. And local officials have said so plainly:

• It's a renewal, not a new permit. Comal County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jen Crownover advised residents "not to get their hopes up," noting the hearing concerns renewing an existing permit and that with "TCEQ being what it is, and the county not having a seat at the table," she's unsure how effective the effort is — while still encouraging engagement. Renewals of already-approved permits are harder to defeat than fresh applications.

• The county can't block the subdivision. When commissioners approved plats for a second unit in April 2025, it was because state law requires them to rubber-stamp subdivisions that comply with applicable regulations. Texas gives counties very little land-use authority.

• Lennar locked in utilities early. Lennar obtained water contracts and service commitments several years ago — before Texas Water Company paused new service commitments for other Comal County developments in March 2025. That insulates the project from a bottleneck that has slowed peers.

• TCEQ rarely denies these. Historically, contested case hearings can delay and occasionally modify permits (tighter effluent limits, monitoring conditions), but outright denial is uncommon, unfortunately. Hence, the need for changes in legislation. 

What could shift it in opponents' favor

The opposition has leverage, and a few factors make this more contested than a routine renewal:

• A documented compliance record. Unlike a paper dispute, there's a TCEQ investigation already finding Lennar in violation of four codes, plus photographic evidence of silt and runoff on neighbors' land. That gives a contested case real factual material and could support tighter permit conditions even if the permit survives.
• The phosphorus fight is winnable on the margins. Opponents are pushing for stricter treatment standards, discharge alternatives, and a "Middle Trinity Recharge Zone" that would restrict development. A negotiated outcome that lowers the permitted phosphorus limit or adds monitoring could be more plausible than a flat denial.
• The Chapter 311 / Canyon Lake protection campaign is a longer game — legislative and rulemaking-driven — that wouldn't resolve this permit but could reshape the landscape for the region.
• The GEAA partnership. The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance partnered with Mystic Shores Neighbors to contest the permit, bringing the same experienced organization that's been litigating Guajolote Ranch.
• The opposition is building a real contested-case record, not just a comment pile. Engineering reviews commissioned by the POA identified specific plant-design vulnerabilities: limited monitoring, lack of redundancy, generator reliability concerns, membrane risks, potential solids release, and — the recurring theme — the absence of a phosphorus-precipitation step. Named technical deficiencies like these are exactly the kind of "disputed issues of fact" that can justify a referral to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), which strengthens their procedural position beyond generic "we're worried" comments.
• The phosphorus/dry-creek argument is the strongest technical card. Their case is that discharging effluent into a normally dry creek creates stagnant, warm, shallow pools ideal for cyanobacteria blooms, and that unlike the circulating water of the Guadalupe River or Canyon Lake, this dry-creek setting is far more bloom-prone — made worse by the lack of a phosphorus-removal step. This is a sharper, more site-specific argument than a general aquifer-contamination worry, and it's the kind of thing that can produce a permit modification (a tighter phosphorus limit or an added treatment requirement) even if the permit isn't denied.
• State-level political muscle. The campaign is directing constituents to State Senator Donna Campbell, State Representative Carrie Isaac, and county officials. The earlier reporting noted Campbell had already written TCEQ. Political pressure rarely changes a TCEQ technical ruling directly, but it matters for the parallel legislative track (the Chapter 311 / Canyon Lake protection and Middle Trinity Recharge Zone efforts).
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Current procedural status

The permit is TPDES Permit No. WQ0015866001, and the process sits in the window between the public meeting and TCEQ's next formal step. The Mystic Shores POA describes itself as actively engaged on two fronts: the regulatory process through TCEQ, including preparation for the agency's upcoming Responses to Comments and a potential Contested Case Hearing, and public engagement through media, expert briefings, letters to legislators, and community education.

Outlook

• Near term (fall 2026): Watch for the TCEQ ED's Response to Comments to post in the Commissioner's Integrated Database. That's the trigger event. Once it lands, the 30-day hearing-request window opens, and given the organized opposition and named experts, a contested case hearing request is very likely to be filed.
• If it goes to SOAH: Expect months of delay — contested cases commonly run six months to well over a year. That delay is itself a partial win for opponents, since the plant can't discharge until enough homes sell anyway.
• Most probable endpoint: Permit renewed, but with a meaningful chance of added conditions — a lower phosphorus limit or enhanced monitoring being the most plausible concessions, given how specific and well-documented that part of their case is. Outright denial remains unlikely for a renewal, unfortunately, consistent with Commissioner Crownover's caution to residents.
• The wildcard remains the compliance record. The four documented TCEQ code violations during construction give opponents leverage inside the contested case and a basis for separate enforcement pressure. If runoff problems continue, that's the thing most likely to shift the odds.

Texas Community Preservation will continue to follow the Juniper Ranch fight as things develop, no pun intended. 

Give'em hell Mystic Shores and Fischer Neighbors! Texas Community Preservation stands in solidarity with you! 

Texans deserve better. Texans deserve the best. 

Sources

• Herald-Zeitung — Mystic Shores residents face environmental, property rights issues, Jul. 10, 2026 — the most detailed account, including the TCEQ violations and fraud backstory
• KSAT — Comal County residents concerned wastewater plant will damage Canyon Lake, Jul. 20, 2026
• TPR — Canyon Lake-area residents vow to stop wastewater plant, Jul. 12, 2026
• News 4 SA — TCEQ to hold public meeting on Canyon Ranch permit, Jun. 1, 2026
• My Canyon Lake — TCEQ schedules June 2 public hearing, May 24, 2026
• News 4 SA — Pollutant ban in Austin area returns to focus, Feb. 20, 2026
• Advocacy groups: Fischer Neighbors

....Texas Community Preservation intends to provide updates and summaries about controversial "treated waste water" dumping plans and intentions into the environment that has made recent headlines, such as the:

Guajalote Ranch Development by Lennar Homes, near Helotes Creek and Grey Forest in northwestern Bexar County

The "Comfort 590" by Lennar Homes, with similar plans and intentions to dump treated waste water intro dry creek beds. This project may be stalled; however, may not be entirely dead just yet.

The Juniper Ranch development off of FM 306, another Lennar Homes development, with yet again, plans and intentions to dump treated waste water into dry creek beds that feed into Canyon Lake. 

....there may be others. 

The Scenic Loop - Helotes Creek Alliance is digging in their heels and continues putting up a fight against Lennar Homes and its plans for the "Guajolote Ranch" development. 

Texas Community Preservation stands in solidarity with their efforts. Their fight, and Texas grit in their teeth, is a humdinger example of hard-working Texas taxpayers standing up for the best interests of their community. But it goes beyond that. The Scenic Loop - Helotes Creek Alliance is standing tall to protect Texans beyond their own vicinity. 

The threat to the Edwards Aquifer is real. And there are other similar plans that threaten additional communities as well in the Texas Hill Country. 

What It Is

Guajolote Ranch (also spelled "Guajalote" in some outlets) is a proposed master-planned subdivision on roughly 1,100–1,160 acres in far northwest Bexar County, west of the Scenic Loop Road/Babcock Road intersection, near Grey Forest. Florida-based Lennar wants to build about 2,900 homes and discharge as much as 1 million gallons of treated wastewater per day into Helotes Creek. The land is still owned by others — Guajolote Ranch Inc. of Terrell Hills holds 1,097 acres and retired Valero executive Sidney "Gene" Edwards Jr. and his wife hold 63 acres, with Lennar paying option money to eventually purchase.

The Core Issue

Helotes Creek sits on fractured karst limestone in the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone. The concern is that the wastewater permit fails to account for how water moves underground there, where porous rock lets water — and anything dissolved in it — travel rapidly into the aquifer, which supplies drinking water for roughly 2.5 million people. TCEQ's own Office of Public Interest Counsel recommended rejecting the permit, citing Southwest Research Institute studies finding wastewater discharge in the area would significantly degrade the watershed, and critics have accused Lennar of choosing a cheaper on-site plant over paying $20–40 million to connect to SAWS. Supporters of Lennar's plans framed it as needed housing growth. Lennar's permitting consultant argued the permit exceeds applicable standards, and SAWS's president told KSAT that systems are in place to protect the city's water supply. 

Timeline

• Oct. 2025 — TCEQ grants Lennar the wastewater discharge permit after an October hearing. 
• Dec. 2025 — TCEQ declines to reconsider before a December deadline, leaving the approval in place. Bexar County commissioners pass a resolution urging rehearing. (Hoodline)
• Jan. 16, 2026 — More than 150 opponents pack a five-hour Planning Commission hearing on Lennar's Municipal Utility District (MUD) application. Lennar's attorney tells the commission the plant and development are coming regardless. The commission votes 5–4 against. (Texas Public Radio, Hoodline)
• Jan. 26, 2026 — The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance sues TCEQ in Travis County District Court, a 295-page filing alleging errors in projecting damage to the aquifer, including failure to consider per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) impacts. (San Antonio Current, KSAT)
  • PFAS is often referred to as "forever chemicals" and is linked to certain cancers (kidney and testicular), thyroid disease, liver damage, immune-system suppression, high cholesterol, developmental effects in infants and children, and pregnancy complications like preeclampsia. Because they accumulate, even low levels of ongoing exposure add up.
• Feb. 3–5, 2026 — A habitat agreement lets Lennar pay nearly $2.7 million to "incidentally take" 230 acres inhabited by the endangered golden-cheeked warbler, effective Feb. 3 — two days before the council vote and on the eve of breeding season. On Feb. 5, City Council votes unanimously to deny consent for the MUD, blocking the financing mechanism for the treatment plant. (KENS5, San Antonio Report)
• Feb. 9–12, 2026 — Crews begin clearing land for Phase One. The Alliance's Randy Neumann suggests Lennar is racing three-year deadlines on 2022 development approvals rather than face a now-hostile city on reapproval. (Texas Public Radio)
• April–June 2026 — On April 8, the landowners file a service petition with the city clerk on Lennar's behalf, asking San Antonio to "make available" sewer service. Texas Water Code requires giving the city that chance first; if the city declines or doesn't respond within 120 days, they can take a MUD application directly to TCEQ — potentially by early August 2026. Also in this window: the permit holder, Municipal Operations LLC, showed as "inactive" with the state comptroller for franchise tax reasons (the Alliance later noted its status was restored), and the SEP-HCP committee postponed, then in June approved, an additional $612,458 payment to clear another 134.5 acres of habitat. (Scenic Loop)
• June 17, 2026 — The Alliance files incident reports with EPA, TCEQ, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Edwards Aquifer Authority and Bexar County over suspected sediment discharge from construction sites during June 13–15 rains, reporting milky creek water, an unusual odor at the Grey Forest swimming hole, and springs running muddy that residents say have always run clear. The reports allege failed Best Management Practices (BMP) and note at least one county clearing permit reportedly waived BMP requirements. (Scenic Loop)

Where It Stands

The MUD denial removed the financing path but not the project. As Neumann put it, the lawsuit doesn't halt the project but creates uncertainty around the plant — any investment could be at risk if the permit is remanded or vacated. The judicial review and possible appeals could take another two years. Meanwhile clearing continues, and Lennar appears to be positioning for a TCEQ-route MUD. Opposition includes the entire Bexar County legislative delegation of both parties, county commissioners, and the cities of Helotes and Grey Forest. Secondary fights have opened over a proposed retail center with gas station and fast-food outlets at Scenic Loop and Babcock and over emergency access — the Alliance argues there would be only one viable way in and out, funneling 30,000 daily vehicle trips onto two-lane Scenic Loop Road and creating a wildfire evacuation hazard, while Lennar maintains there would be multiple access points. (KSAT, Scenic Loop, Texas Public Radio)

If Lennar is sincere about "needed housing growth and demand," then Lennar should pay the $20–40 million to connect to SAWS, instead of poisoning 2.5 million Texans' drinking water. They'll make well beyond that in profit over the life of the development buildout. 

Texas Community Preservation will follow this fight and update information accordingly.

Take a bow, Scenic Loop - Helotes Creek Alliance! 

Sources

Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance (scenicloop.org) — the most detailed running record.

• Incident reports over stormwater runoff, June 17, 2026
• SEP-HCP habitat vote, June 16, 2026
• "What part of 'no' does Lennar not understand?", May 28, 2026 — includes the April 8 service petition PDF
• "Between a karst rock and a hard place," May 8, 2026
• Wastewater operator "inactive," May 7, 2026
• "What part of ‘no’ does Lennar not understand? Developer still pursuing a MUD for Guajolote Ranch"

News coverage:

• TPR — Lennar begins clearing land, Feb. 12, 2026 and TPR's full Guajolote Ranch tag
• San Antonio Report — Council rejects funding structure, Feb. 5, 2026
• San Antonio Report — A permit, a dry creek bed and the dispute, Dec. 14, 2025
• KENS 5 — $2.7M endangered species agreement, Feb. 13, 2026
• KSAT — Opponents sue TCEQ, Jan. 26, 2026 and KSAT topic page
• News 4 SA — TCEQ approves permit, Oct. 2025
• Deceleration — Amy Hardberger on growth controls, Jan. 27, 2026
• Hoodline - Guajolote Ranch Project Faces Legal Challenge as Environmental Groups Sue TCEQ Over Wastewater Permit in San Antonio

....Texas Community Preservation intends to provide updates and summaries about controversial "treated waste water" dumping plans and intentions into the environment that has made recent headlines, such as the:

Guajalote Ranch Development by Lennar Homes, near Helotes Creek and Grey Forest in northwestern Bexar County

The "Comfort 590" by Lennar Homes, with similar plans and intentions to dump treated waste water intro dry creek beds. This project may be stalled; however, may not be entirely dead just yet.

The Juniper Ranch development off of FM 306, another Lennar Homes development, with yet again, plans and intentions to dump treated waste water into dry creek beds that feed into Canyon Lake. 

....there may be others.