The Texas seller's disclosure has one line for water supply. In the current version of Form 55-1, effective May 28, 2026, a seller checks City, Well, MUD or Co-op. No separate question asks how deep the well is, how much it produces, or when the pump was last lowered. In much of the Austin metro, that line hardly matters. In Dripping Springs during the worst groundwater conditions the local district has recorded, it says more about a house than the price does. The water and sewer setup decides a home's monthly costs and the drought rules it follows. It also shapes how much new construction can get built nearby.
What the paperwork covers, and where it stops
The disclosure requirement comes from Texas Property Code §5.008. The statute's form lists septic system and public sewer among the property's items, offers the City/Well/MUD/Co-op choices for water supply, and asks about known defects in plumbing, sewers and septics. The seller fills it out to the best of their knowledge, and "unknown" is an allowed answer. The notice is due on or before the contract's effective date. If it isn't delivered on time, the statute gives the purchaser seven days after receiving it to terminate.
So the form records which system a house uses and any defects the seller knows about. It doesn't measure condition. Two other agencies handle parts of the handoff, and neither does it at the closing table.
For septic, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says a mortgage lender may require an evaluation of the on-site sewage facility before a sale, but TCEQ itself does not require or regulate that evaluation. After the purchase, TCEQ's guidance points the new owner to the local permitting authority to report the ownership change and ask about startup procedures. In unincorporated Hays County, residential properties use either a County-permitted septic system or a TCEQ-permitted centralized sewage facility. Systems maintained under provider contracts need testing and reporting every four months by a TCEQ-licensed provider.
For wells, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District requires a new owner to register a change in well ownership within 60 days of the real estate transaction. The district defines an exempt domestic well as one serving a single private household that cannot produce more than 25,000 gallons per day. As the next section shows, whether a well counts as exempt matters right now.
Why the "Well" box weighs more in 2026
As of October 9, 2026, the Hays Trinity GCD's drought page shows emergency-stage curtailment at 40% district-wide and 30% in the Jacob's Well Groundwater Management Zone. Under the district's drought plan, cutbacks are mandatory for non-exempt users. For exempt household wells, they are strongly encouraged.
KUT reported in March 2026 that every well the district monitors had dropped below historic levels. The district told the station that aquifer and river conditions were the worst in its more than 20-year history, worse even than 2011. KUT spoke with Jared Thompson, owner of the well-servicing company The Well Doctor, who said water levels in Wimberley and Dripping Springs used to recover to about 500 feet after heavy rains and are now staying around 660 to 690 feet. The same report gave the typical costs when a well falls behind the water table:
- Lowering a pump runs about $1,500
- Replacing a pump usually costs around $7,500
- Drilling a deeper well can cost more than $75,000
Thompson's comment on what that last figure means for owners was blunt:
"They typically have to refinance their house. You can't even sell your house if you don't have a reliable source of water."
None of those costs appear anywhere on Form 55-1. A seller can correctly check "Well," know of no defect, and still hand over a pump hanging at a depth that made sense several years ago. KUT also reported that new wells in northern Hays County are going into the confined Lower Trinity Aquifer, which doesn't recharge. For those owners, drilling deeper means drawing on water that doesn't come back.
Four setups behind similar front doors
Wells are only one setup. Across the Dripping Springs area, homes at similar prices can sit on very different systems, and each one comes with its own bill, drought rules and paperwork.
| Setup | Named examples from public records | What sets the terms |
|---|---|---|
| Private well and septic | City subdivision records describe Silver Creek with on-site sewage and a water-supply well, and Lunaroya with on-site sewage on each lot | Hays Trinity GCD drought stages, County septic rules, owner-paid well work |
| District water and sewer | Headwaters MUD bills include water and wastewater; Hays County WCID No. 1 runs water and sewer for residents including Belterra | District rates and district bonds |
| Developer-utility sewer with wholesale water | Parten lists Crossroads Utilities for sewer; a May 2026 Springhollow MUD bond notice funds Parten Ranch Phase 8 facilities and wholesale water capacity from West Travis County PUA | District bonds plus the water provider's drought stage |
| Utility water with city sewer | Dripping Springs WSC water; City of Dripping Springs wastewater | DSWSC drought stage and fees; city sewer rates |
These are descriptions from project and utility records, so they don't confirm service for any particular address. Even the "city water" option is layered. Dripping Springs WSC says it runs four groundwater wells south of town and also buys LCRA raw water that West Travis County PUA treats and sells. A tap on a utility line can still depend partly on the same aquifer as the well down the road.
The sewer plant is shaping what gets built
The bottom row of that table is the one under pressure. The City of Dripping Springs' main treatment plant, the South Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility, handles about 162,500 gallons per day. Community Impact reported on August 28, 2026 that it had been near capacity for several months and couldn't accept most new large connections. The city's wastewater customer count has grown about 600% since 2015. Deputy City Administrator Shawn Cox told the outlet that some connections still go through: "It's just we're not going to tie in a large subdivision to it because it can't handle that."
That bottleneck is changing what new construction looks like. Community Impact reported that ongoing and upcoming developments using alternative wastewater setups, such as temporary private treatment plants or pump-and-haul tanks that get emptied and trucked away, will add more than 3,800 lots or units to the area. The city has approved only three pump-and-haul plans in recent years, and the New Growth subdivision is waiting for plant capacity before it proceeds. A newer home in the area may be on an interim system tied to a plant that hasn't been built yet.
The fix took a long time to clear court. The city applied for a discharge permit in 2015 and TCEQ granted it in 2019. The Save Our Springs Alliance then sued over possible discharges into Onion Creek. The Hays Free Press reported that the Texas Supreme Court ruled for the city and TCEQ on April 11, 2025. Utilities Director Gray Lahrman told Community Impact that the city plans to discharge only in emergencies and will store treated wastewater it can't use for irrigation. The expansion's milestones, as Community Impact reported them, are listed below. The ones after today are still projections.
- February 2026: city council picks three firms for the expansion.
- July 2026: the Texas Water Development Board approves $53 million in additional wastewater funding. The same article elsewhere puts the city's added need at $51.5 million.
- December 2026: the city plans to issue a notice to proceed for phase 1.
- 2027: phase 1 construction is set to begin.
- Around 2029: phase 1 finishes, which Lahrman estimates at two and a half to three years. Capacity is designed to reach about 822,500 gallons per day.
Until that capacity comes online, the number of new homes that can connect to city sewer is set by the plant's construction timeline.
Connected homes have their own math
A city sewer connection has its own costs. In May 2026, city council raised residential wastewater rates for the first time since 2022. The base fee went from $28.88 to $43.32 and usage from $4.05 to $5.67 per 1,000 gallons. Starting with September 2026 bills, Community Impact estimated the average residential customer, at 6,578 gallons a month, goes from $55.52 to $80.62, an increase of more than 45%.
On the water side, Dripping Springs WSC's site lists an $8,614 capital contribution fee effective January 1, 2025 and a $600 meter and installation fee effective September 1, 2026. Which charges apply to an existing account versus a new connection is a question for the utility. DSWSC also reports Stage 4 restrictions, in effect since May 23, 2025. They prohibit automatic sprinklers and drip irrigation and allow only scheduled hand-held hose watering. On October 7, 2026, West Travis County PUA lifted a temporary Stage 4 after testing found no leak on a raw-water line. It went back to Stage 3, which limits outdoor irrigation to one day a week. Two neighboring subdivisions on different providers can be under different watering rules in the same week.
Lender rules fill part of the gap
Financing can bring in the inspection the disclosure form doesn't. HUD Handbook 4000.1, in the January 2023 revision reviewed for this post, requires private-well water on FHA-insured loans to meet local health standards, or EPA standards where local ones don't exist. Testing is required in listed situations, including new construction and reported deficiencies. The test must come from a qualified independent third party and be no more than 180 days old at disbursement. For existing homes, the handbook's separation table puts a well at least 50 feet from a septic tank and 100 feet from a drain field. The drain-field distance can drop to 75 feet where the local authority allows it, and stricter local rules take priority. Those rules cover water quality and placement. They don't measure how far the water table sits below the pump.
FAQ
Does Texas require a septic inspection when a Dripping Springs home sells? TCEQ says a lender may require one, but the state agency doesn't require or regulate it. After the sale, TCEQ's guidance points the new owner to the local permitting authority to report the ownership change.
Do the groundwater district's drought cutbacks apply to a household well? As of October 9, 2026, emergency-stage cutbacks are mandatory for non-exempt users and strongly encouraged for exempt ones. A household well that can't produce more than 25,000 gallons per day falls in the exempt category.
When will the city's sewer plant take large new subdivisions again? Phase 1 of the expansion is projected to start construction in 2027 and finish around 2029, after a notice to proceed planned for December 2026. Those dates are city projections, not completed work.
If you're weighing a home on a well, a septic system, a MUD, or one of the area's interim wastewater setups, Team West Real Estate can help you gather the permits, provider details and service records the disclosure form leaves out. Request a Specialist to start with the address you have in mind.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
