The effects on groundwater recharge by removal of mesquite-dominated vegetation are currently under investigation in southwest Texas. Water recharge is important in the region since groundwater aquifer levels have lowered around 30 m in the last 85 years. Competitive xeric woody-shrub-dominated plant communities are also known to utilize the episodic rainfall events efficiently before water can penetrate below the rooting zone. Evapotranspiration is thought to be the dominant factor limiting groundwater recharge in semi-arid regions, such as La Salle County, where high rainfall events are rare and sporadic. There are two ways in which evapotranspiration is potentially reduced to a level that invokes groundwater recharge: reduced vegetation cover via land management, and reduced vegetation water use during winter dormancy. Our focus is on land management, particularly clearing of woody shrubs, as a potential mechanism to increase groundwater recharge. In this study we use the Chloride Mass Balance approach (CMB) based on chloride concentration in the soil, chloride atmospheric inputs and precipitation, to compare deep drainage among areas managed for woody vegetation. The predominant driving variables identified and tested were vegetation and soil texture. Clearing of woody vegetation increased deep drainage, indicated by reduced chloride concentrations with soil depth in the treatment plots. Results of deep drainage rates were affected by texture and in some profiles provided higher than expected drainage rates. These deviations indicate that soil texture is facilitating water movement in these profiles and also shows the inherent heterogeneity of soil properties at the plot scale. Winter precipitation has the capability of providing potential recharge, given favorable soil properties for water movement. The rooting depth of vegetation helps dictate the extent to which water can be removed from the soil profile through transpiration and is also helpful in identifying potential recharge or deep drainage below the root zone.