Bastrop County Water Control and Improvement District #2
Monday, October 18, 2010 | |
Reprinted with permission of the Smithville Times
A proposed pipeline project to pump water from Bastrop and Lee counties and send it to the San Marcos area might just tap deeper into the Simsboro aquifer if a deal between the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and the San Antonio Water System moves forward.
The GBRA Simsboro pipeline project plan proposed earlier this year was looking to pump an estimated 50,000 acre-feet of water from the aquifer, but the deal with SAWS would mean adding an additional 20,000 acre-feet to that total beginning in 2020. The request from SAWS, an entity that is desperately seeking alternative water sources, would eventually ramp up to a withdrawal of 80,000 acre-feet per year.
“GBRA officials met with representatives from several private entities to discuss a request from San Antonio,” said Bill West, GBRA general manager. “We talked about putting together a proposal to submit to SAWS and those who are interested in participating with us would be named in the proposal.”
West said that if SAWS indicates an interest in the initial idea for the project then the group would have time to submit a more specific proposal.
West declined to say who actually met with him, but according to a letter obtained by The Times, invitees included Frankie Limmer of End Op, who has filed for well permits to pump water from Bastrop and Lee counties; Terry Gilmore, a developer providing financing for Sustainable Water Resources; Ross Cummings of Blue Water Systems, which has permits to pump from Milam and Burleson counties; and Lourcey Sims of Banner Energy, who reportedly has gathered water rights from landowners in Brazos, Burleson, Milam and Robertson counties.
The water marketers are all competitors for the groundwater reserves in the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer system, which includes the Simsboro formation that runs through Bastrop and Lee counties.
News of the possible SAWS deal prompted a letter from District 17 State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, who is running for re-election, saying he will fight taxpayer funding for the purchase of water and also asked the Legislative Budget Board to intervene before government bonds are issued.
“This matter was an issue between two water planning regions and its property owners that had conflicting plans for use of the same water resources,” Kleinschmidt’s letter said. “Now, GBRA has decided to fashion a plan that would transport the same water resources to San Antonio rather than the Central Texas area and they propose to pay for the project with government bonds issued by the Texas Water Development Board.”
Klenischmidt’s letter said the deal with SAWS was a new development – one that requires intense scrutiny.
West, in an email response to The Times, said that the TWDB was created to back exactly these types of projects.
“It’s written in the State Water Code that the board is the state agency primarily responsible for water planning and administering water financing in the state,” West said.
The Region L water-planning group, which encompasses the GBRA service area, proposed the Simsboro pipeline project and submitted it to the TWDB as a recommended strategy. The announcement prompted opposition from the Region K planning group, which covers an area that includes Bastrop and Lee counties. Water supplier Aqua Water, which serves 59,000 residents in the Bastrop area, brought strong opposition to the pipeline, including a initiative that had local city councils and school districts passing resolutions against the pipeline.
The Lost Pines Water Conservation District, which has responsibility to manage the Simsboro aquifer as it passes through its district, is under a moratorium on issuing pumping permits while they wait for managed available groundwater numbers from the TWDB – legally enforceable benchmark numbers for acceptable drawdowns for the aquifers in the district.
In August, LPGCD general manager Joe Cooper said the drawdowns for Region L were much less than those for Region K.
“Region L is not drawing down their aquifers, they are expecting us to,” Cooper said in August. “They are wanting to milk our cow before they milk their cow.”
On top of a possible deal with SAWS, GBRA has entered into an agreement with the Exelon nuclear plant project in Victoria to reserve 75,000 acre-feet of water per year. The agreement expires in 2013, according to West.
“All water projects are controversial, but it does not change the fact that we have a responsibility to try to meet existing and future demands,” West said. “Even after efforts of recharge, reuse and conservation, water projects may be necessary to meet demands.”
Kleinschmidt says that the TWDB has approximately $1 billion worth of bonding authority remaining to pay for projects like the pipeline, but with a projected $18-20 billion budget shortfall facing legislators in the next session, that bonding authority could be in jeopardy.
Thursday, October 21, 2010 | |
Reprinted with permission of the Smithville Times
Last week the Texas Water Development Board approved the regional water plan for Region K, or the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Area, which includes Bastrop County.
John Burke, director of external affairs for Aqua Water Supply Corporation and chairman of the executive committee for Region K, said the approval of the Region K plan, as written, verified the group’s concerns about groundwater availability in Bastrop County.
“The plan shows that water has become a scarce and precious resource,” Burke said. “We need to conserve it for local use.”
The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and distributing water related data and assisting with regional planning, which includes the preparation of the state water plan for the development of the state’s water resources. The TWDB also provides financial backing for water projects.
Region K is one of 16 regional water-planning groups across the state established by the TWDB to develop regional plans as required by legislation, meant “to ensure public health, safety and welfare, economic development and to protect the agricultural and natural resources of the state.”
Burke said the Region K plan used desired future conditions data from Groundwater Management Area 12, which might be good news for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District, which is a part of GMA 12.
“Region K used the GMA 12 desired future conditions, a state model method, which was 28,000 acre-feet over a 50-year period for Bastrop County,” Burke said. “This shows that there is no extra water for anybody.”
LPGCD, which manages the groundwater in Bastrop and Lee counties, is awaiting TWDB approval for their water management plan. TWDB’s approval of the Region K plan could indicate a favorable ruling for the GMA 12 plan.
State legislation provides for regional water planning groups like Region K, and for groundwater management areas like GMA 12, which consists of five groundwater conservation districts covering 14 counties in Central Texas.
Although four other regional water planning groups received approval last week for their water plans, there was no news about Region L, which has proposed as a “recommended strategy,” a 52-mile, five-foot diameter pipeline project called the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Simsboro Project that would pump an estimated 50,000 acre-feet of water from Bastrop and Lee counties to burgeoning development in the San Marcos area along the I-35 corridor.
To complicate things even more, the GBRA announced earlier this month that it was working on a deal to provide water to San Antonio to the tune of 20,000 acre-feet, escalating to 80,000 acre-feet in 2020 – water that would also come from Bastrop and Lee counties.
Region L’s pipeline plan is eligible for state funding from the TWDB and that’s an issue for the LPGCD.
Joe Cooper, general manager of the LPGCD, says the pipeline was recommended as an overdraft strategy, which could severely deplete water availability in Bastrop and Lee counties.
“Region K is vitally important to us and if their plan is approved as written that’s good news for us,” Cooper said. “We are waiting to hear about Region L and their pipeline project.”
Running On Water
The water issue has been a focus in the District 17 race for state representative between incumbent Tim Kleinschmidt and Bastrop County rancher Pati Jacobs.
Kleinschimidt, in a letter released on Sept. 30, said that the TWDB should mediate the conflict between Region K and Region L.
“This matter was an issue between two water planning regions and its property owners with conflicting plans for use of the same resources. Now, GBRA has decided to fashion a plan that would transport the same water resources to San Antonio rather than the Central Texas area and they propose to pay for the project with governmental bonds issued by the TWDB,” Kleinschmidt said in the letter. “This is a new development that requires intense scrutiny and should protect private landowners and taxpayers.”
The Jacobs campaign has pointed out that Kleinschmidt has leased groundwater rights on property that he owns.
At a groundwater forum in Smithville on Sept. 21, Jacobs confronted Kleinschmidt, who was speaking at the event, about leasing his water and asked for his stance on the pipeline project. A video of the exchange is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0oPpbty_q8.
“I think the main issue in this election is the water issue. We can’t do anything in our district without water and we’ve got to protect our resources for growth,” Jacobs said in an interview with The Bastrop Advertiser last week. “I’m the candidate who will defend those interests.”