What is it like to live and ranch on a wind farm?

Holistic Management takes you there to see for yourself

Wind Energy is putting West Texas on the map…for the second time. In the later half of the 19th century windmills began pumping water from deep inside the earth to allow communities and individuals to settle where rivers and streams don’t flow. Now wind energy in the form of electricity created in big wind turbines is helping communities and individuals stay on the land they love, preserving green space and providing electricity for the good of the whole.

Come out to the 69 Ranch, Maryneal, Texas, with Holistic Management Texas to explore the leading edge and see what all the excitement is about. This beautiful ranch, the history of which dates back to 15,000 BC and the first Paleo Native Americans, is one of the largest modern wind farms in Texas.

• Enjoy the cool beauty of the spring that is the headwaters for Sweetwater Creek
• Learn the history of ranching in this area and the history of the specific site from Sibley Nature Center’s Burr Williams and Kathy Dickson.
• See the results: Kathy and her late husband, Temple Dickson have landscaped with native plants for the past 15 yrs and have extensively mulched the pastures with cedars as they were cleared. More clearing went into Temple’s famous rock walls that meander around the land. The 69 Ranch is host to varies wildlife from thousands of migrating Monarchs to huge herds of wild turkey.
• Learn how Kathy Dickson and her foreman Rex manage their organic natural beef Angus herd—about 450 mama cows and their calves—beneath the wind towers.
• Learn how wind farms work and what they can do for individuals and communities. Greg Wortham, director of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium and mayor of Sweetwater, Texas, will explain.
• Get up close to the turbines to feel and hear their power.
• Discuss Land issues and contracts. Ask all your questions

This is one field day you won’t want to miss. Dress for a day outside.

Saturday, June 21, 2008 from 10am to 3:30 pm at the 69 Ranch, Maryneal, Texas.
$35 includes catered BBQ lunch ($25 for Holistic Management Texas members).
Register by June 16, online at www.hrm-texas.org or by calling Jeanie at 325-348-3014.
Special Rate of $84.60 is offered at Sweetwater’s Best Western Motel (325-236-6512). Be sure and tell them you are with Holistic Management.

More information on wind energy
http://www.westtexaswind.us/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/02/sunday/main3563344.shtml

Sustainable Living Event at Cibolo Nature Centers features notable area experts related to land, water and home conservation efforts
Event kicked-off by best “GREEN” car display in parking lot of nature center

BOERNE, TEXAS — As green goes mainstream and more folks are interested in sustainable living, the Cibolo Nature Center (CNC) is hosting a Sustainable Living Event on Saturday, June 14, on the grounds of the nature Center, just off of Highway 46 East as part of its 20th anniversary.

A “Green Car Lot” will kick-off the event from 10 a.m. – noon, where vehicles that boast the best fuel efficiency in their class will be on-site so consumers can get a first-hand look at the vehicles. Area car dealerships will have representatives available to field questions and provide information about the cars.

In the afternoon, a Sustainable Living Seminar will be held from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. with the following agenda:
• 1:00 p.m.— Carol Feldman, a landscape architect from the Woodson Conservation Development in East Texas will discuss conservation subdivisions, a new method of preserving natural features of the land when creating and building new developments.
• 2:00 p.m.— Stephen Colley, AIA, from Build SA Green and Griz Adams, with the Sustainable Concept House, will outline LEED certification and practical methods to make residences and commercial buildings more energy and water efficient.
• 3:00 p.m.— Merridee McClatchy from Holistic Management -Texas shares the organization’s mission of sustainable environmental practices and holistic resource management that promotes ecological and economical land use.
• 4:00 p.m.— Geary Schindel, Chief Technical Officer, Edwards Aquifer Authority, will give an overview of the areas aquifers, with a “State of our Aquifers” presentation.

Cost of the seminar is members $15/person and $25/couple; non-members $20/person. Participants are asked to register in advance by calling the Cibolo Nature Center at 830-249-4616. The “Green Parking Lot” is free and open to the public and no registration is necessary.

For more information about the CNC, please visit the website at www.cibolo.org.

Increase Forage Production up to 400%!
Ian Mitchell-Innes will teach you how:
• Oct. 25-26 Biological Monitoring
• Oct. 27-18 Land Planning
• Oct. 29 Mob Grazing

Mob Grazing is the current hot topic among progressive grass farmers looking for the path to profitable ranching operations. Many of ranchers operating on the leading edge realize that the higher stock densities of the 1980’s and 90’s are evolving to ultra high stock density, as graziers discover the benefits of up to 500,000 pounds of cattle per acre!

The benefits? Missouri cattleman Greg Judy practices the ultra high stock density planned grazing—or mob grazing—taught to him by South African rancher and grazing guru Ian Mitchell-Innes. Judy was quoted by Kit Pharo in his Pharo Cattle Company May/June 07 newsletter (http://www.pharocattle.com/newsletters.htm), “The results have been mind boggling!
• We have already increased annual forage production by close to 400%!
• The grass roots are thicker, deeper and healthier.
• We have improved the diversity of our grasses and legumes, while eliminating most of our weed problems.
• The soil is coming alive with earthworms, microbial activity and dung beetles.
• Manure distribution is unbelievable.
• Since we catch and utilize every drop of rain, droughts are no longer a problem.”

Ian Mitchell-Innes is no stranger to drought, ranching in drought-stricken South Africa, South with its seasonally erratic rainfall and widely variable weather patterns.
Ian's ranch has an average rainfall of 36" and measures 7.5 on the Brittleness Scale. He says, “High Density Grazing and Holistic Grazing Planning have resulted in such an increased production and palatability of grass that half the ranch has been leased out for three years. This is despite the country being in the worst drought of 40 years. The utilization of the available grass has improved to the point of having to bring in more cattle to prepare the ground for spring.”

But will it work here? While we don’t yet know of Texas ranchers using this ultra high stock density, we have heard that Montana ranchers, Bill Jones and now his son Zachary, graze their high arid land (13 inch annual rainfall) at about 11 acres per animal unit, more than double their old stocking rate, with half the labor and inputs and fantastic forage production—increases expected to climb to 350% as they increase the number of cattle even more.

Show me the money! More product with less inputs and less labor, with more rest creating more forage almost has to translate to more income.

Ian Mitchell-Innes is a Holistic Management Certified Educator with the presence and experience to teach all aspects of successful ranching and land management. HMI-Texas is taking full advantage of his trip to the states this fall with scheduled 2-day intensive classes in both biological monitoring and land planning, in addition to the 1-day mob grazing workshop.

HM Biological Monitoring Class
• October 25-26 (a weekend)
• at Running High Ranch in Montague County not far from Bowie, Texas.
This is a lovely facility on about 6300 acres with a variety of land to experience.
• Biological monitoring is how holistic managers guide the land to perform in the desired ways in motion toward the goal. This includes an awareness of the general condition of the land as revealed by the four ecosystem processes and how the tools applied will affect them, an assessment of the soil surface and the life just below and above it, and if grazing livestock, an assessment of the animal performance and the effect of their actions on the land.
• Space is limited to the first 30 people to register.

HM Land Planning Class
• October 27-28
• at Running High Ranch in Montague County not far from Bowie, Texas
• Designing the infrastructure of your land to support the activities in your goal. To keep animals moving continually requires new thinking about the way fencing, water points, roads and handling facilities are laid out. A holistic land plan represents the marriage of a holistic goal and step-by-step practice, one step making the next step possible as the land plan is gradually implemented over time.
• Space is limited to the first 30 people to register.

Mob Grazing Workshop
• Wednesday, October 29, 2008
• Decatur Civic Center, Decatur, TX
• Register immediately to reserve you space.

Cost to attend:
• HM Biological Monitoring or HM Land Planning $450 ($800 couple)
• or both classes for $800 ($1,300 couple).
• Mob Grazing is $100.
• A couple is 2 people from the same operation.
• HMI-Texas members take 10% off all classes.
• Register online at http://www.hrm-texas.org, click on October Intensives. Or register with Jeanie Dreinhofer (jdreinhofer@hrm-texas.org or 325-348-3014).

BRACKETTVILLE, Texas — Perhaps local control of groundwater really can work, even in Kinney County.

The Kinney County Groundwater district has been embroiled in controversy since its creation in 2001, but those who are directly or indirectly involved are hopeful that is changing. That optimism stems, in part, from the fact that there is a new board and a new groundwater district manager in place.

Lloyd Lee Davis is the board president. He was nominated by the board last year when the previous president resigned. Davis is pleased with how well the current board is working together.

“This is not a job that one person can do,” Davis points out. “We have some good people on the board, and we have a good general manager. We’re just trying to do what a groundwater district was meant to do.”

The last statement in itself says a lot, because Kinney County at times has been considered a poster child for how not to run a groundwater district.

Though the job takes an incredible amount of time away from his business and his family, Davis felt compelled to get involved, primarily because he was tired of seeing what the controversy was doing to his community.

“The groundwater district was causing a real division in our community,” Davis says. “I wanted to see that end, and also I wanted to put an end to the unfairness and the inequities in the way the district was being operated.”

He also felt a sense of duty to his family, to those who had gone before him, and from that perspective he says he probably would have served on the board even if he wasn’t a landowner.

“My family’s roots run deep here. My family, on my mother’s side, goes way back to the very beginnings of this community, all the way back to 1852. I would hope my children would want to come back someday, but for them to come back there is going to have to be something for them to come back to.”

He understands that one of the keys to maintaining a viable community is to have sufficient water, not just for human and livestock use, but also enough to maintain spring flows. It’s part of the reason the legislature has issued a mandate that groundwater districts come up with a “desired future condition,” essentially what they want their aquifer to look like in the future.

“The purpose of a groundwater district is not to trample on private property rights,” Davis continues, “but rather it is to protect and manage the resource, but it should be managed without getting too heavy-handed with regard to a landowner’s property rights.”

He also understands that a water district cannot ban the transport of water out of the district. Instead, it is a groundwater district’s responsibility to manage such uses.

“I don’t care how much money someone can make selling their water, there has to be some level of control to make it fair for everyone,” he stresses.

In the early 1990s, Kinney County had been proposed to be part of the newly created Edwards Aquifer Authority. Local concerns about losing control of the groundwater to the more populous Bexar County (and the City of San Antonio), as well as concerns over the potential loss of property rights, caused Kinney County residents to resist inclusion.

Several years after being excluded from the EAA, however, local Kinney County residents saw a need for some means to protect their groundwater and the associated property rights. Recognizing the need for some regulation of the resource, local citizens formed a steering committee to petition the legislature to create a groundwater district. In 2001 the residents of Kinney County voted in favor of forming such a district.

The problems were almost immediate. Forming a district did not ease the concerns. In fact, politics, money and personal agendas only made it worse. The majority of citizens who initially were voted onto the board essentially wanted to stop the export of water. As Davis points out, that is not one of the powers granted to Chapter 36 water districts or any groundwater district, for that matter.

In establishing its permitting process, the newly formed district hired geologist Steve Walthour as an expert to review the permit applications. Walthour wasn’t new to the game. He had served in a similar capacity for the Edwards Aquifer Authority, overseeing the processing of more than 1000 permit applications.

In reviewing the applications, Walthour looked at the documentation provided by the applicant for proving up water that was used during the specified historic use period, that being from 1960 to 1991.

Walthour then interviewed most of the applicants and personally toured the affected farms and ranches to observe the existing and historic infrastructure, including wells, storage facilities, irrigation distribution systems and tailwater retention facilities. Walthour’s wanted to view the evidence that supported the applicants’ claims for historic water use. Based on that information, Walthour then made a recommendation to the Board on what he deemed should be permitted.

Despite the time Walthour devoted to reviewing each application and the supporting documentation, in the end the groundwater district’s board chose to totally disregard the recommendation of their own expert.

“It appeared that the board looked at the applications based on who was a supporter of the board and the current general manager,” Davis says. “It also appeared very quickly that those who supported the board and general manager were shown preference over those who didn’t, and those who didn’t had their application permit amounts cut by half from what Walthour recommended, and in some cases as much as 65 percent.”

A group of 13 of the affected landowners took the matter to the courthouse. In July 2005 that group of landowners banded together to file what became known generically as the Bouleware lawsuit. A separate lawsuit was also filed in federal court, but all of the lawsuits were essentially tied to the permitting process.

Over the course of the next four years or so, the court continually ruled in favor of the landowners. The district, however, appealed each ruling. As a result, the water district accumulated a massive amount of debt incurred from attorney fees.

All the while this was going on, the applicants still had not been issued their historic or existing use permits. Yet they were being charged user fees by the district for a permit they didn’t even have, and those fees were based on what they asked for in their permits, what the district said would be permitted.

In November 2006 the general manager and, soon thereafter, three board members, resigned. It was at that point that the Kinney County commissioners’ court stepped in, appointing some new members to the board, and things slowly began to change.

“The commissioners’ court realized we had some problems, so they appointed some people that they felt would help bring the district together, individuals who would work in a cohesive manner,” Davis explains.

Immediately the new board took action. They understand that the direction the district had been going was not beneficial for the citizens of the county. They not only feared that the board had been going in the wrong direction, but now more than ever they feared that the district would soon be insolvent if it wasn’t already. Additionally, some feared that local control would be taken from the citizens of the county.

That’s when board members came to an agreement. They decided the best thing for the community and for all parties involved was to settle the lawsuits filed against the water district.

“Most of us on the board at that time felt that what the district had done was wrong,” Davis says. “The district had lost appeal after appeal, and yet they continued to fight on. The new board could see that these legal costs were going to kill us if we didn’t put an end to it, so the board agreed to a mediated settlement.”

In starting that process, the first thing the board did was change attorneys. According to Davis, the attorney representing the water district at the time was part of the problem because in some cases he acted on his own rather than take direction from the entire board.

A great deal of time and effort was put in by both sides during the mediation settlement process in July of 2007. The mediation started at 9 a.m. and went on long into the night. The agreement was finally finalized at 2 a.m. Judge Pennington, who was presiding over the litigation in district court, later entered an agreed final judgment confirming everything agreed to by the parties in the final mediated settlement.

The mediated settlement agreement was touted as a win for the landowners in that the district agreed to issue the permits based generally on Walthour’s recommendation. Two parties had intervened in the litigation, purportedly in support of the district, while the Bouleware case was pending before the Fourth Court of Appeals. The settlement agreement required the district to increase those two intervening landowners’ permit amounts even above the amount they’d applied for originally. According to Davis, it was the only way they were going to be able to settle the matter and finally end the lawsuits.

There were also stipulations agreed to by both parties regarding attorneys’ fees. In this case there was some give and take. The specifics are somewhat convoluted, but one of the elements was that the district agreed to pay the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees. Those fees, however, were only to be paid when and if the district issues a transport permit and collects export fees, and only 50 percent of those fees in any given year can go toward the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees. The plaintiffs agreed to have their recoverable attorneys’ fees discounted by 15 percent. Furthermore, there is a cap of $550,000 on the total fees to be paid by the district.

“The science may prove that there isn’t enough water here to export, and if that is the case, then the plaintiffs’ attorneys don’t get paid by the district,” Davis says. “That was also part of the mediated settlement agreement.”

There is a slight hitch to all of this. Even though the mediated settlement said that all parties would agree to drop all pending lawsuits, Prototype Machine, owned by the Ring family, tried to intervene to prevent the settlement agreement in the 11th hour. In fact, they intervened after the settlement agreement had been reached.

Judge Pennington denied Protype’s intervention but Prototype appealed the decision, and the matter is now pending before the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, Ed McCarthy and Paul Terrill, say there is no validity to the appeal. McCarthy points out that the court has not yet agreed to hear the case, nor do they have to do so. For now, the respective attorneys are in the process of preparing the necessary appellate pleadings as the briefing deadline is nearing.

Davis says he was disappointed in Prototype’s actions.

“If people would just work with us instead of against us by trying to drag us into court, maybe we can work all this out together so that it’s beneficial to everyone,” Davis remarks.

In spite of the appeal, he and the other board members have moved forward to honor the provisions agreed to in the mediated settlement. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are pleased thus far with the changes and the direction in which the new board seems to be going.

“I think the new board provides some optimism from a landowner’s perspective,” McCarthy says. “I don’t think the water district is all the way there, but they’re certainly acting in good faith at this point, which I think is critical. I may not agree with all the decisions they make, and we may have some disputes that we continue to litigate, but I think there is a huge change in management style, philosophy and policy.”

“The old groundwater board was not out to protect and preserve groundwater, but rather to defeat export of water, and take away the rights of historic groundwater users,” Terrill insistently adds. “Today they truly seem like they’re reformed. Only time will tell, but the fact that they were willing to enter into this settlement agreement and give the landowners the water rights that they deserve is a good and positive sign.”

Davis says the board is taking things one step at a time. He notes the importance of keeping good people on the board, people as he says, “who have a true desire to protect and conserve groundwater but at the same time not trample on private property rights that can think and act in a fair manner.”

Four of the current directors’ terms will expire come November. As noted earlier, some of the current board members were appointed by the commissioners’ court. Again, such measures are not standard. In fact, Chapter 36 of the Water Code says that in the event of a resignation by a board member, the board will appoint a new member. However, the enacting legislation of the Kinney County district allowed for that power to be given to the commissioners’ court.

Though Chapter 36 states that a groundwater district must select officers after every election, the bylaws of the Kinney County district state that the board may choose to select officers every year, and that is what they’ve chosen to do. Thus Davis’ presidential term will expire this coming fall. He has two years as a board member, and he can be reappointed as president if the board so chooses.

Another critically important step the new board has taken is that they’ve revised their management plan. By law, water districts are required to submit their management plan to the Texas Water Development Board for review every five years, and Kinney County was due for its review. However, the mediated settlement also required that the district revise its management plan.

Kent Lowery, vice president of the groundwater district, chaired the management plan committee. Lowery is not a native to Kinney County. In fact, he and his wife only moved here from Dallas five years ago, just as citizens were voting on whether or not they wanted to form a water district. Lowery describes his first couple of years in the community as “interesting times.”

A chiropractor by trade, he says many of his clients were coming to him because the stress of the water controversy was creating problems for them both physically and mentally.

“It was a sad thing,” Lowery says. “People who had been friends all their life were now at odds.

“The fear factor was huge. You could almost feel it,” he continues. “There were all kinds of rumors going around, rumors like ‘They’re going to send all of our water out of here and people in Spofford won’t even be able to flush their toilets.’ There was a lot of that — but no substantiation to the rumors.”

Over the course of the next couple of years, Lowery followed the water controversy but did not really get involved until August 2007, when he was approached about serving on the board. He agreed, and the commissioners’ court made the appointment.

Lowery and his committee worked for two and a half months on developing a revised management plan.

The management plan, Lowery explains, is meant to give the board some general oversight and direction. The particulars of the day to day operations, permitting, etc., are then set out by the rules.

“What we tried to do was define the kind of aquifer we’re dealing with and identify some goals that we wanted to accomplish and how to accomplish those goals without getting too specific, because the rules need to really provide the specifics,” he explains.

Beyond that, in a nutshell, what the revised management plan says is that the district does not yet have enough science to make sound management decisions.

“The original plan didn’t have good numbers,” Lowery comments. “The plan said the district had this much water, but they didn’t have any science to support any of the numbers in the plan. It was their best guess.”

The committee realized that a best guess didn’t suffice, so all such numbers were removed. In place of specific numbers, the committee called for, in part, apportioning permit reductions if necessary and if good science supports such reductions.

To get that science and to help the district come up with their managed available groundwater number — essentially the maximum amount of water that a district must permit if there are permit applications filed applying for that water — the plan calls for placement of monitoring wells in the different management zones as well as monitoring wells in those water-rich areas where water could potentially be exported out of the district. Having such monitoring wells will allow the district to make sound management decisions on possible cutbacks should the aquifer drop below a specified level.

Again, Lowery points out that the management plan makes it clear that science will be the basis for any such decisions.

Determining a managed available groundwater number — the district’s “water budget,” so to speak — is highly dependent on the county’s drouth contingency plan and also the desired future condition. Each groundwater district is required to come up with a desired future condition.

He points out, however, that this figure can change any time there is science to support such a change.

The committee has already begun work on the drouth contingency plan, and when completed, it along with the desired future conditions will become part of the management plan.

The committee made the revised management plan available to the public for 20 days. Following that review period the district conducted a public hearing. The only people who came to that hearing were the water marketers, but they apparently found little wrong with the plan and suggested only minor changes, Lowery said.

Overall, Lowery says he feels good about the plan.

“We tried to make it flexible; we tried to make it where it would give us the ability to make rules without fear of making rules that weren’t supported in the management plan. We feel like we provided direction; we feel like it’s a very fair plan and that we’re trying to do what we’re supposed to do as a groundwater district, that is, to protect people’s water rights while protecting the resource, and most of all that we’re at least abiding by the law.”

Now that the management plan has been revised, the rules committee is set to begin a review of the district’s current rules.

When Davis became president, he formed several different committees to handle specific priorities. In addition to the management plan committee and the rules committee, he also appointed a science committee. This committee was charged with establishing a plan for gathering sound scientific data so that good planning decisions could be made by the board.

The plan the committee came up with calls for such things as monitoring wells located throughout the entire district for the purpose of better understanding rainfall events and how those events affect aquifer levels in all parts of the district. The plan also calls for stream flow monitoring, not only in the west Nueces but also in Los Moras Creek, Pinto Creek and Mud Creek.

The plan calls for additional dye trace studies.

“We need to find out where the water comes from that feeds the springs, otherwise, during a drouth we don’t know who to regulate or who to cut back in order to protect spring flow,” Davis points out.

“The big water is in the northern part of the county, and there is lots of water in the southwestern part of the county,” Davis continues, “but we don’t know what is connected to the springs.”

The EAA has conducted some limited dye-trace studies which have focused primarily on the middle part of the county. Kinney County’s karst aquifer is divided into three primary management zones — the Balcones Fault Zone, the Austin Chalk, and the Edwards Trinity. The primary goal of the EAA dye trace study, Davis says, was to determine which way the water flowed in the BFZ management zone. Initially, scientific data supported the theory that water flowed east, but another study indicated that it really went south.

The main reason the EAA was interested in Kinney County, Davis opines, is because when the legislature raised EAA’s pumping cap limits, the district was looking for additional water sources. Kinney County, at least part of Kinney County, was considered to be one such possible source.

“They never said that to us,” Davis admits, “but that’s what I felt.

“If the studies prove that the water goes south rather than east, then the EAA is probably not interested in us.”

During the district’s difficult days, there were some who advocated that Kinney County be annexed into the EAA because they felt the EAA was at least trying to be fair. More important, they reasoned, the EAA seemed to be interested in following the law. Now that the water district seems to be making a concerted effort to do things right, those citizens, Davis included, now say they hope to maintain local control.

The proposed five-year research study has an estimated pricetag of $1.5 million. The problem is that the district does not have that kind of money. As is standard with most local government entities, the groundwater district collects an ad valorem tax. Their enacting legislation caps that tax at 10 cents per $100 valuation. Currently, the district is collecting approximately six cents.

“Even if we increased the tax all the way to 10 cents, it still wouldn’t be enough money to pay for the research,” Davis says.

The district is also funded by water use fees, which is an annual fee set at $1 per acre-foot of permitted water. Currently, the annual water use fees and ad valorem taxes total about $125,000, Davis says.

“If we get our tax rate on up to 10 cents, which we’re probably going to have to do incrementally, then it might get our total income up to about $185,000.”

There is also a substantially higher water export fee, which is $10 per acre-foot. Should water transfer out of the district, the amount of revenue taken in by the water district will increase substantially.

And in fact, the district is set to vote on six large regular permits submitted by Grass Valley, one of the water marketing projects in the county. Grass Valley had its preliminary hearing in December. Another new aspect that the board introduced this past year with regard to the permitting process is that rather than have the board handle the hearing and review process, they have hired a hearings examiner to handle the larger permit applications. The examiner makes a recommendation and then the board makes the final decision. It’s a process that several other groundwater districts use.

“The board wanted to standardize the permit process and make it a fair process,” Davis comments. “We felt it was best to take the board initially out of the loop so that politics can’t come into play.”

Grass Valley’s wells, Davis says, are right across the road from his property. He will recuse himself from voting on their application because he’s protesting their application.

“The district will probably issue a permit,” Davis comments, “but I hope it will have strings attached based on the science that first has to be done. It’s hard to make good decisions if you don’t know what you’re working with,” he reminds.

That’s why it’s so critical to get started on gathering that science, but to move forward they must find some funding. The board presented its research proposal to the U.S. Geological Service as well as to the Texas Water Development Board in hopes that they might make funding available. They’ve also applied for a federal grant.

Region J, of which Kinney County is part, received a grant from the Texas Water Development Board, but more is needed, Davis insists, specifically in Kinney County.

“The Texas Water Development Board admitted that there isn’t enough science in Kinney County for their computer modeling system to work. TWDB can make funding grants to a region to do studies, but they can’t make grants to groundwater districts. To me that needs to be changed,” he remarks. “After all, the groundwater districts are the ones making the rules. They are the ones who need the money to get the science.”

Davis laments the amount of time and money the district has spent fighting lawsuits.

“All of that money could have been spent on science. It’s now money we owe, not money we had or ever had.”
Overall, Davis says he’s pleased with their progress this year, though admittedly he’d like for things to be moving more quickly. He says perhaps the best sign that there is not so much strife in the community is the low attendance at their monthly meetings. In the early days the rooms were packed, and on occasion local law enforcement was called in as a precautionary measure to help keep the peace.

“I do wish more people would come to our meetings, if for no other reason than to see what we’re doing,” Davis says, “to show us that they’re interested.”

Davis and board vice president Lowery both admit they were somewhat disappointed in the response, or lack of response, when they offered the management plan for review to the citizens of the community, and that when it came time for the public hearing, none of the citizens, not even the local officials, came.

He says the board needs to do a better job of communicating with the community, but they’re so snowed under with other issues of higher importance that those kinds of issues tend to get overlooked.

Though the Kinney County Groundwater District still faces many challenges, mainly the challenge of the unknown, the consensus seems to be that they’re moving in a positive direction.

As one onlooker noted, the district may still stumble along the way. That is to be expected for managing something as emotionally charged as groundwater. It’s no simple matter even when local control is in control.

There are still some who advocate that the state implement a more standardized system of oversight of these local districts, and still others advocate that groundwater should be managed more on a regional basis.

One thing is for sure — the whole groundwater management system will continue to evolve. There will be more controversy and more lawsuits. In that respect, Kinney County does not standalone.

PUB to seek federal funding for desalination plant

Plant could provide 25 million gallons of potable water per day

With expected support from the Southmost Regional Water Authority and the Brownsville Navigation District, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board voted Monday to seek $40 million in federal funds to pursue a regional Brownsville Seawater Desalination Plant.
"The money hasn't been tapped," PUB CEO John Bruciak told the board of the availability of public funding under the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) via the Texas Environmental Infrastructure Program as authorized by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/brownsville_85902___article.html/regional_federal.html

Desalination facilities named 'Top Texas Engineering Project'

EL PASO - The Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Facility here in El Paso has been recognized as the top engineering project in Texas for 2008 by the Texas Council of Engineering Companies.

The team of Moreno Cardenas Inc. (MCi) and Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) received the Eminent Conceptor Award for their design of El Paso's inland desalination plant.
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8165499

Water, parks among items on agenda

Desalination

Seminole picked up a $500,000 grant Monday toward a pilot project to use wind power to desalinate brackish groundwater.
The state's Office of Rural Community Affairs awarded the grant from its renewable energy program to help fund the $1.075 million project, according to a news release.
http://www.oaoa.com/news/groundwater_16021___article.html/seminole_monday.html

LCRA, county work together on projects

LCRA's general manager, Mason spoke to the Bay City Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, and was on hand to see a longtime LCRA representative honored.
http://www.baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=e575319ac70f2dd4

LSGCD contemplates surface water treatment plant

The Texas Water Development Board Phase II Regional Planning Grant Draft Report was presented Tuesday by the district's engineering firm Turner, Collie and Braden during a committee meeting. No action was taken.
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19487191&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=639299&rfi=6

Settlement Reached in Water Rights Suit

Water rights in the panhandle are an ongoing issue we have been covering in-depth over the past week. Tonight our coverage continues as an historic milestone is reached today.

Amarillo has settled the first known case in which groundwater rights owners took action to keep their water protected.
http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=8172482&nav=menu429_2_16

Jackson Oaks Subdivision Will Discuss New Sewage System

The community is working with county and state officials to try and get a sewer system installed, said Nola Chandler, one of the effort's organizers.

La Feria plant bids over budget

"It's not off the table yet but we have to review all the options," Philip said. . . Philip said he will meet next week with Texas Water Development Board officials to discuss funding options.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/philip_24064___article.html/city_million.html

Volunteers mark 10 years of water planning

Switch 'river' for 'land' and that familiar refrain rings true for 22 volunteer water planners in the lower Colorado River region in Texas.

Over the past 10 years, they have realized and spread the word that everyone in the 14-county region, from Goldthwaite to the Gulf Coast, depends on the water flowing through the Colorado River and its tributaries. From farms to cities to fisheries, the river is your river - and it's their river, too.

These volunteers came together in April 1998 as part of a new grass-roots water planning effort mandated by the 77th Legislature in Senate Bill 1.
For the previous 30 years, the state had developed water plans that that failed because they lacked buy-in at the local level.

The Lower Colorado River (Region K) Water Planning Group is one of 16 regions created by the Texas Water Development Board in 1998 to carry out the "bottom-up" approach required by Senate Bill 1.
http://www.baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=58a406dcdaaa01fa

Finally, we can get down to work, say RGRWA members

WESLACO, April 16 - Five years after legislation to set up the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority was passed, board directors say they are finally looking forward to getting down to the business of raising money for water conservation and irrigation infrastructure projects.
http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=21

Using 'innovative technology'

A 50x100-foot metal building at the Fort Bend Water Control & Improvement District No. 2's wastewater treatment plant site holds the key to the future of drinking water for Stafford as well as some areas of Missouri City and Sugar Land.

The building houses membrane filter equipment that turns surface water into potable water and this is happening because by 2013 all entities providing drinking water must convert from 100 percent groundwater usage to 30 percent surface water. It's a 2003 mandate from the Fort Bend County Subsidence District, and WCID's pilot plant program at $431,000 is just one part of the conversion process.
http://www.fortbendstar.com/041608/n_WCID%20No.%202%20in%2090-day%20test%20on%20surface%20water%20cleanliness,%20taste.htm

Construction Could Begin On Sewage System To Alleviate Jackson Oaks Problem By Spring '09

The general manager of the Smith County Municipal Utility District said he hopes to begin construction on a sewage system that will alleviate the current conditions in and around Jackson Oaks subdivision by spring 2009 when he spoke to concerned residents during a community meeting Thursday night.

MUD general manager Tommy Vice said there are no short-term solutions, no "band-aids," for the standing water and sewage problems affecting more than 70 residents in the subdivision. Residents in the area have suffered sewage problems for years, he said, and now realize that a solution is on the way.
http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20080417/NEWS01/804170310

City shouldn't spend too much green while going green

Ken Rodriguez: Looks like CEO of SAWS is in hot water

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA041808.01B.krod.3899014.html

Governor's Task Force Begins Work to Address Pennsylvania's Water Infrastructure Needs

Regional Public Meetings to Follow Inaugural Meeting
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Members of Governor Edward G. Rendell's Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force convened for the first time today and began the work of addressing the estimated $20 billion funding shortfall needed to upgrade Pennsylvania's aging and deteriorated water-related infrastructure.
http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=8163094&nav=menu429_11

Scientists seek sustainable water supply for a thirsty world

Around the world, water supplies are threatened. The discovery of drugs in public drinking water is just the latest crisis in the United States. From California to Columbia, a larger problem looms-the ongoing availability of the resource itself.

Industrial agriculture places heavy demands on global water supplies. Energy production is another drain, threatening to tap out an already stressed resource. Meanwhile, world population is expected to grow from six to nine billion by mid-century. Add it all up, and the world appears to be facing an unsustainable thirst for water.
http://www.utexas.edu/features/2008/water/

U.S. Proposes Southeast Water-Sharing Plan

The corps proposed its plan after negotiations among the governors of Alabama, Florida and Georgia broke down in February, prompting Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to say Washington would impose its solution.

In an letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the corps wrote that the proposal was "likely to adversely affect" four threatened species, the gulf sturgeon and three mussel types. In extreme droughts, the plan would continue a provision announced last fall allowing river flows below the current minimum of 5,000 cubic feet a second at the Jim Woodruff Dam near
the Florida-Georgia line. Under particularly wet conditions, the plan also allows for reservoirs to keep up to 50 percent of their inflows instead of the current 30 percent maximum.

Editorial:
More Government Control Of Water Act Big Mistake

Global weather heats up, but U.S. sees average March

Web Extra: Conservation loses out to a global warming panic

Where Rocky Creek Crosses Hamilton Pool Road

In late 2003, property owners along and near Hamilton Pool Road discovered that the LCRA was quietly negotiating with a small cadre of landowners/developers to extend a water line westward down Hamilton Pool Road, enabling the construction of dense subdivisions within our mostly rural Hill Country community. All hell broke loose, as angry neighbors organized themselves to postpone the construction of the water line until a regional plan (already in progress) could be completed and widely adopted as an alternative to unplanned urban sprawl.

Ultimately we lost that battle, which embittered relationships between residents and the landowner/developers who were planning to "suburbanize" Hamilton Pool Road. The epicenter of this conflict was the particularly dense Rocky Creek Ranch project, which contemplated building 468 large homes on small (mostly less than 1/4-acre) lots. Sewage would be treated on site and the treated effluent would be spray-irrigated on land adjacent to the subdivision. These homes, the wastewater treatment plant and the effluent irrigation fields would surround various branches of Rocky Creek, a pristine tributary of Barton Creek. Neighbors were resentful of both the inevitable environmental impact and the stark contrast between a typical, ultra-dense, suburban subdivision and its cherished Hill Country context.

At first we were frustrated because there did not seem to be anyone to turn to. In Texas there is no zoning authority outside of city extraterritorial jurisdictions, and Travis County officials are powerless to control land use. Because of our frontier heritage, regional planning in Texas is practically unheard of. So it appeared that the Rocky Creek Ranch subdivision was going to move forward exactly as originally platted.

Then two good things happened. First, we obtained expert opinion that the proposed wastewater treatment plant was a threat to water quality in Rocky Creek (and hence Barton Springs). Most important, the spray irrigation fields were judged insufficiently large to absorb the anticipated effluent from 468 homes. Subsequently we hired attorneys experienced in water quality issues and in representing both applicants and protestors at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). And we hired experts in hydrology to review and make recommendations regarding the wastewater irrigation plan. We filed formal protests against the landowner's wastewater treatment plant permit application with the TCEQ. Second, while all this was going on, the landowner decided to sell the project. It was purchased by Kerby Development around September of 2006.

The new owner of Rocky Creek Ranch began a one-on-one dialogue with the owners of the Shield Ranch (which shares a long common boundary with the development) who, along with a Travis County staff member, encouraged the developer to reach out to a broader audience. Soon after the purchase, the developer arranged a meeting in which neighbors were encouraged to ask questions and express their concerns and desires concerning the proposed development. This began a long process of negotiation and compromise geared towards reconciling the development plans and the requirements of the neighbors. Attorneys were engaged because the goal was to create a formal, enforceable contract ("Settlement Agreement") that would obligate both sides. We believe that the result is worth the significant expense and time committed.

The centerpiece of the consummated Settlement Agreement is a comprehensive set of provisions for protecting Rocky Creek itself, in return for which the neighbors have withdrawn their protests of the wastewater treatment plant. Among these provisions are:

• Larger lots sizes and a 15% reduction in the total number of lots
• Periodic water quality monitoring and monitoring/inspection of plant operations
• Installation of various failsafe mechanisms for the wastewater treatment system
• Installation of soil moisture sensors, and limitations on daily spray volume
• Detailed plans for managing an effective native vegetation effluent spray field
• Spray irrigation setbacks from seeps, springs, streams, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive features
• Restrictions on the use of fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, and phosphates
• Prohibition against recreational vehicles in the common areas and creek beds
• Omnibus agreement to comply with measures published by US Fish & Wildlife for protecting streams and water quality (This reinforces the agreement separately entered into by the developer and the LCRA)

The Settlement Agreement also includes provisions for preserving aesthetics, such as:

• "Dark skies" limitations on outdoor lighting
• Visual buffers and setbacks from Hamilton Pool Road
• Visual buffers (trees) around the wastewater treatment plant and holding pond
• Measures to minimize noise, odors and spray drift from the wastewater system
• Strict oak wilt management program

Another important accommodation is that there will be no wells or use of ground water within Rocky Creek Ranch, e.g. for irrigating common areas. There are also water conservation measures, including a prohibition against planting St. Augustine grass and certain invasive plants, and prescribed limitations on installing/using sprinkler systems.

It is certainly true that the developer had something material to gain from the negotiations, namely a quicker path to an approved wastewater treatment permit. But the developer's desire to be a good neighbor was crucial, as was the proactive efforts of the Shield Ranch and Travis County staff members in bringing the two sides together towards a productive dialogue. Collaboration can put together what conflict threatens to tear apart. While most neighbors would prefer not to have subdivisions along Hamilton Pool Road, constructive engagement has at least mitigated some of the most serious threats to the water quality and the Hill Country ambiance which attracted us all to the area in the first place.

Gene Lowenthall - Hamilton Pool Road Scenic Cooridor Coalition

By PATRICK MICHAELS
April 18, 2008; Page A17

President George W. Bush has just announced his goal to stabilize greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025. To get there, he proposes new fuel-economy standards for autos, and lower emissions from power plants built in the next 10 to 15 years.

Pending legislation in the Senate from Joe Lieberman and John Warner would cut emissions even further – by 66% by 2050. No one has a clue how to do this. Because there is no substitute technology to achieve these massive reductions, we'll just have to get by with less energy.

Getty Images Disko Bay, Greenland: Temperatures on the island are no warmer than they were in the mid-20th century.

Compared to a year ago, gasoline consumption has dropped only 0.5% at current prices. So imagine how expensive it would be to reduce overall emissions by 66%.

The earth's paltry warming trend, 0.31 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since the mid-1970s, isn't enough to scare people into poverty. And even that 0.31 degree figure is suspect.

For years, records from surface thermometers showed a global warming trend beginning in the late 1970s. But temperatures sensed by satellites and weather balloons displayed no concurrent warming.

These records have been revised a number of times, and I examined the two major revisions of these three records. They are the surface record from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the satellite-sensed temperatures originally published by University of Alabama's John Christy, and the weather-balloon records originally published by James Angell of the U.S. Commerce Department.

The two revisions of the IPCC surface record each successively lowered temperatures in the 1950s and the 1960s. The result? Obviously more warming – from largely the same data.

The balloon temperatures got a similar treatment. While these originally showed no warming since the late 1970s, inclusion of all the data beginning in 1958 resulted in a slight warming trend. In 2003, some tropical balloon data, largely from poor countries, were removed because their records seemed to vary too much from year to year. This change also resulted in an increased warming trend. Another check for quality control in 2005 created further warming, doubling the initial overall rate.

Then it was discovered that our orbiting satellites have a few faults. The sensors don't last very long and are continually being supplanted by replacement orbiters. The instruments are calibrated against each other, so if one is off, so is the whole record. Frank Wentz, a consulting atmospheric scientist from California, discovered that the satellites also drift a bit in their orbits, which induces additional bias in their readings. The net result? A warming trend appears where before there was none.

There have been six major revisions in the warming figures in recent years, all in the same direction. So it's like flipping a coin six times and getting tails each time. The chance of that occurring is 0.016, or less than one in 50. That doesn't mean that these revisions are all hooey, but the probability that they would all go in one direction on the merits is pretty darned small.

The removal of weather-balloon data because poor nations don't do a good job of minding their weather instruments deserves more investigation, which is precisely what University of Guelph economist Ross McKitrick and I did. Last year we published our results in the Journal of Geophysical Research, showing that "non-climatic" effects in land-surface temperatures – GDP per capita, among other things – exert a significant influence on the data. For example, weather stations are supposed to be a standard white color. If they darken from lack of maintenance, temperatures read higher than they actually are. After adjusting for such effects, as much as half of the warming in the U.N.'s land-based record vanishes. Because about 70% of earth's surface is water, this could mean a reduction of as much as 15% in the global warming trend.

Another interesting thing happens to the U.N.'s data when it's adjusted for the non-climatic factors. The frequency of very warm months is lowered, to the point at which it matches the satellite data, which show fewer very hot months. That's a pretty good sign that there are fundamental problems with the surface temperature history. At any rate, our findings have not been incorporated into the IPCC's history, and they probably never will be.

The fear of a sudden loss of ice from Greenland also makes a lot of news. A year ago, radio and television were ablaze with the discovery of "Warming Island," a piece of land thought to be part of Greenland. But when the ice receded in the last few years, it turned out that there was open water. Hence Warming Island, which some said hadn't been uncovered for thousands of years. CNN, ABC and the BBC made field trips to the island.

But every climatologist must know that Greenland's last decade was no warmer than several decades in the early and mid-20th century. In fact, the period from 1970-1995 was the coldest one since the late 19th century, meaning that Greenland's ice anomalously expanded right about the time climate change scientists decided to look at it.

Warming Island has a very distinctive shape, and it lies off of Carlsbad Fjord, in eastern Greenland. My colleague Chip Knappenberger found an inconvenient book, "Arctic Riviera," published in 1957 (near the end of the previous warm period) by aerial photographer Ernst Hofer. Hofer did reconnaissance for expeditions and was surprised by how pleasant the summers had become. There's a map in his book: It shows Warming Island.

The mechanism for the Greenland disaster is that summer warming creates rivers, called moulins, that descend into the ice cap, lubricating a rapid collapse and raising sea levels by 20 feet in the next 90 years. In Al Gore's book, "An Inconvenient Truth," there's a wonderful picture of a moulin on page 193, with the text stating "These photographs from Greenland illustrate some of the dramatic changes now happening on the ice there."

Really? There's a photograph in the journal "Arctic," published in 1953 by R.H. Katz, captioned "River disappearing in 40-foot deep gorge," on Greenland's Adolf Hoels Glacier. It's all there in the open literature, but apparently that's too inconvenient to bring up. Greenland didn't shed its ice then. There was no acceleration of the rise in sea level.

Finally, no one seems to want to discuss that for millennia after the end of the last ice age, the Eurasian arctic was several degrees warmer in summer (when ice melts) than it is now. We know this because trees are buried in areas that are now too cold to support them. Back then, the forest extended all the way to the Arctic Ocean, which is now completely surrounded by tundra. If it was warmer for such a long period, why didn't Greenland shed its ice?

This prompts the ultimate question: Why is the news on global warming always bad? Perhaps because there's little incentive to look at things the other way. If you do, you're liable to be pilloried by your colleagues. If global warming isn't such a threat, who needs all that funding? Who needs the army of policy wonks crawling around the world with bold plans to stop climate change?

But as we face the threat of massive energy taxes – raised by perceptions of increasing rates of warming and the sudden loss of Greenland's ice – we should be talking about reality.

Mr. Michaels is senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute and professor of environmental sciences at University of Virginia.

Web Posted: 04/17/2008 12:07 AM CDT

Anton Caputo
Express-News

There are few resources in Texas considered more precious than its natural springs.

They feed the creeks and rivers that crisscross the state's arid landscape, providing humans, livestock, wildlife and fauna alike with a critical supply of water.

Yet, after hundreds of years of depending on springs, our knowledge of them is woefully lacking and booming development is threatening to dry them up, aquatic biologist Chad Norris told a group of citizens in Grey Forest on Sunday afternoon.

"We need more holistic watershed management," said Norris, who works for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "I can't imagine not having a cool stream to dip my feet into, or I can't imagine my son not having one when he is my age."

Since 2003, Norris and a handful of state biologists have been trying to update the state's inventory and knowledge of springs through fieldwork and by piecing together snippets of information from countless landowners.

The update has been a long time coming.

The book that is considered the foundation of information on the state's springs, "Springs of Texas," is nearly three decades old. "Springs of Texas" outlines roughly 2,000 springs throughout 183 of the state's 254 counties, but recent fieldwork shows that there may be as many as five times that number, Norris said.

For instance, U.S. Geological Survey maps, which rely on historical data, show 36 springs in Bandera County, but recent fieldwork has found 131. In Real County, USGS maps show 23 springs, while recent fieldwork found 199.

The issue, which was discussed at a meeting of the Hill Country Planning Association on Sunday, is gaining momentum at what some consider a critical time. The Texas Legislature has given groundwater conservation districts until September 2010 to set their "desired future conditions" for the state's aquifers. The process will help state water planners determine how much water can be pumped from the ground in the next 50 years.

But because of the lack of information on springs, people like Annalisa Peace of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance worry that the process will ignore spring flow and guarantee that future generations will have a difficult time finding a natural spring in Texas and that the wildlife that depends on the springs will die out.

"It's ridiculous, because they don't have the information," Peace said

The notion that springs can run dry is not new. The state compiled a list of 281 major springs in 1975. By that time, 65 had completely failed.

The issue hit home to residents of Grey Forest, in rural northwest Bexar County, which relies on the Trinity Aquifer for its water. Many said they have seen the water levels drop significantly in recent years and have had to spend thousands of dollars deepening wells or drilling new ones altogether.

HCPA Chairwoman and Grey Forest City Council member Jennifer Nottingham said she wasn't surprised by anything she learned at the lecture. She said it only reinforced what she has witnessed in roughly five decades, off and on, in Grey Forest.

As a child, she remembers Helotes Creek running year-round during wet years, but said it never happens anymore. The continuing development and pressure on the groundwater worries Nottingham.

"If we abuse the water or lose the water, if we drain the aquifer or pollute the aquifer, then the way of life we know is gone," she said.

acaputo@express-news.net

As originally published, this story contained an error.

The Texas Border Coalition's executive committee voted to join the lawsuit filed in early February by Cameron County landowner Eloisa Tamez. A federal judge has not yet certified that lawsuit as a class action.

That lawsuit challenged the way Homeland Security went about suing property owners to get temporary access to their land to survey for the border fence.

"We are joining this lawsuit to protect the interests of communities across Texas and to minimize the impact the border wall will have on our environment, culture, commerce and quality of life," Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster said in a statement. Foster is chairman of the coalition.

Eagle Pass was the first municipality to be sued for access to city property. A federal judge ordered the city to open its property to surveyors before the city could even muster a response. Since then, the federal government has sued more than 50 South Texas landowners.

Peter Schey, who filed the lawsuit in the name of Tamez and property owner Benito Garcia, said he will have to discuss with the coalition whether it should join the Tamez lawsuit or file a separate, but similar, lawsuit. Schey is president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

The coalition's involvement "will make courts focus better on rights of municipalities that have been largely ignored up to now," Schey said. "It's more likely to get the attention of Secretary Chertoff."

Calls to the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection late Tuesday were not immediately returned.

"This situation cries out for class wide treatment," Schey said. "I don't think any significant relief will be received by property owners unless a class is certified."

The case will face an uphill battle.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has already deliberated on and ruled against many of the same arguments Schey makes in the proposed class-action lawsuit.

Schey raised similar points in defending Tamez from the government's condemnation lawsuit. Hanen denied Tamez's motion to dismiss the condemnation lawsuit Thursday, ordering her to give the government temporary access to three acres of her land.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

04/15/08 20:26 EDT

April 10, 2008

By Greg Little/publisher@gonzalesinquirer.com

A major announcement was made Wednesday regarding permitting of water in Gonzales County.

Barry Miller, director of the Gonzales County Underground Water District, said once the allotted amount of water from the Carizzo-Wilcox aquifer is permitted, there will be no more permits issued.

"Once the amount of water is used up, the leases will stop," said Miller.

Miller was speaking during a meeting of a newly-formed local organization which is exploring the possibility of forming a larger group and negotiating with large water companies.

The meeting was held at the Memorial Heights Baptist Church and attended by more than 100 people.

Miller said there could be a "water rush" in the county, similar to the gold rushes in America's history.

A new study

But there was another important fact which came from the meeting.

Dr. Robert Mace, director of Groundwater Resources with the Texas Water Development Board, said a study ordered by the Texas Legislature in 2005 will make a final determination on exactly the amount of groundwater available for use in districts across Texas.

The local underground water districts regulate the amount of water which can be taken from the ground. Mace said once those numbers are in place, then the amount of water will be set. Mace said they hope the final numbers are in place by the end of this year.

Currently, there are 29,000 acre feet of water available for use in Gonzales County.

"But that is going to change," said Mace.

He did not, however, say how much it would change because the study is not yet completed.

No matter what those numbers are, Miller said the local groundwater board has decided once the final numbers are in place, the permitting will stop when the leases equal the amount of water available. Miller said the board feels this move will stand up in court.

Also speaking at the meeting was attorney Doug Caroom of Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado, Acosta LLP. His firm advises both sellers and purchasers of water and helps in drafting leases and easements.

When Caroom heard the announcement by Miller, his response was, "Get a permit now."

Miller, though, pointed out under the rules of the local district, if someone obtains a permit, they have to begin drilling a well.

The meeting held on Wednesday was the third and final by the new group exploring the possibility of selling water to large entities.

Moving ahead

To date, the biggest player in the Gonzales County water situation is San Antonio Water System (SAWS). The group has offered contracts to local landowners in an attempt to secure water for the future. A court case remains in place centering around those SAWS permits.

SAWS applied for 14 permits to go along with 11,689 acres of land it leased in western Gonzales County. It was the ruling of Miller those permits did not meet the requirements as laid out by district rules.

It is now a contested case and a couple of sessions have been held but there has been no resolution.

Local realtor Charles Nunes of Providence Properties, who has organized the three local meetings, said he believes that is why SAWS is now looking to eastern Gonzales County for water permits. That's why he formed the group so landowners could develop a larger organization and negotiate with SAWS or any other group looking for leases in this area.

In February, Miller said the chances of SAWS getting the permits in eastern Gonzales County are probably better because the aquifer levels are higher in that area.

On Wednesday, Miller said there are 18,000 acre feet of water permitted now in western Gonzales County and the eastern portion of the county has 14,000 acre feet "to be regulated."

It was also pointed out the unprotected landowners in adjoining Caldwell County have asked to be accepted into the Gonzales County Underground Water District. Miller said the local district has accepted them into the district and it will all hinge on a May 10 vote in Caldwell County as to whether they will come on board. Should that happen, there could be more water available for permitting under the umbrella of the local district.

Also during Wednesday's meeting, W.E. "Bill" West Jr., made a short presentation. He is from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority.

West said that group is responsible for a 10-county district ranging from the Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. He said there is a "good supply" of water in the north part of the district and the south section.

However, he said there is a "limited supply" in the middle portion of the district, which includes the Seguin and San Marcos areas, both growing in population.

"That's why we are interested in visiting with you today," West told the audience.

He didn't go into details but hinted they would be interested in leasing water from landowners in Gonzales County.

History lesson

During his talk, Mace gave those in attendance a little history lesson as to why Texas is where it is concerning regulation of underground water.

It all began 150 years ago in Dennison when a railroad company needed water. He said they dug a large well in that area and it dried up wells of the landowners in the area. The case went to court and the railroad ended up winning, meaning they could have a bigger well on their land and those in the area would just have to suffer.

That same principle remains in place today, however, over the years the state has gotten deeper into water regulation.

"One thing you need to know is how much do we have to work with," said Mace.

He said the state decided to set up area underground water districts and give them the authority to regulate water. That, too, remains in place today and is the center of the water issue in Gonzales County.

Mace also said the depth of the aquifer in the county varies greatly. In the city of Gonzales, it actually reaches the surface at the water treatment plant. As you go west, the aquifer is at a depth of 4,400 feet.

He said the recharge of the aquifer in the county is also an issue. Mace said there is "not a lot" of recharge which actually happens in the county. That recharge is in adjoining areas to the northeast.

The recharge rate in Gonzales County is about 1,400 acre feet per year. From Guadalupe and Caldwell counties, the rate is 15,000 acre feet per year.

Also during the discussion, it was revealed that Gonzales County has a large amount of water in the aquifer.

Miller said there are actually 80 million acre feet of water in storage. An acre-foot is an area about the size of a football field and one foot deep.

Growing pains

According to Nunes, he feels because Texas is one of the fastest growing states in the country, it's going to mean the major metropolitan areas will have a huge need for water in the future.

He pointed out a recent study which revealed Texas has four of the 10 fastest growing metro areas in the nation. Those are Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. He said 2,300 people per week are moving into the Austin and San Antonio areas combined.

"Legislators in Austin who represent the growing areas will not let water stand in their way," said Nunes.

He also pointed out there is plenty of upstream activity already taking place concerning surface and groundwater.

"That will have an impact on us," said Nunes.

He also believes the large water utilities and companies "have influence" with lawmakers in Austin.

That, said Nunes, is why he believes if local landowners are going to lease their water, they should do it as a group.

"We need to negotiate from a position of strength," said Nunes. "A larger consortium can get better terms."

Nunes said he thinks the contract being offered by SAWS in Gonzales County favors the water utility and not the landowners. He said it is not a "win-win" arrangement.

"I will not sign the existing contract as it is now," said Nunes.

Nunes also pointed out SAWS isn't the only player in the game. He said the Hays-Caldwell Public Utilities, GBRA and AquaWater have all shown an interest in obtaining water from Gonzales County.

Paying the price

Caroom, the attorney, said the price of water is determined by market value.

"You have a good commodity," said Caroom "You are close to the demand centers."

However, he also said the value of water is less than oil and gas and there are many other factors involved. One of those is transportation of the water, which he said is a lot more costly to the entities than actually purchasing the water. There are wells, pumps, pipelines, easements and other issues involved.

He also said there are "various ways" to structure contracts with utilities.

Caroom told audience members that having blocks of land is crucial when negotiating contracts. Those seeking to obtain water prefer being able to have a few large wells rather than smaller wells scattered around the countryside.

"The basic problem is an individual negotiating the contract does not have any leverage," said Caroom.

He also said there are court cases pending which could have major impacts on regulation of water in Texas. One of those deals with landowner rights versus regulation rights of water districts.

All of those factors, plus the new study which will be released, will be critical as the issue of water continues to move forward in Gonzales County.

Copyright © 2008 The Gonzales Inquirer. All rights reserved.

In a sign of the region's relative economic health, homeowners in Travis, Hays and Williamson counties can expect to see increases in their 2008 property appraisals when they begin receiving notices in the mail soon, appraisers say.

The Travis Central Appraisal District is finalizing its proposed values for all real property in the county, including residential, office and retail properties. Preliminary values will be firmed up Friday, chief appraiser Patrick Brown said Tuesday.

Countywide, the average home value is up 11.5 percent, to $285,511 compared with $256,058 in 2007, Brown said. In the City of Austin, the average home value is $266,807, up 12.55 percent from $237,055 in 2007, Brown said.

Properties are valued as of Jan. 1 each year, as prescribed by the state's property tax code.

Brown emphasized that the figures are averages: When homeowners begin receiving their notices next week, some will see their property value increase while others could see a decline.

Brown said initial figures show some areas of the county, such as near Lago Vista and Marble Falls, are seeing "very strong appreciation rates" in home values because of the region's healthy economy.

"You have to keep in mind that this county added about 20,000 jobs last year," Brown said. "If you have more people coming in, that means more household demand, and that's going to push up home prices a little bit."

That's not to say Texas and the Austin area haven't experienced fallout from the national housing troubles and tighter mortgage lending practices. Home sales locally have cooled from previous record levels, dropping for the eighth consecutive month in February.

However, "the value of the typical house has continued to go up," Brown said. "And I think that trend would reverse itself if we had no or very little employment growth."

In Williamson County, 2008 home values will climb about 6 percent on average countywide, on $20 billion of residential properties, chief appraiser Bill Carroll said.

"This year, it's even more sporadic than usual because of the market conditions," he said, adding that notices will be mailed Friday.

On the commercial side, office, retail and industrial property values in Williamson County are projected to rise about 9 percent on average, on about $20 billion in commercial property, Carroll said.

Williamson County home values have been rising an average of 7 percent to 9 percent in recent years, "so we haven't been as exposed to a volatile market like a lot of the rest of the country," he said.

David Valle, chief appraiser in Hays County, said residential property owners there can expect to see single-digit increases when their notices arrive during the first week of May.

"We're still working the numbers, but it looks like definitely Hays County is bucking the national trend," Valle said.

"I think it's just people wanting to move into this area, especially the Kyle area. We're seeing a lot of commercial, retail and residential growth."

Rising property values don't always mean property tax increases, Valle said. Individual taxing authorities such as school districts, cities and counties can raise or lower their tax rates, depending on their budget needs, Valle said. Those rates are usually set in the fall.

Also, state law caps the rate at which most homes can increase in taxable value. Taxes on residences with a homestead exemption can rise no more than 10 percent per year.

In the Austin Independent School District, the average home sales price rose about 5.6 percent from 2006 to 2007, to $287,079, according to the appraisal district.

Although that isn't a huge jump, Brown said, research by county appraisers indicates that property values are rising significantly in East Austin, primarily because of its relatively low prices and proximity to downtown and the University of Texas.

East Austin also is seeing a surge of new residential construction and redevelopment.

Unlike the stock market, where expectations drive values, appraisals reflect previous market conditions, said real estate consultant Charles Heimsath, president of Austin-based Capitol Market Research.

"These values reflect the market conditions of last spring and summer (2007) before the effects of sub-prime lending policies became painfully evident," he said.

If housing prices start to level off or decline this year, then appraisals will reflect the changes in 2009.

snovak@statesman.com; 512/445-3856

More information on appraisals

Check your mail: Appraisal notices in Williamson County will be mailed Friday. In Travis County, the notices will start arriving next week. In Hays County, notices are expected to start arriving in early May.

To protest:The deadline for protesting property appraisals is June 1, or 30 days after receiving the appraisal notice, whichever comes last.

In Travis County, call 834-9138 for information on filing a protest or go to www.traviscad.org

In Willliamson County, call 930-3787 or go to www.wcad.org for information.

In Hays, call 512-268-2522 or go to www.hayscad.com

PUB to seek federal funding for desalination plant
Plant could provide 25 million gallons of potable water per day.

With expected support from the Southmost Regional Water Authority and the Brownsville Navigation District, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board voted Monday to seek $40 million in federal funds to pursue a regional Brownsville Seawater Desalination Plant.
"The money hasn't been tapped," PUB CEO John Bruciak told the board of the availability of public funding under the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) via the Texas Environmental Infrastructure Program as authorized by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/brownsville_85902___article.html/regional_federal.html

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Desalination facilities named 'Top Texas Engineering Project'
EL PASO - The Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Facility here in El Paso has been recognized as the top engineering project in Texas for 2008 by the Texas Council of Engineering Companies.

The team of Moreno Cardenas Inc. (MCi) and Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) received the Eminent Conceptor Award for their design of El Paso's inland desalination plant.
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8165499

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Water, parks among items on agenda
With county elections now behind it, the Webb County Commissioners Court will reconvene today to address several pending projects, including the county's million-dollar water-well project, a recreational park in north Laredo, improvements to the historic courthouse building and a proposed park in the Quad Cities area.The Webb County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. today at the Webb County Courthouse, 1000 Houston Street.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19481678&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6

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Seminole receives grant for wind-powered project
Seminole picked up a $500,000 grant Monday toward a pilot project to use wind power to desalinate brackish groundwater.
The state's Office of Rural Community Affairs awarded the grant from its renewable energy program to help fund the $1.075 million project, according to a news release.
http://www.oaoa.com/news/groundwater_16021___article.html/seminole_monday.html

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LCRA, county work together on projects
Thomas Mason said the Lower Colorado River Authority will continue its varied programs in Matagorda County, calling it "a very special park of our basin."
LCRA's general manager, Mason spoke to the Bay City Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, and was on hand to see a longtime LCRA representative honored.
http://www.baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=e575319ac70f2dd4

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LSGCD contemplates surface water treatment plant
The Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District is leaning toward a single surface water treatment plant as it draws closer to its self-mandated 2015 groundwater reduction deadline.
The Texas Water Development Board Phase II Regional Planning Grant Draft Report was presented Tuesday by the district's engineering firm Turner, Collie and Braden during a committee meeting. No action was taken.
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19487191&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=639299&rfi=6

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Settlement Reached in Water Rights Suit
Water rights in the panhandle are an ongoing issue we have been covering in-depth over the past week. Tonight our coverage continues as an historic milestone is reached today.
Amarillo has settled the first known case in which groundwater rights owners took action to keep their water protected.
http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=8172482&nav=menu429_2_16

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Jackson Oaks Subdivision Will Discuss New Sewage System
NEW CHAPEL HILL - Jackson Oaks subdivision in New Chapel Hill is set to meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Campbell Davis Community Center on FM 2767.

The community is working with county and state officials to try and get a sewer system installed, said Nola Chandler, one of the effort's organizers.

Residents will receive information on the status of a Texas Water Development Board grant application that has been filed and the projected route of the system, Ms. Chandler said.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20080417/NEWS01/804170310

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La Feria plant bids over budget
LA FERIA - Bids for construction of a proposed $3.5 million sewer plant came in $4.3 million over budget, forcing city officials to scramble to fund the project, City Manager Sunny Philip said Tuesday.
"It's not off the table yet but we have to review all the options," Philip said. . . Philip said he will meet next week with Texas Water Development Board officials to discuss funding options.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/philip_24064___article.html/city_million.html

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Volunteers mark 10 years of water planning
This land is your land, this land is my land.

Switch 'river' for 'land' and that familiar refrain rings true for 22 volunteer water planners in the lower Colorado River region in Texas.

Over the past 10 years, they have realized and spread the word that everyone in the 14-county region, from Goldthwaite to the Gulf Coast, depends on the water flowing through the Colorado River and its tributaries. From farms to cities to fisheries, the river is your river - and it's their river, too.

These volunteers came together in April 1998 as part of a new grass-roots water planning effort mandated by the 77th Legislature in Senate Bill 1.
For the previous 30 years, the state had developed water plans that that failed because they lacked buy-in at the local level.

The Lower Colorado River (Region K) Water Planning Group is one of 16 regions created by the Texas Water Development Board in 1998 to carry out the "bottom-up" approach required by Senate Bill 1.
http://www.baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=58a406dcdaaa01fa

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Finally, we can get down to work, say RGRWA members
WESLACO, April 16 - Five years after legislation to set up the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority was passed, board directors say they are finally looking forward to getting down to the business of raising money for water conservation and irrigation infrastructure projects.

http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=21

Using 'innovative technology'
WCID No. 2 in 90-day test on surface water cleanliness, taste
A 50x100-foot metal building at the Fort Bend Water Control & Improvement District No. 2's wastewater treatment plant site holds the key to the future of drinking water for Stafford as well as some areas of Missouri City and Sugar Land.
The building houses membrane filter equipment that turns surface water into potable water and this is happening because by 2013 all entities providing drinking water must convert from 100 percent groundwater usage to 30 percent surface water. It's a 2003 mandate from the Fort Bend County Subsidence District, and WCID's pilot plant program at $431,000 is just one part of the conversion process.
http://www.fortbendstar.com/041608/n_WCID No. 2 in 90-day test on surface water cleanliness, taste.htm

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Construction Could Begin On Sewage System To Alleviate Jackson Oaks Problem By Spring '09
The general manager of the Smith County Municipal Utility District said he hopes to begin construction on a sewage system that will alleviate the current conditions in and around Jackson Oaks subdivision by spring 2009 when he spoke to concerned residents during a community meeting Thursday night. MUD general manager Tommy Vice said there are no short-term solutions, no "band-aids," for the standing water and sewage problems affecting more than 70 residents in the subdivision. Residents in the area have suffered sewage problems for years, he said, and now realize that a solution is on the way.
http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/NEWS01/804180315/-1/RSS01&template=printart

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City shouldn't spend too much green while going green
This week, city officials split on exactly how far to go to make Boerne government buildings "green" and better for the environment.
http://boernestar.com/articles/2008/04/17/news/editorial/editorial7.txt

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Ken Rodriguez: Looks like CEO of SAWS is in hot water
The CEO of the San Antonio Water System is like a piece of driftwood, floating downstream toward a 300-foot drop.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA041808.01B.krod.3899014.html