March 18, 2008 - West Ranch Field Day
Results of the 2-year SARE study on “Addressing Cedar Infestations Sustainably –
Using Animal Impact to Increase Forage Production and Improve Soil Health”

This one is on Tuesday, March 18, 2009. We will have lots more in store as well, so plan to join us in Ozona at Holistic Management International’s West Ranch.

June 21, 2008 Windmills Anyone?
Come to one of the largest windmill Farms in Texas, The 69 Ranch in Maryneal, to have all your curiosities satisfied about the wind energy business. We will have experts there to talk about what might make your farm a candidate, the ins and outs of contracts, how much money you can make, what the ecological, social and economic concerns and advantages might be and how this alternative energy technique can contribute to the global climate change solutions.

FORT STOCKTON ˆ The deadline for submitting comments on the first draft of the Watershed Protection Plan for the Pecos River in Texas has been extended until Dec. 17, according to authors of the plan.

Will Hatler, Texas Cooperative Extension eco-systems sciences assistant at Stephenville and the project's coordinator, said limited landowner involvement prompted the extension.

“The objective of this project is to facilitate a voluntary landowner-driven effort to improve the Texas section of the Pecos River, so we need input from the public, especially from landowners along the river and in the watershed,” Hatler said.

“The river is a tremendously important agricultural, economic and historical resource to the area. In recent dry times it has slowed to only a trickle in the upper reaches, and the water quality is deteriorating. It's imperative that action be taken to improve both the water quantity and quality to sustain this resource for the future.”

Soil and Water Conservation Districts will host meetings at which the first draft plan will be discussed at the following dates, times and locations:

- Nov. 5, 5:30 p.m., U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center, 2306 West Dickinson, Fort Stockton.

- Nov. 6, 1 p.m., Winkler Credit Union conference room, 1300 South Cedar, Pecos.

- Nov. 6, 5:30 p.m. Natural Resources Conservation Service office, West Highway 90, Sanderson.

- Nov. 16, 10:30 a.m., Dink Wardlaw Ag Complex, 300 East 17th Street, Del Rio.

- Nov. 19, 4:30 p.m. Natural Resources Conservation District office, 2464 I-20 West, Odessa.

- Nov. 20, 1 p.m., Crockett County Extension Office, 1301 Avenue AA, Ozona.

Hatler said draft plans are available at: http://pecosbasin.tamu.edu or from Choyia Holley at 254-968-4144, Cholley@ag.tamu.edu. He encourages those who plan to attend any of the comment sessions to review the draft first.

Comments on the first draft will be accepted through Dec. 17. A revision will then be released for public comment on or before Jan. 7. Hatler said comments on the second draft will be handled much like the first with another series of meetings scheduled.

The Pecos River Basin drains all or part of Andrews, Brewster, Crane, Crockett, Culberson, Ector, Jeff Davis, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reagan, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Val Verde, Ward and Winkler counties.

Collaborators on the project include landowners, Extension, Texas Soil and Water Conservation Boards and Districts, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Water Resources Institute and the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission.

Funding for the project is being provided by the Environmental Protection Agency through the Texas Soil and Water Conservation Board.

For more information go to http://pecosbasin.tamu.edu/

At least that’s what Robert Potts, former general manager of Edwards Aquifer Authority and now president of Dixon Water Foundation, told attendees at a recent Texas Water Symposium, a four-part project sponsored by Schreiner University, Texas Tech University at Fredericksburg and Texas Public Radio.

Potts started his comments by focusing on the tremendous pressure put on the state’s groundwater resources.

“Groundwater is privately owned, and state law by and large allows groundwater to be moved anywhere in the state,” Potts told listeners, “so if you are a thirsty city and you need water, the quickest way to get it is to buy that water and have it shipped, and how that's done varies district by district.”

He added that a lot of the high-profile, controversial ongoing water fights around the state revolve around the export of groundwater out of a district.

The Edwards Aquifer Authority, which was created by the state legislature in 1993 but didn’t come into existence until 1996 due to litigation, is not a water purveyor nor does it sell water. Instead, it issues permits to people who wish to withdraw water from the aquifer.

“The Edwards Aquifer is a very unique resource, a marvelous resource; it's one of the most incredible water resources in the country,” he told listeners. “It’s very prolific; it supplies a couple million people with water and it's also critical to the springs on the Comal and San Marcos rivers.”

The EAA, Potts said, was created because of the pressure on groundwater and because of the direct and obvious connection between groundwater and surface water and concerns that pumping in the Edwards would dry up the springs, which would impact endangered species that live in those springs.

“Our goal is to make sure the springs keep flowing and also that we do not hamper economic growth of the eight-county region we serve,” Potts told listeners.

The former general manager then shared some of the accomplishments of the EAA over the past 10 years.

The first goal the EAA has completed is that of issuing permits.

“That has been the single most valuable tool in managing this resource for our defined goals,” Potts told listeners.

The permitting system, as outlined by the legislature, is based on a 21-year historic period, meaning that a landowner had to “prove up” how much water he used in any one year during the defined historic period. Thus for the first nine to 10 years, a large part of what the EAA did was validate that historic use and then issue permits, Potts said.

The permits, he stressed, are the basis for the EAA's management program in that they are the first line of defense in terms of conservation.

“The hope was that once this resource was permitted, that it would be used more wisely, that it could be stretched further in order to keep the region's economy moving and the springs flowing. We found that to be largely true,” he told listeners.

“You can't really manage something you don’t measure,” he continued. “Up until we put in permits, until we put in meters, there was no measurement of use. Once that started happening, everyone knew how much water they could pump, it was being measured, being checked, being enforced, and people started using less water, and that’s exactly what the legislature had in mind.”

Potts admitted that they didn’t know for sure how the permitting system would do the job it was designed to do during drouth. They were able to test that for the first time during this most recent two-year drouth.

“We tested it by comparing the use of Edwards water in 1999 to 2005. In 1999 we had just started issuing permits and in 2005 we had finished,” he noted. “The two years were very similar in terms of rainfall. Both started with the aquifer high and both years had half the normal rainfall, though 2005 was actually probably drier in the western part of the region,” he told listeners. “The only difference between those two years of any significance was in 1999 we didn’t have permits and in 2005 we did.”

Water usage during that time period, Potts said, went down by about 63,000 acre-feet, or about 14.5 percent, even though the population during those six years had grown by 12 percent. In fact, he pointed out, the city of San Antonio has cut water use from about 200 gallons per person per day to 130 gallons per person per day.

“So having the permits in place has already made a difference by helping us stretch this resource further,” he commented.

Water restrictions during drouth have also helped to stretch the resource, and it was those specific restrictions that the EAA was able to test during 2006.

The aquifer level, Potts told listeners, had been dropping dramatically all summer long, about half a foot to an-acre foot a day. On July 20 it went below the trigger level and the EAA imposed drouth management cutbacks.

“The media got the word out, and what happened was that the aquifer level began to stabilize. It was dramatic,” Potts insisted. “It started stabilizing the day after, on July 21, and it stayed around 650 for the next six weeks.”

It was a good test, because as he reminded listeners, August 2006 was the hottest month ever recorded in San Antonio.

“We had no rainfall; we had 100 degrees almost every single day and the aquifer level was flat.”

The third way the EAA is stretching the resource is that they require all their permit holders to have conservation plans. It’s a tool that all groundwater districts should implement, Potts opined.

Another area in which the EAA has been particularly successful is in educating the general public. There has been a dramatic change in attitude among those who depend on the Edwards, particularly the permit holders, over the last 10 years.

“In the early 1990s there was very strong resistance to this idea that people should reduce the amount of water used,” Potts said, “but in 2006 when we issued the order for the cutback, there was absolute silence. I was expecting hate mail, calls, etc. People’s lawns were turning brown, but I never heard any criticism, and in fact I heard a lot of support, and then anecdotally I heard about some neighbors complaining about water restrictions to their neighbors and another neighbor would shout him down.

“I can only attribute that to education—people understanding where they get their water and what it means to have less water.”

Potts told listeners that many things need to be done on a statewide level to improve water conservation. Encouraging cities to cut back their water use like San Antonio has is but one. Cities, he said, must also do a better job of diversifying their water resources.

“If we're going to get through this next century with the population growth that is expected, it’s going to take diversification and conservation,” Potts told listeners.

Finally, the former general manager talked about pricing water, a subject that most don’t generally like to think about or even discuss.

Referring to the conference title, “More Precious Than Gold,” Potts pointed out that we certainly don’t treat water like gold in terms of the way it’s priced.

“There are a lot of innovative things we can do. Price doesn’t always have to be used as a penalty. It could also be used as an incentive.

“Water is the most basic resource of our life,” he noted. “Maybe every city should provide a certain minimum amount of water for free, but if you go over that amount and it’s being used as a luxury, then you have to pay more for it. That would provide positive encouragement, but it would also provide a strong incentive not to use more, or if you still want to use it, then price it as a luxury. Right now we don’t do that.”

There are some who believe water should be priced and managed as a commodity, but Potts said he disagrees with that concept.

“Price is a tool for managing our water resources,” he opined, “but to relate water to a commodity really puts it only in price, and there are a number of uses of water that are priceless—spring flow, a swimming hole, a place to fish—those are things you can’t really put a price on.”

Finally, Potts talked briefly about the challenges some groundwater districts face in terms of having sufficient funding to do an adequate job of managing the resource.

“The EAA is really an aberration in terms of groundwater districts,” Potts said. “We’re large and basically well funded. Most groundwater districts, however, are single districts and they’re very under-funded. They don’t really have the technical or professional resources to deal with some of the pressures they face, like in some cases dealing with water projects that involve hundreds of millions of dollars.

“These districts don’t have the financial wherewithal to go up against these big water marketers who will sue them. They can’t fight that, so there’s going to be a real need in this state to invest more in effective groundwater management,” Potts opined. “We’ve been fortunate in the Edwards to have the resources to do our job, but most don’t, and that's going to be a real challenge in the future,” he concluded.

By CHRISTINE S. DIAMOND, Cox East Texas for The Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel
Saturday, October 27, 2007

While evaporation is less of a problem in East Texas than elsewhere in the state due to humidity and rainfall, sedimentation creeping into the lakes from the region's muddy streams and rivers is worse in the Pineywoods.

In fact, more than 4.5 million acre feet of water storage capacity will be lost from the state's 196 reservoirs to sedimentation by 2060, David Alders told a group attending the Angelina/Nacogdoches Counties Landowners Association meeting last weekend.

That is more than half of the additional 8.8 million acre-feet of water that state planners anticipate will be needed in 2060.

"That amount is more than the increased capacity that we are expecting to gain through construction of major reservoirs in the state," Alders said of the 14 major reservoirs expected to add 3.4 million acre feet of water to the state supply. "So we are not going to keep up with the amount of sedimentation even if we impound another 4.5 million acre feet."

An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover one acre a foot deep.

And every year the state loses about 90,000 acre-feet of storage space to sand and other particles, according to Carla Daws with the Texas Water Development Board.

Anyone who has visited Lake Steinhagen or fished in the Attoyac River has witnessed the sedimentation problem, Alders said.

"A lot of sedimentation occurs over here where our rivers puts sedimentation in the reservoirs," he said, explaining that this problem is worse in East Texas than other parts of the state because of the muddy rivers. Between sedimentation and depletion of the aquifers, Alders said Texas in the future is looking at an overall 13-percent decrease in water available from existing supplies.

According to Clayton Church with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sam Rayburn Reservoir was originally developed to hold 3.997 million acre feet of water where as today it holds 3.86 million acre feet. Likewise, he said, Lake B.A. Steinhagen was originally constructed to hold 94,200 acre feet compared to the 66,700 acre feet it holds today.

According to Alders, who serves on Region I Water Planning Group and the Pineywoods Groundwater Conservation District, the skyrocketing cost of reservoir building merits considering the alternate cost of dredging existing reservoirs.

For example, Alders said, it cost $68 million to dam Sam Rayburn Reservoir in 1965, and $70 million to dam Toledo Bend a year later. It would cost nearly $2 billion to build either of these lakes today, considering the projected cost of building the proposed Marvin Nichols Lake ˜ which is half the size of Toledo Bend ˜ would be $1.5 billion today, he said.

A landowner then asked, "David, you talked about sediment being a problem, do you think it is a solution to try to dredge some of these lakes back to their original depth?"

"Dredging is a lot more cheaply done when you can get a bulldozer down to the bottom of the reservoir," Alders said. "And that's the problem."

"But when it costs us billions to build new reservoirs, it would be a whole lot more (efficient) to dredge existing reservoirs," the landowner responded.

"That may well be the case, but there are some environmental factors associated with what is in the bottom of that lake bed ˜ in terms of metals and minerals," Alders said. "It is not something you want to put in your yard."

The problem with dredging, said a former West Texas resident attending the meeting, is the metals and other concentrated contents in the sediment ˜ and what do with it.

"(Dredging) the lakes there has come up time and time again," she said. "The problem is what is in the sediment. ... There is all kinds of really nasty stuff. And so there is a problem with what is in the sediment at the bottom of the lake."

"Nasty metals," agreed Alders.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokeswoman Lisa Wheeler said of all sediment dredged from lakes, most meet environmental standards.

"LNVA is looking at dredging Steinhagen because that lake is filled up."

Steinhagen was not dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last summer when it was drained to kill off invasive water plants because there was no study or funding authorized by Congress, according to Church,

"There is no current economical or efficient operation to dredge the lake and properly dispose of or use the dredged material," he said in an e-mail interview. "There is also no current congressional authorization nor appropriations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study or complete any dredging operations at Dam B/Town Bluff/Steinhagen Lake."

According to Church, dredging operations are both costly and specialized operations.

The Texas Water Development Board, however, funded a study on the economics of dredging vs. constructing new reservoirs in 2005, said TWDB spokeswoman Carla Daws. The report can be found at: http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/RWPG/rpgm_rpts/2004483534_Dredging.pdf.

"Currently, dredging sediment from existing reservoirs is not economically competitive with constructing new reservoirs when compared on an equal volume basis," Daws said, providing a synopsis from the report. "Dredging costs are highly variable but generally cost a minimum of $2 per cubic yard of sediment removed, or roughly twice the cost of new reservoirs, including conveyance costs, for the same capacity gained (as determined based on the estimates to construct lakes Ralph Hall and Columbia).

"However, when other factors such as aesthetic appeal, boater navigation, safety issues, and public interest are considered, dredging may be more appealing. Several lakes in Texas have been dredged primarily for these reasons, including White Rock, Bachman, and Lytle lakes."

˜ As sea levels rise, coastal communities could lose up to 50 percent more of their fresh water supplies than previously thought, according to a new study from Ohio State University.

Hydrologists here have simulated how saltwater will intrude into fresh water aquifers, given the sea level rise predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC has concluded that within the next 100 years, sea level could rise as much as 23 inches, flooding coasts worldwide.

Scientists previously assumed that, as saltwater moved inland, it would penetrate underground only as far as it did above ground.

But this new research shows that when saltwater and fresh water meet, they mix in complex ways, depending on the texture of the sand along the coastline. In some cases, a zone of mixed, or brackish, water can extend 50 percent further inland underground than it does above ground.

Like saltwater, brackish water is not safe to drink because it causes dehydration. Water that contains less than 250 milligrams of salt per liter is considered fresh water and safe to drink.

Motomu Ibaraki, associate professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, led the study. Graduate student Jun Mizuno presented the results October 30, 2007, at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver.

“Almost 40 percent of the world population lives in coastal areas, less than 60 kilometers from the shoreline,” Mizuno said. “These regions may face loss of freshwater resources more than we originally thought.”

“Most people are probably aware of the damage that rising sea levels can do above ground, but not underground, which is where the fresh water is,” Ibaraki said. “Climate change is already diminishing fresh water resources, with changes in precipitation patterns and the melting of glaciers. With this work, we are pointing out another way that climate change can potentially reduce available drinking water. The coastlines that are vulnerable include some of the most densely populated regions of the world.”

In the United States, lands along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico—especially Florida and Louisiana—are most likely to be flooded as sea levels rise. Vulnerable areas worldwide include Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and northern Europe.

“Almost 40 percent of the world population lives in coastal areas, less than 60 kilometers from the shoreline,” Mizuno said. “These regions may face loss of freshwater resources more than we originally thought.”

Scientists have used the IPCC reports to draw maps of how the world's coastlines will change as waters rise, and they have produced some of the most striking images of the potential consequences of climate change.

Ibaraki said that he would like to create similar maps that show how the water supply could be affected.

That's not an easy task, since scientists don't know exactly where all of the world's fresh water is located, or how much is there. Nor do they know the details of the subterranean structure in many places.

One finding of this study is that saltwater will penetrate further into areas that have a complex underground structure.

Typically, coastlines are made of different sandy layers that have built up over time, Ibaraki explained. Some layers may contain coarse sand and others fine sand. Fine sand tends to block more water, while coarse sand lets more flow through.

The researchers simulated coastlines made entirely of coarse or fine sand, and different textures in between. They also simulated more realistic, layered underground structures.

The simulation showed that, the more layers a coastline has, the more the saltwater and fresh water mix. The mixing causes convection—similar to the currents that stir water in the open sea. Between the incoming saltwater and the inland fresh water, a pool of brackish water forms.

Further sea level rise increases the mixing even more.

Depending on how these two factors interact, underground brackish water can extend 10 to 50 percent further inland than the saltwater on the surface.

According to the United States Geological Survey, about half the country gets its drinking water from groundwater. Fresh water is also used nationwide for irrigating crops.

“In order to obtain cheap water for everybody, we need to use groundwater, river water, or lake water,” Ibaraki said. “But all those waters are disappearing due to several factors—including an increase in demand and climate change.”

One way to create more fresh water is to desalinate saltwater, but that's expensive to do, he said.

“To desalinate, we need energy, so our water problem would become an energy problem in the future.”

Adapted from materials provided by Ohio State University

LUBBOCK -- It won't take long to count the votes next week on a plan that would help billionaire T. Boone Pickens deliver Panhandle water to growing North Texas communities. There's even less doubt about the outcome.

Just two people -- Pickens' ranch manager and his wife -- will cast ballots Tuesday on whether to confirm the creation of the Fresh Water Supply District in Roberts County.

Alton Boone, who manages Pickens' vast Canadian River Valley ranch, and his wife, Lu, live within the 8-acre water district and are its only eligible voters.

The couple also will vote to seat a five-member board of supervisors -- which would include themselves and three Pickens employees -- and to approve $101 million in revenue bonds to acquire rights of way through as many as 12 counties for delivering water- and wind-generated electricity.

The bonds would be repaid from money collected from water and electricity customers who benefit from Pickens' energy projects.

The election is the next step in a five-year effort by Pickens' Mesa Water to market and ship water from the Ogallala Aquifer to thirsty cities.

Pickens also wants to install 2,700 large wind turbines in four Panhandle counties. Together, they would be capable of producing 4,000 megawatts of electricity, making it the world's largest wind farm.

Roberts County commissioners formed the water district in September at the request of landowners in the district -- all of whom had recently bought their acreage from Pickens. Under Texas law, voters living on the affected land must ratify the change before it becomes official.

Texas' 55 freshwater districts have been established since 1919, when the Legislature authorized them for the exclusive purpose of providing and distributing water for domestic and commercial use.

Local officials say the election has drawn more interest from afar than from within the county.

"Most of them say, 'I can't believe he can do that"' County Judge Vernon Cook said. "I say, 'Yes, that's the way our fearless leaders [in Austin] changed the statute.'

"There's no doubt in my mind it'll be formed."

Texas lawmakers say they made the changes this year in an effort to standardize the state's water laws and to give property owners a greater say on issues affecting their land.

"In the end, it's not any special Pickens law," said Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. "Nothing to do with Pickens was even remotely part of my efforts at all."

Others, however, suggest that money played a part in the changes. Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit watchdog group that tracks money in politics, said Pickens spent about $2.2 million on lobbyists this year and campaign contributions in 2006.

"It could be coincidence. But if it is, it's a hell of a coincidence," Wheat said. "No sooner did this law take effect, and his lawyers were already working on this particular proposal that seems to be framed by the very legal changes made."

But Monty Humble, Pickens' attorney, denied that the oil tycoon was behind the legislation.

"We had absolutely nothing to do with" those changes, Humble said.

Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, voiced other worries.

"What concerns me more is the potential to undermine the conservation of [Panhandle] groundwater that's facing some real challenges," he said. "Those changes [in the statutes] were not in anticipation of exportation of water" by Pickens or anyone else.

COLLEGE STATION - It may be your dream for the public to hayride, pick a Christmas tree, birdwatch or hunt at your place, but improper planning could make it your nightmare, a Texas Cooperative Extension expert said.

“We’ve launched an online service to help people plan and develop nature tourism businesses,” said Miles Phillips, Extension recreation, parks and tourism specialist. “It will help users make a very simple revenue and cost projection for their tourism products.”

Phillips said the tool, located in the business planning section at http://naturetoursim.tamu.edu, could be useful for planning nature tourism venues such as hayrides, corn mazes, bird watching, rural biking and hunting, for example.

“The tool automatically creates graphics of gross income, net income, cash flow, visitation summaries by month or by activity and other necessary information for a business,” he said. “And a great thing about it is, it’s free for anyone who wants to use it.”

He added that a booklet from Extension, “Nature Tourism: Evaluating Enterprise Feasibility,” can be used with the online service. The booklet, B-6147, can be ordered from the Extension bookstore, http://tcebookstore.orgfor $30.

The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Marketing Resource Center through the Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. The site is hosted by Watchable Wildlife Inc., a national non-profit organization, Phillips said.

For more information on nature tourism, contact Phillips at 979-845-1023 or e-mail mdphillips@ag.tamu.edu.

GRANJENO, Texas (Nov. 8) - Founded 240 years ago, this sleepy Texas town along the Rio Grande has outlasted the Spanish, then the Mexicans and then the short-lived independent Republic of Texas. But it may not survive the U.S. government's effort to secure the Mexican border with a steel fence.

A map obtained by The Associated Press shows that the double- or triple-layer fence may be built as much as two miles from the river on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, leaving parts of Granjeno and other nearby communities in a potential no-man's-land between the barrier and the water's edge.


Gloria Garza stands next to a "No Borderwall" sign on her fence in Granjeno, Texas, on Wednesday. A government plan to create a border fence in the area could displace the residents of Granjeno and other nearby towns.

Based on the map and what the residents have been told, the fence could run straight through houses and backyards. Some fear it could also cut farmers off from prime farmland close to the water.

"I don't sleep right because I'm worried," said Daniel Garza, a 74-year-old retiree born and raised in Granjeno. Garza said federal agents told him that the gray brick house he built just five years ago and shares with his 72-year-old wife is squarely in the fence's path.

"No matter what they offer, I don't want to move, I don't want to leave," Garza said, his eyes watering.

Congress has authorized $1.2 billion for 700 miles of fence at the Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. The plans call for about 330 miles of virtual fences - cameras, underground sensors, radar and other technology - and 370 miles of real fences. About 70 miles of real fence are set to be built in the Rio Grande Valley, at the southeastern tip of Texas, by the end of 2008.

What's Your Take?

The Rio Grande has been the international boundary since the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848 ended the Mexican-American War. But officials say that putting the fence right up against the river could interfere with its flow during a flood and change its course, illegally altering the border.

The map obtained by the AP shows seven stretches of proposed fence in the Rio Grande Valley, including one section that could cut through the property of about 35 of Granjeno's nearly 100 houses. City leaders and residents say federal officials have shown them the same map.

Exactly how many Rio Grande Valley residents could lose some or all of their property is unclear. The map does not have a lot of detail, and depicts only one portion of the valley, which has about 2 million people overall.

Local residents, many of whom have put "No Border Wall" signs on their cars and in their yards, say they have been assured they will be compensated at fair market value for any property taken by the U.S. government. But that has not given them much comfort.

"We want to be safe, but it's just that this is not a good plan," said Cecilia Benavides, whose riverfront land in Roma, about 50 miles upriver from Granjeno, was granted to the family by the Spanish in 1767. "It gives Mexico the river and everything that's behind that wall. It doesn't make any sense to me."

Michael Friel, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman in Washington, said the maps are preliminary and no final decisions on the route of the fence have been made. But he said the maps reflect the government's judgment of how best to secure the border against intruders.

"Our agency, Customs and Border Protection, has an obligation to secure our nation's border and we take that obligation, or that responsibility, very seriously," Friel said.

The fence would be at least 15 feet high and capable of withstanding a crash of a 10,000-pound vehicle going 40 mph, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Exactly what it would look like has not been decided, but it could consist of concrete-filled steel posts a few inches apart, or perhaps sheet metal with small openings. It would not be continuous, but would instead be broken up in several sections of various length.

What will happen to the land between the fence and the river is the biggest question for landowners in border towns like Granjeno, a town of three streets and about 400 people situated in a mostly corn-growing region of the Rio Grande Valley.

J.D. Salinas, the top elected official in Hidalgo County, said he can't get an answer no matter how many times he asks.

"Are we going to lose prime farmland because they are going to build a structure that's not going to work?" Salinas asked. "You're moving the border, basically two miles. You're giving it up to Mexico, and the U.S.-Mexico treaties say you are not supposed to do that."

Local officials also fear the fence could cut off access to drinking water that is pumped from the river and piped in to 35,000 homes in the Rio Grande Valley. They fear that town officials will not be allowed to set foot inside the no-man's-land to repair any pumps that might fail.

Homeland Security documents on a department Web site say that "in some cases, secure gates will be constructed to allow land owners access to their private property near the Rio Grande." But the documents offer few details.

"They said there's going to be gates, and I said, 'That's wonderful. What kind of gates?'" said Noel Benavides, Cecilia Benavides' husband. The only specific type described, he said, was an electronic gate.

"That requires power. What happens when it floods?" Benavides said he asked federal officials. He never got an answer.

Granjeno Mayor Alberto Magallan said his small town wants to fight. But with only one business - an agricultural trucking company and bar - and a per capita income of $9,000, it is unlikely they can afford to do anything but sell.

Manuel Olivarez Jr., a 63-year-old lumber salesman, said that his daughter's and brother's homes would be spared, but that the fence would run through their backyards. And Olivarez worries the Border Patrol is likely to pass very close to his daughter's house every day.

"Probably if she sticks out her hand from the back door, a Border Patrol Jeep will be hit her," Olivarez said with a nervous laugh.

Gloria Garza, Daniel Garza's niece, said she worries the border fence will eventually destroy the town where she has lived all her life.

"My biggest fear is to see Granjeno gone," Garza said. "That is really my biggest fear. It breaks my heart."

Permitting and the Renewable Energy Process
January 28 - 29, 2008 • Omni Hotel Downtown • Austin, Texas

Keynote Presentation: Wind Energy in Texas: Jerry Patterson, Commissioner, Texas General Land Office, Austin

Wind energy is a pollution-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel, it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases, and it doesn’t produce toxic or radioactive waste.

United States wind energy installations have exceeded 10,000 megawatts in generating capacity, and produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of over 2.5 million homes. There are several economic, environmental, and energy security benefits of wind power development.

One environmental benefit is a reduction in global warming pollution. Today’s wind power is keeping 16 million tons of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas associated with global warming, out of the air every year. That’s equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide that would be absorbed by over 9,000 square miles of forest, an area about the size of Vermont.

America’s wind resource potential is vast, and can theoretically produce more than twice the amount needed to meet the current United States electricity supply!

Source: American Wind Energy Association

CLE (Continuing Legal Education) offers a chance to learn about environmental issues concerning wind energy, including impacts to avian species, cultural resources and visual impacts. At the New Conference on Wind Energy
Permitting and the Renewable Energy Process
January 28 - 29, 2008 • Omni Hotel Downtown • Austin, Texas

Keynote Presentation: Wind Energy in Texas: Jerry Patterson, Commissioner, Texas General Land Office, Austin

Wind energy is a pollution-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel, it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases, and it doesn’t produce toxic or radioactive waste.

United States wind energy installations have exceeded 10,000 megawatts in generating capacity, and produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of over 2.5 million homes. There are several economic, environmental, and energy security benefits of wind power development.

One environmental benefit is a reduction in global warming pollution. Today’s wind power is keeping 16 million tons of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas associated with global warming, out of the air every year. That’s equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide that would be absorbed by over 9,000 square miles of forest, an area about the size of Vermont.

America’s wind resource potential is vast, and can theoretically produce more than twice the amount needed to meet the current United States electricity supply!

Source: American Wind Energy Association

Jan. 18-19, Edinburg, TX The Valley Conference is back.
The USDA agricultural research Service at Weslaco is teaming up with Extension and the local organic growers to host a conference Jan. 18 & 19 in Edinburgh at the Echo Hotel. More details as soon as I get them.

Friday, February 1, 2008 TOFGA’s Texas Conference On Organic Production Systems 2008
The 7th annual conference facilitated by the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (www.tofga.org) brings together the latest production systems for Texas and the South. Come hear from the farmers, ranchers, consultants, organizers, chefs and national leaders that are making a difference in the local food revolution.

Attend this annual event, learn the latest in organic growing and sustainable agriculture, tour local farms, eat local food, enjoy a movie screening, trade show and return home inspired by others on how to successfully bring local food to your community.

Jeffrey Smith, Sally Fallon, Dr. Will Winters, Jerry Brunetti, Linda & Larry Faillace, Elizabeth Henderson, Steve Divers, Marion Kalb, and many more...
WHEN
Friday, February 1, 2008 10:00 AM - Sunday, February 3, 2008 7:00 PM
WHERE
Hilton Conference Center 801 University Drive East College Station, TX 77840
See http://www.tofga.org/ for more details