WATER NEWS FOR BLANCO COUNTY AND BEYOND #19In This Edition:
Current Drought Conditions
B-PGCD Directors Election
B-PGCD Lawsuit Status
Rancho San Miguel Report
MUD Elections
LCRA Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinances
Rockin J Sewer Permits
Hill Country Alliance - Have You Signed Up?
Did You Know - Groundwater Facts Current Drought ConditionsM
US Drought Monitor, June 5 - Blanco County, TX - NO DROUGHT!!!!!!
(Highest level is D4: Exceptional)
B-PGCD Directors Election
The election for Precinct 3 and 4 Directors of the Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District was concluded May 12th. The District certified the election results at its monthly meeting held on May 17th. Those results were:
Precinct 3
2 of 2 precincts reporting
Candidate Votes Percent
Bobby Wilson (i) 101 53.4%
Bill Davis 88 46.6%
Precinct 4
2 of 2 precincts reporting
Candidate Votes Percent
Neill Binford 126 56.2%
Ronald Zunker (i) 98 43.8%
At the conclusion of the District meeting, both successful candidates, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Binford, took the oath of office as administered by Justice of the Peace Terry Carter.
Each of these precincts has about 1,500 registered voters. This means that only about 14% of voters participated in this election. As is obvious, this is not the kind of turnout that might be expected, or at least hoped for, when the matter is as crucial as water to drink.
Preserve Our Water congratulates both winning candidates. We also want to draw their attention - and that of their colleagues on the District board -to one feature of these results. Of the 413 votes cast in both precincts, combined, 214 were cast for challengers running on what can only be described as reform platforms. The incumbents received 199 votes.
B-PGCD Lawsuit Status
This issue of the Preserve Our Water newsletter has been delayed in anticipation of a ruling by Blanco County District Court Judge Dan Mills. The Judge has the B-PGCD motion to dismiss the law suit under advisement. Owing to Judge Mills' very heavy calendar, the date of his ruling is uncertain.
The defendant's motion argued that the permit was not contested and as a result no right of appeal is available. Arguments on the matter were heard in court in April.
The Judge sought post-hearing briefings from opposing attorneys. Those comments have been submitted to the Court. Preserve Our Water will issue a special news alert as soon as the Judge's ruling becomes available.
Rancho San Miguel Report
As the Texas legislature wrapped up business for this regular session, it appears the developers of Rancho San Miguel have been unsuccessful in their bid to establish, through legislation, a Municipal Utility District (MUD).
The MUD was sought for the purpose of providing water and sewage services to the proposed 6,000 home development. The other path available to the developers to establish the MUD is through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Whether established by legislation or action of the TCEQ, a MUD is equipped with authority to issue low interest, tax exempt bonds to accelerate the pay-back for the developer.
A MUD is also granted the power of eminent domain both within and outside the boundaries of the MUD. The Hill Country Alliance in partnership with Preserve Our Water is monitoring filings with the TCEQ and will alert citizens if the developers file an application to create a MUD.
In related developments, the LCRA responded to an outpouring of citizen concern regarding a road being constructed by the Rancho San Miguel developers from Hwy 71 to the heart of the development. Because the first 2.6 miles of the estimated 14 mile road lies within Burnet County, it falls under provisions of the Highland Lakes
Watershed Ordinances. As such, a permit from LCRA is required for the construction if that road is for other than agricultural purposes.
After learning that the developers had misled them regarding the road's intended use, the LCRA Watershed
Ordinance staff issued a cease and desist order, halting construction on that northern most leg of the road. On May 17th, LCRA staff conducted an information session at the Spicewood EMS garage. This session, attended by Blanco County Precinct 3 Commissioner Bob Mauck, was intended to give citizens a clear understanding of the Ordinances and to provide additional opportunity for comment on the road construction.
Final action by the LCRA on the road permit application is expected shortly. The staff vowed close monitoring of this construction project, if approved.
MUD Elections
Municipal Utility Districts are a foreign concept to most of us. While they have played a big roll in sprawling development in and around Houston and are now playing a similar role in the Austin area, they are relatively new to this part of the Hill Country. The results of a few ballot questions in a nearby county provide an interesting perspective on how these tools of development are used in actual practice.
The law that regulates operation of a MUD requires a vote by residents within the MUD to elect officers, issue debt and other such matters. That law requires that these measures receive 50% approval by those voters.
In Bastrop County the MUD associated with 'The Colony' development had four questions up for vote, the
combined debt authorized by the vote was $48 million. What were the results in an election involving all residents?
On each measure the vote was 4 - 0 in favor of the bond issue.
Because a principle use of a MUD is to issue tax free, public debt to allow the developer to realize rapid return on their investment, initial MUD debt is often taken on when the development is still in the planning phases. Typically, the developer owns most or all of the property and so the vote outcome is a foregone conclusion.
Those who purchase property in the development later inherit that debt (and taxes required to pay the debt) that was voted on only by those who enjoyed the immediate financial benefits.
Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance
Blanco County Judge Bill Guthrie placed consideration of adoption of the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinances on the agenda for the Commissioners Court meeting held May 8th. Unfortunately, this agenda item went unnoticed by Preserve Our Water and private citizens who had been urging the Judge and Commissioners to take this matter
under consideration. The Commissioners, noting a lack of citizen participation at the meeting, tabled the matter for later consideration.
Preserve Our Water has written to Judge Guthrie, thanking him for bring the matter forward and urging that he schedule consideration for a future meeting. We have also asked that he provide Preserve Our Water sufficient notice so that citizens may rearrange their busy schedules to attend a meeting held during business hours. Once
notified of Judge Guthrie's intent to reconsider this important issue, we will issue a News Alert regarding the date of that consideration.
Rockin J Sewer Permits
As previously reported, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has referred the Rockin' J application for a waste water system permit (technically, a "Certificate of Convenience and Necessity" - CCN) to their "contested case" process.
An Administrative Law Judge oversees this formal process. The judge assigned to this case set the initial hearing for May 30th. The TCEQ granted a period of up to 9 months for this case. At the May 30 hearing, the Judge set a schedule for the case, with an October hearing on the merits and then a finding to be prepared and
delivered by the Judge to the TCEQ Commissioners in early 2008. TCEQ action would occur at some unspecified later date.
Texas law prohibits a residence or business from being occupied in a development with a central sewer system until that system has received its permit from the TCEQ. Therefore, it would appear that home and land owners in the Rockin' J development face a bit of a problem in the coming months as the development can offer no public
waste water system until this contested case is settled.
Did You Know - Groundwater Facts
Over ten years ago the state of Texas designated Blanco County, and other counties in the Hill Country, as a "Priority Groundwater Management Area" - PGMA.
That designation means, based on estimated water available in the aquifers and anticipated growth in demand, the area can be expected to suffer "serious water shortages" within the coming 25 years. In our case, that 25 year clock has been ticking for quite a while.
Last year the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) reported that within the next 50 years based on the same kind of projections, in this case for all water resources on the state, the state would experience a 25% shortfall in ground and surface water needed to meet demand.
Pretty grim projections, indeed. However, the TWDB has pointed to a solution to the problem and - surprise, surprise - it is relatively inexpensive, has minimal energy demands, and requires no new or untested technology. In fact, the solution is almost as old as human history: rainwater harvesting. In its 2006 Rainwater Harvesting Committee Final Report, the TWDB found that:
"There is significant untapped potential to generate additional water supplies through rainwater harvesting."
When the settlers from Germany, Tennessee and elsewhere came to the Hill Country they found an area rich in beauty but with little easily available water. If a property did not have a spring or was not located near a reliable creek or river, there simply was no water. And so those settlers harvested rainwater.
Modern drilling equipment, rural electrification and other changes in technology allowed wells to be drilled and pumps installed. Slowly rainwater harvesting fell by the wayside. The time has clearly come for a resurrection of that age old approach to supplying good, clean, safe water for human needs.
Many in Blanco County have already installed rainwater harvesting systems to meet their indoor and outdoor water needs. Even more of our neighbors are in the process of installing systems. Because systems can be installed in small steps, they present an economically feasible alternative or supplement to a private well.
Systems intended for outdoor use - to water plants, lawns, pets or livestock - need very little treatment. Treatment for human consumption is very easy, requiring a couple of filters and an Ultra Violet lamp to kill any organisms that might develop while the water is stored for use.
The TWDB study also noted the great potential for rainwater harvesting by commercial and public buildings. The new Johnson City High School plans to use harvested rainwater for irrigation purposes.
In the coming weeks, Preserve Our Water will be developing a "Rainwater Harvesting Resource" page on our web site. In the meantime, for more information or for referral to installation experts, please contact us at pow "at" moment.net .
