The first half of the morning was taken up with Ray Buck giving a presentation on UGRA’s current programs and their strategic planning. I have a copy of this presentation and if anyone wants it, I will scan it and email it to you. Then the UGRA went into Executive Session for a legal issue.
I understand that the results of the Executive Session will be made known at the next UGRA meeting, but they began talking about retail systems, which led to the Kerrville South Sewer System, and one of the board members then said they “did not want to spend $15,000 of taxpayer money,” so it appears that they voted down paying for a $15,000 environmental study for one of Letz’s proposed sites for the new Water/Wastewater facility, across from the ballpark as you enter Center Point on Highway 27, coming from the west. Later in the conversation someone added, in a discussion of their water/wastewater goals, that they would “divest ourselves of Kerrville South,” and again mentioned “seed money for $15,000,” so I believe that means that they have made a decision about their involvement in that project, it may be in the paper today, I haven’t looked yet.
At lunch, Senator Troy Fraser was on the agenda, to discuss the recent drought hearings they had in Austin, where the state invited all of the water agencies to give testimony on the drought and its local effects. I think I am right in saying that representatives from our water conservation agencies did not attend. Sen. Fraser said the following, and I am paraphrasing:
1. This time next year, if the drought continues, Midland-Abilene-Odessa will be out of water. Right now, they are trying to buy groundwater, which will start “water wars” between the areas that need to buy and the sources of water.
2. Sen. Fraser is Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, and recently sponsored legislation that basically said that if a private party has water under their land, this law gives them the right to drill a well for that water, but whether they are able to utilize the well and how much water they are able to take will be up to the local water conservation agency.
3. The State Climatologist says that we are in Year Two of a NINE year drought.
4. This summer was the hottest recorded temperatures, day after day, in TX and OKLA, since they have started to record temperatures 12 years ago.
5. This summer was the driest in recorded history in Texas.
6. We are now at a point that we are the lowest in water reserves, in TX, since we started recording.
7. Lake Travis, that provides water for Austin– this time next year, it will be dry. LCRA is at Severe stage, 100,000 acre feet away from Critical; they expect that they will hit the
“Critical” stage by March; right now conservation is voluntary, it will be mandatory…I don’t think he said exactly when that was predicted to happen.
8. Down on the Brazos, Dow Chemical has Senior Water Rights which they want to exercise. Fraser has asked TCEQ, “Have you the authority to say, “No” to Dow Chemical, if it comes to the point that it’s either water for Dow Chemical or water for people living in Belton?” and TCEQ’s answer is “We don’t know.” Fraser said that the entire Senior Water Rights system is “going to be looked at”—ending with, “How can Senior Water Rights be treated when you are looking at human consumption?”
9. Beef is going to go sky high, since everyone had to sell out their cattle herds, there will be no calves for feed lot operations, and none in New Mexico, either.
10. The drought has destroyed the pecan industry: in San Saba, 25,000 pecan trees have died, and it takes years for these trees to mature to the point of producing pecans; in Fredericksburg, the same thing has happened to the peach trees.
11. Wildfires are a major threat, especially in the Hill Country, which in some parts are covered with cedar; these cedar are dying, creating a fire hazard. There have been 2,867 homes in Texas destroyed by fire so far. The budgets of volunteer fire departments have been depleted, and they have no money. He said, “We need to get volunteer fire departments more money.” Along with this subject, Sen. Fraser said that our area was of special concern to him because of the absentee ownership here—that cedar clearing was not happening, and it was so important to keep all brush etc. away from a residence.
12. Senator Fraser said, “The Edwards Aquifer is not in great shape—Grosbeck has been out of water for three weeks.” He also said that Windermere, on the other side of Boerne is out of water, and the City of Llano is almost out of water.
13. Power is going to be a major problem, since the Federal government will not let the State use some of their coal-burning plants, because they create pollution in Michigan. They discussed the fact that there is probably going to be a program initiated where some days, some hours, the power will be off. He also said that he is talking to the utility companies, and they are going to have to come up with a DRY cooling system—the utilities now depend on water, lots of water.
14. Sen. Fraser said: “Here in the Hill Country, growth revolves around water, and there isn’t enough water.”
15. Scott Parker said that we have only had 8” of rain for 2011—and Commissioner Letz said that some areas had not received that.
16. Representatives from the City of Kerrville stated that the decisions about how much water the City could take from the Guadalupe River, made by the Water Master, appeared to be somewhat arbitrary, and that they would like the Water Master’s process to be backed up with more scientific fact. They also stated that the City of Kerrville had 800 million stored, now they have 600 million. They also pointed out that the Water Master’s office has recently undergone some changes, and there is a new head of that office. Sen. Fraser responded by saying that the river between Comfort and Canyon Lake went dry, with no flowing water—and the question has been asked, “Why does the City of Kerrville get any water, if the river is not flowing?”
17. There is an amendment currently up, to be voted on next Tuesday—and if the Amendment does not pass, the Texas Water Development Board will be out of money next year. And current polls predict that the amendment will NOT pass.
18. Another problem, Senator Fraser said, is high schools and other educational institutions use water for their playing fields—and since there isn’t any water for this, they are all clamoring to drill wells to make their football fields green. And along with the football fields/school issues, this same problem applies to golf courses. He implied that this too was going to have to change.
19. Fracking: right now, fracking for gas uses huge amounts of water—Senator Fraser said that they “cannot use water to frack.” He said that right now the frackers are exempt from reporting requirements to local water conservation agencies, as to how much water they are using and where they are getting it, and he said, “That is going to change.” He added that there was a “new play over toward Uvalde” and that water was going to be a problem.
Senator Fraser said, to the audience composed of UGRA board and staff; HGCD board; the Mayor, City Manager, and Water/Wastewater Manager of the City of Kerrville; Commissioners Overby and Letz; and one private Kerr County resident, namely me: “I want everyone talking to each other.”
Personally, I think Senator Fraser is a very brave man, to face these issues head-on, and say, unequivocally, that steps are going to be taken, and changes are going to be made. These changes are going to be politically hard to accomplish. He is running for re-election.