Texas Water News Roundup | March 2016

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Clik here to view.Statewide – In what is likely to become the biggest water news story of the year, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has published its draft State Water Plan (SWP) for 2017. The TWDB is tasked with developing a State Water Plan every five years, with the last SWP taking effect in 2012. The document is a comprehensive survey of the state’s water resources, a forecast of desired and possible future conditions, and a guide for water planners across the state for responsible, sustainable development of Texas water. Written comments are currently being solicited by the TWDB on the draft 2017 SWP through April 25; on April 18, a hearing will be held in Austin where the Board will receive public comments. You can explore the interactive draft plan here, and find out more about the hearing and how to make your voice heard here.

A feature in Atlantic magazine this month highlights one of the most pressing water issues in Texas: widespread lack of access to clean water along the Texas-Mexico border. The article, dated March 3^rd, focuses specifically on colonias, informal residential developments that often lack basic infrastructure such as water and electricity. Texas is home to over 2,000 such communities, nearly fifteen percent of which are without running water. Many colonias have to import water via trucks from surrounding communities, and when running water is available it is frequently unsafe to drink. Over half a million Texans live in colonias, and as the population along the Rio Grande continues to expand, the problem of access to clean water will only intensify in years to come. You can find the full article here.

In the wake of the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, many municipalities across the country have begun to take a closer look at their water systems to determine if they are at risk for a similar event—and Texas is no exception. According to a report in the Austin-American Statesman, the Environmental Integrity Project has identified 65 communities whose water infrastructure is contaminated with arsenic levels above the federal standard of 10 parts per million, putting an estimated 82,000 Texans at risk. Of these communities, at least 34 have been using contaminated water for “at least a decade” according to a more recent report in Water Online. The long-term exposure is an even more serious health risk to the 51,000 people who live in these communities, most of which are in South and West Texas, far from large urban centers. According to reporters from the Statesman, state regulatory officials say the arsenic levels do not pose an immediate threat to water users in the identified communities, but add that they are communicating with them to “prod them into compliance.” You can read the original Statesman story here, and the Water Online story here.

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Clik here to view.Region G– A March 19^th article in the Killeen Daily Herald details a growing bone of contention among water users in rural central Texas: the acquisition of the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District by the city of Georgetown. The city bought the utility district—the first such purchase in the state’s history—in 2014, and now is responsible for the distribution of water over a 340 square-mile area that includes Bell and Burnet Counties as well as Williamson County, in which the city of Georgetown is located. This puts many rural water users in the unique position of being supplied water by a municipal water company in a city in which they do not live, and whose city council members they cannot vote for. While some customers have described an improvement in service since the acquisition, others have expressed reservations: as one Bell County resident interviewed in the article said, “To me, the city of Georgetown owns our water rights.” The article is extensive and details both the history and future of the conflict, which could have far-reaching implications for both rural and urban water users. It can be found here.

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Clik here to view.Region K – While water conservation is still very much on the minds of water planners in Central Texas, the Austin area received some good news this month when on March 20^th, Lake Travis—the largest of the five Highland Lakes on the lower Colorado River—officially reached 100 percent capacity. The lake, which supplies the city of Austin and surrounding communities with drinking water as well as being a popular recreational destination, was less than 30 percent full just two years ago, but a strong El Niño last winter helped push combined lake storage in the region to 96 percent. You can read more here.

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Clik here to view.Region L – The Vista Ridge Pipeline, a nearly $850 million water project that would bring groundwater from central East Texas to the city of San Antonio and its surrounding suburbs, has appeared numerous times in past water news bulletins. In the past months, the project faced a number of challenges: first, the Spanish company contracted to construct the pipeline, Abengoa SA, began bankruptcy proceedings. In the midst of this, a nonprofit subsidiary of Abengoa announced plans to apply for SWIFT funding from the Texas Water Development Board, a move which critics saw as an attempt to bypass TWDB regulations. This month, the company announced that it would sell its share in the project to the Kansas-based Garney Construction, a move that was approved by SAWS this week. Abengoa will maintain a 20 percent “silent” share in the project, but construction will be carried out by Garney. You can read more on the story here.

In addition to the transfer of responsibility, the Vista Ridge project was hit with another difficulty this month when the Austin-based Save Our Springs (SOS) Alliance sued Abengoa for information pertaining to its aforementioned nonprofit subsidiary, the Central Texas Regional Water Supply Corporation. SOS asserts that due to the public/private partnership involved in the project, the communications and activities of the Corporation, which has been involved in obtaining and managing easements along the pipeline’s projected route, should be a matter of public record in accordance with the Open Records Act. Abengoa has argued that as a private firm, they are not subject to the Open Records Act, an opinion shared by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office noted that this opinion was “limited to the facts presented to us,” and could be altered if circumstances change or new information arises. More on the story can be found here.

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