By
Jack Hollon,
Vice
President, Wimberley Valley Watershed Association
The
relationship between pumping in this area and spring flow to the Creek at
Jacob’s Well is firmly established.
During dry years, the impact of such pumping on creek flow is severe. In
2011, Jacob’s Well ceased to flow altogether and long stretches of Cypress Creek
went dry. Occasional pulses of water to
the creek were seen when there was a pause in pumping of the Aqua Texas wells
in the same area.
The importance of a
healthy creek to the Wimberley and Woodcreek communities is not the issue. Blue Hole Regional Park, the Valley’s
economy, property values, and quality of life are all at stake.
How can we put the quantity of water in the permit into
context? Three comparisons of water usage:
* The 81 million gallons of water in the proposed permit is about 45% (almost half) of what
Wimberley Water Supply Corp pumped in the entire year 2010 to serve its 1,675
customers – some of which are large accounts, like the public schools and Deer
Creek Nursing Center.
* Stream flow is
measured in cubic feet of water flowing per second (cfs). Two hundred fifty acre feet will supply one cubic
foot per second of flow to Cypress Creek for over four months. There have been times in recent years when we
are very happy to have even one cfs flow in Cypress Creek. Average flow from
Jacob’s Well to Cypress Creek historically is seven cubic feet per second.
* 250 acre feet will
supply 5000 homes with 45 gallons of water to each home every day for a year. That is a typical usage rate for about two
people on rainwater, “being conservative – but not miserly,” as families with rainwater systems in Wimberley report.
That is where the HTGCD comes in.
Local citizens confirmed the continued operation of the HTGCD by a vote
of 2 to 1 in May 2003, “…to promote conservation, preservation, recharge and
prevention of groundwater waste within western Hays County … and to ensure that
groundwater is used efficiently and at sustainable rates.” (From the HTGCD Mission Statement)
Texas State law and HTGCD Rules
allow those who oppose the permit application to request a “Contested Case Hearing” – a
formal proceeding that may be conducted before the Board itself or before a
State hearings officer who acts as a judge.
Therefore, within ten days after
the Board’s initial February 21 action on the application, and in timely
fashion in accordance with the Board’s consistent interpretation of its own
Rules, ten parties including the WVWA filed formal written requests for a
contested case hearing on the matter.
Thereafter, on April 7, 2011, in a highly capricious and arbitrary
ruling negating its own prior Notice and Agenda, and reversing all of its prior
actions, rules interpretations and communications, the HTGCD Board, by the same
split 3 -2 vote, declared that Plaintiffs’requests were untimely and denied Wimberley
citizens any opportunity for a contested case hearing on the WSP application.
In other words, the HTGCD Board majority
waited until April 7, 2011, after the newly-proclaimed deadline had passed, to RE-INTERPRET its Rules and declare ex
post facto that Plaintiffs deadline for submitting formal request for
CCH occurred during the February 21 meeting, thereby denying the requesters any
opportunity for a contested case hearing.
Those of us who had
requested the Contested Case Hearing were stunned – up against a wall with only
two choices: We either give up and watch
the further decline of the aquifer and the Creek and lose historic spring flow
to a golf course development, or we appeal to court to seek reversal of the
Board ruling. The only possible decision was to continue our quest
for a Contested Case Hearing on the WSP application.
Our lawsuit is simply an appeal seeking reversal
of the HTGCD Board ruling. We seek to
have the Court send the matter back to the HTGCD to conduct a contested case
hearing on the WSP application.
A totally erroneous
claim has been made at public
meetings that the County is paying legal expenses for the WVWA in the
lawsuit. WVWA is only one of six
Wimberley parties who are sharing in the cost of the appeal. WVWA’s share of the appeal costs comes
strictly from donor contributions. Absolutely none of the
appeal expenditures have come from Hays County.
WVWA does have one other extraordinary
resource in Malcolm Harris, an attorney
with long-time family ties to Wimberley, a home on Cypress Creek, and a legal
practice mainly in Austin. Malcolm is providing expert legal services – pro bono. He has long been on the board of
WVWA and is now serving as Board President.
We are indeed blessed by such generosity and dedication to
stewardship for Cypress Creek.
Funds from the
County Parks and Open Space Bond Fund have been and continue to be carefully
directed to pay only for land acquisition and operations and maintenance for
the Jacob’s Well Natural Area, which is now owned by Hays County. With the public investment in Jacob’s Well
and Blue Hole, and the property values and economic future of the Wimberley
Valley at stake, the WVWA and the concerned citizens are fighting to protect the
property rights and best interest of our community. We urge everyone who cares about water and the economic future of the Wimberley Valley to
join us by making a tax deductible contribution online at www.wimberleywatershed.org or mailing your donation to the Wimberley
Valley Watershed Association at PO. Box
2534 Wimberley Texas, 78676.
Jack Hollon, WVWA Vice President, Wimberley TX.
