19 Nov 2014
Austin
American-Statesman
By Sean
Collins Walsh scwalsh@statesman.com
Regional Water Group Plan Runs Dry
The Hays County Commissioners Court on Tuesday defeated a
proposal to establish the Central Texas
Water Development Corp., a governmental entity that would have attempted to recruit
regional actors in the hopes of building
a water pipeline to growing counties.
After the 3-2 vote,
County Judge Bert Cobb, who championed the measure, said he didn’t see the
defeat coming and that he was
“disappointed” in the court. “Politics
is a contact sport,” he said. “Nobody has any solutions. They only have
negativity.” Cobb singled out Commissioner Will Conley, who gave a speech criticizing the
plan before the vote. Conley said the task of developing water sources could be
accomplished by an existing entity that has credibility in the Legislature and
that the proposal lacked important details, such as where its initial funding
would come from.
“I think it’s quite a fantasy to think you can
create an organization within the next two months and that you can walk into
the Legislature with any sense of credibility,” Conley said. To Cobb’s criticism,
Conley said he understands the judge is “passionate” about the issue of water
security. “I think when he takes a deep breath and calms
down, he’ll realize that we’re not opposed
to his goal,” he said. “We just want to be smart and strategic.”
Commissioners Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe and Mark Jones also
voted no, saying they didn’t have enough information about the proposal. Cobb said
he hasn’t decided whether he would try to raise the issue again anytime soon. Travis County and Leander were expected to
join the initial board of the water development corporation. Following the Hays
decision, the Travis County commissioners tabled the measure Tuesday, and the Leander
City Council is expected to do the same Thursday.
The original goal for the corporation was to bring together
counties and cities across the region to build a public pipeline carrying water
from sparsely populated areas with ample supplies, said Pix Howell, a consultant who helped create the proposal. But
the group failed to recruit the water-rich jurisdictions — such as Bastrop, Lee
and Burleson counties — and the goal shifted to starting a conversation on Central Texas’ water needs, educating
potential members about water opportunities and lobbying the Legislature.
“What became apparent
is everybody had a completely different idea of what was necessary,” said
Howell, who received a $25,000 retainer from the county to develop the plan.
“If you could identify how you put a regional system together, something that’s
controlled by the public but can have lots of private investment, at least then
there’s an honest broker.”
Lee County Judge Paul Fischer said Tuesday that he “did not
feel comfortable” with the proposed organization because he fears building a
pipeline could result in over pumping as such counties as Hays, Travis and
Williamson continue to grow and deplete their own water sources. “We don’t mind sharing water, but we need to
do it slowly,” Fischer said. “We could have 15 straws down there bringing the
water up and shipping it out.”
The Hays
commissioners this year voted to buy water rights in Lee and Bastrop counties
from the Austin firm Forestar, but so far there is no way to get that water to
Hays County. Conley was the lone dissenting vote on that deal.
Tuesday’s defeat in Hays County comes two weeks after the
San Antonio City Council approved a $3.4 billion private pipeline to carry water
from Burleson County. Cobb said Monday that Hays County might approach the San Antonio Water System about
attaching to its pipeline, which goes through Hays County, to bring in the
Forestar water. “We don’t have to have a
whole lot of gas; we can ride horses. But we’ve got to have water,” Cobb said
in court Tuesday. “We have to provide certain things.”
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