Private meetings on major public water issues are 'typical protocol,' says Conley

We are beginning to suspect that this big push for the importation of water is nothing more than a cover for making the Growth Explosion story a self fulfilling prophecy. "You bring the water and we'll bring the growth."

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Update, Thursday April 15 – We finally made contact with Mr. Bagwell. We'll report more on our conversation later. As to how the meeting was convened and who convened it, here's the short of it, according to Bagwell: Kent Acord, member of the board of the Wimberley Water Supply Corporation called Bagwell, for an update on water planning in the region. Bagwell sent Acord information from the Region L state water planning document (pdf). Acord called Bagwell back a month or two later and asked Bagwell to set up a meeting. (That would be Conley's bailiwick). Acord then called Conley who then called Bagwell who then called the parties together for a meeting at Wimberley city hall. City of Woodcreek was unintentionally not included. Mr. Acord, we are informed, was unable to attend the meeting as he was on a cruise in the Mediterranean.

Update, Wednesday April 14 – Second day running, and still no call back from Mr. Bagwell of HDR. Commissioner Conley says Bagwell set up the April 5 meeting referenced below. We're trying to get a confirmation on that and who was invited and attended, since Conley says he doesn't remember who all was on the list.

By Bob Ochoa
RoundUp Editor

Precinct 3 County Commissioner Will Conley yesterday confirmed that he has been holding a series of private and invitation-only meetings dealing with some very weighty public matters.

One set of meetings involves a county water and wastewater study for western Hays County that is nearing completion. The other involves the problems that beset Aqua Texas and its Woodcreek area customers.

An attendee of one of the Aqua Texas meetings held in February recently told the RoundUp, "I thought it was going to be a meeting to help preserve water in the area . . . after the first thirty minutes it was basically a PR (show) for Aqua Texas."

Another attendee at an April 5 meeting on the county water/wastewater study said, "it ended up discussing bringing water supplies to the Wimberley Valley and the various steps that would be needed."

The RoundUp got wind of these meetings in late February and we have since picked up bits and pieces of the discussions held. The latest meeting was held Monday, April 5. Conley says more will be scheduled and they will continue to be held behind closed doors and by invitation only. So don't expect any press releases or an invitation unless you have a VIP pass from Conley.

Will Conley
This is the "typical protocol for when you're working with these types of projects," Conley explained. "We've got a lot of work to do . . . when we get all the information down, then we're going to have a public discussion."

A local official who has heard of the meetings disagrees with Conley's "who needs the public" understanding of the process: "(He) is using county tax dollars. When you are using county tax dollars there's no need for private meetings."

According to Commissioner Conley, the April 5 meeting involved the status of a study being done by the HDR engineering consulting firm of the county's water and waste water needs and infrastructure, mostly in the western region. "I asked the consultant where they were and they said we were at that place where (we could meet), and asked them to put together (a meeting)," said Conley. "We're starting to come down to figuring out what our water needs are for the future . . . we definitely are looking at a shortfall of water to take us into the future."

Conley said once the study is completed (or after all the ducks are lined up, and is presumably followed by a proforma public meeting and comments), then a more serious effort will ensue on finding solutions. "We left the last meeting deciding to (contact) the water development board to see what partnerships we could develop with them and talk to potential water providers to see what if anything they would be willing to do."

We've got a call in to HDR project manager Tony Bagwell (912.5163), to ask for more details about the April 5 meeting and who his firm invited, and did not invite. Conley said he could not remember if the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District – one of the region's most vital sources of information about water supply – was on the list.

The $200,000 water/wastewater study, begun last year, is funded through a $100,000 grant from the Texas Water Development Board. Additional investments of $100,000 were made by Hays County, the cities of Wimberley and Woodcreek, Aqua Texas, both Wimberley and Dripping Springs water supply companies, GBRA, LCRA and Hays City. Clearly, the study is underwritten largely by taxpayer money.

We know that there are certain people in the county (Conley being one of the point men) who are trying mightily to form some sort of regional water entity to import expensive water. Wimberley Mayor Tom Haley has talked about it and so have others. Ostensibly, the reasons are to ease the strain on the over-used Trinity Aquifer (the region's dominant water source), and scary projections of a future explosion in growth in western Hays County – projections that seem to be coming off someone's wall. It's pretty evident growth is occurring at a rapid pace along the Hwy 290 and I-35 corridors, but not so much in the county's interior rural parts. Population projections seem to differ, depending on the source, the area and the motivation.

We are beginning to suspect that this big push for the importation of water is nothing more than a cover for making the Growth Explosion story a self fulfilling prophecy. "You bring the water and we'll bring the growth."

If you look at some basic numbers and other factors and questions, you will see that Conley and his scotch-'n-water klatsch have their work cut out for them: A) The cost of importing water (pipeline construction, transportation, distribution, etc.), say from Kyle, San Marcos or Canyon Lake (per Conley), could run in the range of $20 million to $40 million. B) If it's not a municipally-owned pipeline, no one can be mandated to purchase the water. C) If it's owned by a water company, say Wimberley WSC or Aqua, how will their meager number of customers, 3,000 to 5,000 combined, afford to pay for it? Much higher rates, that's how. D) To make it more affordable for water system customers, will the regional entity force groundwater users off their wells and on to the new system?

Perhaps State Rep. Patrick Rose will help answer some of these questions from his perch in the Legislature. Rose, you will remember, hastily appointed a water stakeholder group during his primary re-election campaign. We haven't heard a peep about it since. And we know that Rose, in his eight years in the Legislature, hasn't met a Big D-development he hasn't liked.

Conley says his private meetings with Aqua Texas President Bob Laughman and other stakeholders such as the City of Woodcreek, developers, "environmentalists," the HTGCD, and representatives from Woodcreek North, have zeroed in on issues like leaky pipes, customer service and rates. "We've had good conversations," Conley reported. "What we're hoping for is that we'll come out with short range and long term solutions that we agree need to be taken, before we stop meeting."

Maybe before Public Official Conley concludes his private meetings, he should get some input from Joe Citizen, seeing as how Joe and the rest of us will be stuck with the outcomes.

We're hoping, too, that while Conley has the ear of Aqua's big cheese, Laughman, he'll try to convince him it is not good community relations for Aqua to continue resisting efforts of our groundwater district to stop needless waste of our limited underground water resources. Aqua remains, by far, among the top wasters of groundwater in the county.