Note: The following report was sent by Andrew Backus, who until last May served as a director on the board of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (District 3). He remains very much in the mix. Backus says he heard about LCRA's decision to sell its retail water systems and followed up to confirm. See the press release. At this point we can only speculate that private for-profit water companies will begin snatching up these small water utilities. To the future owners' customers, we say, woe to you and good luck.
Send your comments and news tips to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Mr. Backus at aback@austin.rr.com, to the LCRA at this link, http://www.lcra.org/about/overview/contact.html, or click on the "comments" button at the bottom of the story
At the LCRA Board meeting on Nov. 17, 2010 a resolution was passed directing management to seek bids for the sale of their 30 retail water systems as a complete package so that the LCRA may focus on wholesale water and electrical power generation and distribution. This information was confirmed by telephone with Heather Richardson, Public Affairs Representative for Hays, Caldwell and Llano Counties, LCRA, yesterday morning. A press release is pending at this time.I did not attend the meeting but it is fairly safe to say that LCRA is not interested in selling these assets because they are proving profitable for them. LCRA water customers must also know that alternative water supplies that are envisioned for the Hill Country and Central Texas will cost at LEAST 3 to 4 times what water from the Highland lakes costs. Maybe LCRA just doesn’t want to fight the fight of charging customers what it really costs to operate a water utility? Which means any new system owner is guaranteed to have to raise rates to operate profitably.
Woodcreek, Texas (just north of Wimberley) is facing the dilemma of an aging water system (owned by Aqua Texas) that needs $5-million of rehabilitation to come within industry standards for water loss that will be paid for by substantial water rate increases. LCRA owns 30 such systems, with some degree of the same problems that no longer seem so valuable now that the building boom has slowed. The value of these utilities is their monopoly service area and the State law that allows them to raise rates that cover the cost of operations. The risk to the utility is: Can those served afford to pay the necessary rates to keep the system operating within State and Federal laws?
All of a sudden rainwater systems and individual water wells are going to become even more interesting for those in need of water.
6 comments:
Thanks for that interesting report, Andrew.
LCRA has a history of rotating their General Managers from engineers (Joe Beal) to lawyers (Tom Mason) and back, every few years.
It was Joe Beal's plan to enter the retail water business. LCRA extended pipelines to Dripping Springs, out Hamilton Pool Road, up Hwy 71 and acquired Hill Country WSC.
Now Tom Mason is in charge. His analysis of the revenue stream is that electric generation and distribution is subsidising water rates. He is most likely correct.
Part of the revenue shortfall is the Dripping Springs WSC failure to follow the terms of the LCRA Water Services Agreement and purchase the amount of water DSWSC agreed to purchase.
Whisky's for drinking; water's for fighting. An old saying, but still true.
This is also the reason that the right to have a residential well must be preserved - so you aren't a pawn for the water utilities.
Watch out for groups like CARD, Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, and various affiliates whose members have consistently tried to create rules to deny you that right while they retain their own. They call it "protecting the rights of the people that are here now"....except that they want to take away the rights of some people that are here now as well as the rights of property owners that don't currently have a well on their property.
More interesting is correct.
There is an LCRA line running in front of Goldenwood where Andrew lives. He would prefer to keep his well instead of hooking up to LCRA. So much for conserving groundwater.
Perhaps Andrew will now recognize how harmful the objective of the legislation that he previously tried to float was - harmful to property owners beside himself that is. His goal was to prevent any new residential/exempt wells.
This is the same goal that CARD and similar groups are trying to reach. They want to preserve a right to have a well on their property while seeking to prohibit property owners that don't currently have wells from having one. These groups aren't really about preserving groundwater unless preservation means "exclusive monopoly" for themselves. They are trying to profit economically at the expense of everyone else in the district.
Might impact real estate values just a little bit.
That great sucking sound you hear is coming from Aqua Texas. Watch your behinds little water systems. Good catch, Andrew. Wish you were still on the local groundwater district board. The current numb nuts could sure use your expertise.
Fred's description of the sucking sound of Aqua Texas is very apt.
The folks in Woodcreek North are in
the very situation they now suffer
with Aqua Texas because the former
purveyors of water there could see
they would not be able to repair the aging system without tremendous
expnse, and so they accepted both
Aqua Texas' buyout and Aqua's promise that they would repair the
leaks which cause almost 50% water
loss. Not much on fulfilling the
promise part so far -- after about
8 years of living under the reign
of Aqua Texas.
Andrew Backus is right that this
will be a continuing trend --
especially in Texas, one of the
laxest states in regulating or
conserving anything. It's no wonder
Texas advertizes itself as the
best place to do "bidness."
You can read in today's Austin
newspaper(Section B, page 1)the
article titled "LCRA to sell its
water, wastewater systems." Aqua
Texas bought the Harper Water System (Gillespie County) and the London Water System (Kimball County)from LCRA in 2009. I hope
those water patrons didn't see the
huge jump in prices that folks here
in Woodcreek North and Woodcreek did when Aqua Texas took over.
It would be interesting to know
the monthly water/wastewater bill
at the new Jacobs Well Elementary
School which Aqua supplies, and then to compare that bill to one
of the schools that Wimberley
Water serves.
No problem - the utilities can just use groundwater.
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