Hydrogeologists, local government and community leaders and many residents will be there to explain why this officially supported 30-foot drop in the Trinity Aquifer will be devastating to our property values . . .
Note: We were unable to attach the letter of concern. From a commenter, here's a link to the TWDB where data from BOTH groups can be reviewed:
GMA 9: Petitions Appealing the Reasonableness of a Desired Future Condition
Send your comments and questions to Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development coordinator Jim McMeans at JRMcMeans@msn.com, to the TWDB at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/GwRD/GTA/contactus.htm, to the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District at manager2@haysgroundwater.com, or click on the "comments" at the bottom of the letter
Dear Water-Aware Neighbors,
Map of Hill Country Trinity Aquifer
There is a public TWDB hearing on this petition and issue scheduled for: 10 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16, Wimberley Community Center, 14068 Ranch Road 12
You have a right to be there.
Hydrogeologists, local government and community leaders and many residents will be there to explain why this officially supported 30-foot drop in the Trinity Aquifer will be devastating to our property values, will accelerate the already-in-progress drying-up of our local springs and creeks, and will have a detrimental effect on the local economy and this area’s natural beauty.
Affidavit/click to enlarge & print
If you care about the near future of this precious area, not to mention our economy and property values, we are asking you to do three things.1. Come to the meeting 10 a.m. Nov. 16 and make your voice heard, if only by being present to show your concern for this absurdly wrong-headed GMA-9 proposal. We need to pack the room with concerned citizens.
2. Print out the attached letter of concern (document 2) and either sign your name and address, or use it to write your own short letter of concern. Take it to the Nov. 16 hearing.
3. Print out the attached affidavit (document 3) and bring it and your letter to the Nov. 16 hearing. We hope to have a notary at the meeting to help notarize letters for persons wishing to comment. (The TWDB is requiring notarization for each letter on this issue.)
If you cannot attend the Nov. 16 hearing, you can just have this affidavit notarized on your own (your local bank will supply this service for free), and mail it along with your letter to the address on the letter, so that it arrives by Friday, Nov. 25.
Thank you for caring about Hays County and the Trinity Aquifer. Please forward this email to your friends and neighbors.
Steering Committee of the Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development
24 comments:
There he goes again.
McMeans and his flock making trouble for us water lovers who want to apply our constitutional rights to drain our aquifers of future supply so we can make money and create jobs off unfettered free enterprise development.
We can always move on to another place. Maybe we go where the water has been protected by fracking companies. In fact, I look forward to drinking water that lights on fire due to natural gas mixing with the groundwater.
What a bunch of commies this CARD group is.
As if anyone listens to the people.
Hey Jim,
To the extent the people in this area are affected, the drawdown would be 19.2 feet - over the course of 50 years. That's plenty of time to develop alternatives. Baker routinely shows slides indicating a 2 ft/year decline under his short reign. That would equate to 100 feet in 50 years. Yet the current board and GMA 9 tried settling in at less than 1/5th that rate and you are still whining. Frankly, Jim, 19.2 feet isn't enough. The number should be considerably higher - and I suspect it will be before this is over with. WVWA foolishly challenged what was already an "unsustainably" low number and now they have opened the door for the number to increase. Ha. Ha. Ha. Increase it will.
Let's point out a few of the absurd comments in McMeans' newest publication:
#1 We need to pack the room with concerned citizens.
No Jim, this is not high school and it is not a pep rally. The Texas Water Development Board is going to look at the math and the law and you lose either way.
#2 Print out the attached letter of concern (document 2) and either sign your name and address, or use it to write your own short letter of concern.
Fortunately no such letter was available. No doubt it is full of the typical McWeenie propaganda. We need a laugh, please post it for us so that a followup can be sent to TWDB.
#3 Print out the attached affidavit (document 3) and bring it and your letter to the Nov. 16 hearing. We hope to have a notary at the meeting to help notarize letters for persons wishing to comment.
Taking a lesson from the banks, eh McWeenie? Now you are soliciting people to claim "personal knowledge" of something they have absolutely no knowledge of to begin with. You are asking them to swear to this? The 2009 date was hilarious. A notarial certificate claiming in advance that the notary knows everyone foolish enough to sign this...really Jimbo? Robo-signing 101.
The drawdown is too low as it currently stands. You have no entitlement to springs or creeks and any such water in them belongs to the State, not to you. Here's the reason for declines, Jimbo:
U.S. Drought Monitor
You cannot legislate away the existence of such things. Perhaps the drawdown will be increased to a more modest 65 ft for all of GMA 9.
Hey, Ochoa? Don't you think its time you filter out the hate monger who keeps using the word "McWeenie" in his comments? By allowing him to rant so rudely, you are looking like a cohort. It is not free speech to abuse someone over and over again.
He is probably one of these right wing nuts who gives money to compulsive sexual predator Herman Cain and is defending Joe Paterno as a "victim" of his irresponsible complacency.
You need to rethink your free speech ideology. It is unbecoming for the Roundup.
Thanks anonymous, I agree. The McWeenie name-calling really is childish. For future reference, the author(s) should refrain from doing that.
Fyi, we're out at deer camp at the moment and can only post comments sporadically (no G3 reception out here). But keep your comments coming. Thanks.
@ Roundup Editor who said:
Thanks anonymous, I agree. The McWeenie name-calling really is childish. For future reference, the author(s) should refrain from doing that.
So just for clarification, Bob, is it the RoundUp's position that it is okay to refer to other posters as "right wingnuts, commies, hate monger, etc" as long as they support McMeans' position but inappropriate for those that recognize that the emperor is wearing no clothes to refer to McMeans as "McWeenie"? What about McMeanie?
McMeans has tried to make himself a relevant public figure and this is a public issue. He is fair game and so are his less-than-scrupulous tactics. A copy McMeans' RoundUp article is likely to find its way to the TWDB to undermine the "evidentiary" value of whatever robo-signed affidavits McMeans and WVWA collect up.
By the way, if RoundUp was interested in providing a more balanced article, the editor might note that the TWDB has already declared zero drawdown to be "unsustainable". Moreover, the amount can vary by about 25 feet either direction depending upon whether the 50 years ends on a wet or dry period. The drawdown is in the "noise" level now. So why not ask McMeans and WVWA exactly what they are seeking besides publicity? Zero drawdown is already a no-go.
Along the line of a more balanced disclosure, why not provide a link to any information from those seeking a higher drawdown? Here's a link to the TWDB where data from BOTH groups can be reviewed (scroll down :
GMA 9: Petitions Appealing the Reasonableness of a Desired Future Condition
Given that there is such a sensitive group of protesters out there, why don't you express the rule of decorum that you want folks to follow and then hold the McMeans supporters to the same rule?
Hey Anonymous November 14, 2011 11:50 AM,
What a cheap shot; telling the teacher. I'm sure you were one of those spoiled cowardly little limp wristed twerps in grade school that couldn't even make a fist and always expected the teacher to protect you. Frankly the use of the name "McWeenie" is much better than some names I have heard for Jim.
Jumping on Ochoa for allowing this low level name calling is so typical of you immature left wingers that frequent this blog. I'm a little disappointed in Bob for siding with you; his readership must be declining. McMeans is a selfish no-growth extremist that knows no bounds when he warms up his lie machine for these meetings. He must do so, since he knows nothing about the subjects he claims to be expert in.
You said, "You need to rethink your free speech ideology. It is unbecoming for the Roundup."
Do you really think it is "becoming" for the Roundup to censor free speech?
It seems that you have an argument with the freedom of speech unless it allows your sick rants. It is pretty obvious that you are one of the lefties that supports the "Occupy Wall Street" thugs that think they are entitled to destroy businesses and defecate on cop cars or urinate in churches.
Well it looks like Jim McMeans and his "Occupy the TWDB" ne'er-do-wells are gearing up for another hippie show this Wednesday. This bunch is an embarrassment to the hard working people of the Wimberley Valley. How many times can they sign a petition before someone discovers the number of signatures exceeds the population? They are the single biggest threat to property values in the area. They love the current drought since they can blame the well levels dropping on the 30 ft. drawdown. The joke's on them since I am told they won't be allowed to speak at the meeting. Of course the worst of the worst, such as recently jilted Susan Cook will shout out as she usually does.
The Texas Water Development Board is not easily intimidated and they seem not to like hippies fro what I have seen. It should be fun to watch.
The WVWA tribe will be there as there are today outside Brookshire Bros. getting signatures and donations. I wonder if they are having trouble meeting David baker's payroll.
Jim McMeans does NOT deserve to be constantly called names by the 'not-so-anonymous' poster. Most of us are very aware of who the character- assassin is.
I would venture a guess that Mr. McMeans laughs out loud at the rants of this ridiculous little man.
Keep up the great works Mr. McMeans. Sane people appreciate it!
When are people going to take the postings seriously. All this grade school name calling just hides the fact the the name callers don't have a clue about what they're talking about. The funny name posters and the ones who misspell everything need to grow up. They are not funny anymore.
I agree with Jim. The property owners need to go to the meeting and protest the draw down of our water. If we can't talk then we can fill out the affidavit. If we don't speak up then who will.
I know that the childish name calling posters are going to tell me to go back on my meds or something stupid like that but that just proves my point.
@ Anonymous November 14, 2011 6:06 PM who said:
The property owners need to go to the meeting and protest the draw down of our water.
The water is not "yours". Property owners have a right to access the water that might be there. You have no right or entitlement for the water to be there.
If we can't talk then we can fill out the affidavit.
This entire area used to be underwater. Water levels have been dropping here for millennia. As far as "talking", the hearing is not a debate or a pep rally and you can't legislate or "rule" nature out of existence. As far as an affidavit is concerned,
you are swearing to having personal knowledge of the stated facts. What facts do you have and how are they relevant to the issue at hand? All you have is gossip and mistakes of law. Just "believing" something doesn't make it so and is not personal knowledge. Soliciting and filing false affidavits isn't going to help your position.
If we don't speak up then who will.
You need to have something other than a rant or a mantra. This isn't a pep rally. You also need to explain how your objective is consistent with recognizing the ownership interests of property owners in the groundwater.
McMeans and WVWA can't even identify the objective they are seeking any more. TWDB has already determined elsewhere that zero drawdown is not realistic and will not be supported. The forum is designed to eliminate the chaff - "protesters" who would otherwise protest for the sake of protesting but who can't identify what they are seeking. "Protesting" for the sake of protesting isn't productive or meritorious.
The number for this area is 19.2 ft ±25 ft over 50 years depending on whether the period ends on a wet or dry cycle. The TWDB is likely to recognize that number as too low and unachievable. You have to have a feasible, reasonable number. In view of both petitions (both had issues), only FLR focused on the law and the relevant issues (WVWA did not). TWDB is is more likely to recommend either keeping the number where it is or increasing it, not decreasing it.
Today, Ron Fieseler of GMA 9 made more sense than all the other speakers put together. He really set the dreamers and no-growth advocates back on their heels. When he said their requested DFC was impossible and unrealistic you could feel the air being sucked out of the room. Then when he said the drawdown might have to be increased you could have heard a pin drop. It doesn't look good for WVWA and CARD because they don't understand the process; knowing the science in pieces and pushing a false agenda is not going to convince anyone with real knowledge. This was all a waste of time unless you count the money donated to the WVWA.
It doesn't make any difference how much money and how many signatures you collect however, you need the overall facts on your side to win.
After sitting through hours of WVWA testimony today at the hearing it became clear that WVWA does not have a case.
The GMA 9 rep addressed all of WVWA's points and testimony in about 25 minutes. Each of WVWA's 11 points was addressed as i) moot (due to changes in model, law, or management plan), ii) opinion not based on science or fact, and/or iii) not addressing the fundamental legal issue of "reasonableness".
In summary, the WVWA failed to address the legal issue that was the alleged basis of the petition. Accordingly, they are unlikely to prevail, but we'll just have to see what the TWDB says.
I agree with the last anonymous, Baker tried and failed to provide any reason, that wasn't easily refuted by Ron Fiesler of GMA 9, as to why the drawdown should be lowered. Baker only wants a his impossibly lower drawdown in order to further his no-growth agenda and allow him to continue receiving his large paycheck from WVWA.
I really cracked up when former HTGCD President, Doug Wierman, referred to Jacob's Well as a pressure relief valve on the Trinity Aquifer and said it relieves the pressure by flowing when the aquifer is over full. I'll bet David Baker nearly fainted. That sounds more realistic than Baker's often repeated and ridiculous "Canary in a Coal Mine" analogy.
Jim McMeans was running around out in the parking lot after the hearing broke up, saying "we won didn't we, didn't we?" which sounded a lot more like a plea for support of his lost cause than a statement. No body believes they won except the usual suspects.
The Anonymouse who said this:
"Jim McMeans was running around out in the parking lot after the hearing broke up, saying "we won didn't we, didn't we?"
is a bald face liar.
I was there, Mass Deceptor. What a shameful display of crazy ignorance.
To the last Anonymous that said:
""Jim McMeans was running around out in the parking lot after the hearing broke up, saying "we won didn't we, didn't we?"
is a bald face liar.
I was there, Mass Deceptor. What a shameful display of crazy ignorance."
I'm not Mass Deceptor but I was also present at the meeting. Interesting that you didn't disagree with the individual that you quoted regarding Wierman's comment.
I didn't see McMeans running around in the parking lot, but he did inanely shout from the back of the conference room something along the lines of "We showed them didn't we?" at the conclusion of the meeting.
All that was shown was that there are a bunch of lemmings in Wimberley willing to become parted with their time and their money in pursuit of false prophets. There were also a number of very white individuals expressing their view of an entitlement to enjoy water amenities and to not experience any of the ills of drought. Apparently they believed that property owners throughout GMA 9 should yield their actual rights in order to fulfill the entitlement these self-selected individuals believed they were owed from all other property owners in GMA 9. Frankly, it wasn't impressive - it was quite offensive.
WVWA did not address the legal issues - but no doubt their attorney was paid well to prepare and file the petition. David Baker will continue to get a paycheck to keep up appearances and dream up other fear factors to drive contributions to WVWA. By the way, are county payments from the JWNA contract being used to pay for this nonsense?
Several of WVWA's technical speakers corroborated the GMA 9 position that the DFC was either reasonable or needed to be increased, not decreased. Despite having observed the presentations, there's Jim McMeans apparently actually believing that "we showed them", whatever that means. There is a different "we" that saw that WVWA having its head handed to it on a platter.
Yesterday's proceedings were not adversarial in nature - just WVWA presenting its position as to why the DFC was unreasonable (it failed) and GMA 9 presenting its position that WVWA failed to address whether the DFC was reasonable. The TWDB will review the petitions and make a formal recommendation.
Reports posted here about the meeting are like memories of concerts at the Armadillo.
"All that was shown was that there are a bunch of lemmings in Wimberley willing to become parted with their time and their money in pursuit of false prophets."
The false prophets are all the free markets pro-developer worshipors who know we are in a major drought yet still try to pretend like we have unlimited water supply for your outdated and destructive "individual freedom" mindset.
Quoting one speaker to PROVE what you already believe is more right wing disinformation nonsense - not unlike the Fox News chants that you all accept without any analysis.
You and your Tea Party like flock are the lemmings here. Just as your attitude and your hostility proves without a doubt your ignorance and your blindness.
Emancipator:
All the WVWA witnesses were chosen by WVWA, not me. There is no "tea party" involvement in any of it. The absurdity was David Baker and his flock trying to demand that springs, creeks, etc. be maintained at 90% of their levels during periods of historic drought. Their own witnesses proved that wasn't going to happen even if no people were here. Got news for you, the population of Wimberley has increased significantly since the 50s. In other words, no matter how much you seek to punish the rest of the world in pursuit of what you foolishly believe you are entitled to, you won't be able to meet your objective. WVWA's own witnesses made it clear.
The mayor of Wimberley spoke at the TWDB hearing. He touted the need for others to conserve or even be denied water for the benefit of Jacobs Well and "Blue Hole". The City of Wimberley owns Blue Hole.
Attendees of tonight's HTGCD meeting were given some data about Wimberley and Blue Hole.
Wimberley is dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of potable groundwater on the ground during an extreme drought - all for aesthetics. Wimberley used 700,000 gallons of groundwater at Blue Hole over the past 5 months alone.
So much for WVWA's testimony from Wimberley's mayor. What a bunch of hypocrites.
I hear that the Wimberley city council wisely decided not to sign off on the David Baker proposed "resolution" for carving out the Wimberley area from GMA-9 under the pretext of conservation.
Would have looked pretty silly to be claiming necessity for "conservation" while pumping, treating, and dumping the groundwater out for aesthetic purposes. Kind gives new meaning to the term "watering hole".
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