Kids at Jacob's Well / Courtesy TM Raines
One thing is certain, people living in the Hill Country region need to stay informed and engaged, and elect persons to local groundwater district boards who are committed to sustainable management of the local groundwater resources. When the water table drops, not only is every single public and private residential and agricultural well at risk, but the dancing waters of our creeks, springs and aquifers may cease to provide the benefits we’ve received from them for centuries. (See story below from the Hill Country Alliance)_________________
Note: Below is an open letter sent by area resident and school parent T.M. Raines. Ms. Land is the principal at Jacob's Well Elementary School. The letter is timely – a wider discussion about the future fate and management of the Jacob's Well Natural Area will be held tonight at 8:30 at a county-sponsored meeting at the Wimberley Community Center. A question: County taxpayers have invested around $5 million in the Jacob's Well Natural Area. Should it remain a protected preserve with restricted public access or should it become a public park?
Note note: Parents might also want to contact principal Land to check on a report floating around that water service to the elementary school is so unreliable at times that water fountains go dry and school toilets are filled with water stored in buckets . . . lland@wimberley.txed.net, 512.847.5558.An Open Letter
Greetings Linda Land / WISD Parents, Teachers, Taxpayers:
I hope your New Year is off to a great start. As you remember, we started the Parent Teachers Taxpayers Association (PTTA) in a effort to stop the District from feeding our kids otherwise good food that has been contaminated with substances such as Red/Yellow Dye #5, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. There has been some progress but we have to date failed to really clean up the School Lunch Program.
Now another threat is facing the future of our students and community. It is the destruction of our School's namesake, the beautiful Jacobs Well. The Texas Water Development Board, backed by big land developers, is attempting to justify pumping the water table down another 30 feet. This will turn Jacobs Well into a stagnant muck-hole in the bed of Cypress Creek and the creek will no longer flow through town. If the TWDB is allowed to permit more large wells and one or two more environmental disasters like Belterror are built in our area, it will mean the end of flowing water at the Spring and Creek.
Can you organize the teachers and students at JWE to speak out against impending disaster? There are many organizations and individuals that will help with your effort.
For further details see: http://www.hillcountryalliance.org/HCA/News120511.
If anyone has more ideas on stopping the lowering of our aquifer please share them with the PTTA.
Sincerely,
Terry Raines
PTTA@amcs.org
Hill Country land owners take action
to protect springs and property rights
From a report from the Hill Country Alliance. Read the entire article
So, what happens when local residents and landowners don’t agree with the groundwater management plan handed down by a regional governing body that affects the future of a precious, local groundwater resource?The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has a process for such situations, and it’s now playing out with precision in the Wimberley Valley of Hays County. It’s a process worth paying attention to because it will further define the roles state, regional and local authorities play in key decisions about our water.
Questions abound. Will this process adequately address the water planning grievances brought forth by Wimberley citizens and community leaders? Will the State intervene on behalf of the locals? Will the local groundwater conservation district step up with real water conservation strategies? Will rules change? Or, is the process simply a public dance that will change little to nothing?
49 comments:
Please get your facts straight. Belterra and Jacob's well are in different watersheds. Belterra is on surface water, the entire Wimberley valley is on some form of groundwater.
The TWDB had nothing to do with the 30' drawdown, it was an 8 to 1 decision by the groundwater districts of GMA 9. Yes the EAA, Blanco, and Barton Springs groundwater districts voted for it.
"County taxpayers have invested around $5 million in the Jacob's Well Natural Area. Should it remain a protected preserve with restricted public access or should it become a public park? "
Let's be real clear that the county taxpayers did not get to vote on any of this. Commissioner Conley twice went to rescue his buddy David Baker from financial disaster and used taxpayer dollars to do so.
Before deciding what to do with the JWNA, the county should first proceed to have the remainder of the property that taxpayers paid for - the 15 acres and hotel operation - properly transferred to the county. Otherwise there is clearly an unlawful gift of taxpayer dollars to the Baker clan. By the way, does the county get the revenue from the Dancing Waters Inn that the county taxpayers paid for?
In regards to the letter from Terry Raines:
Although everyone should be free to express their opinion, this type of ignorance and the author's attempts to impose their ignorance on everyone else is one reason why many area residents pay extra to send their children to private school or homeschool rather than sending them to public school.
The objective of the DFC is to limit the drop to 30 feet (19 feet in the Wimberley area) over the course of 50 years. Raines hasn't figured out that although the levels are somewhat cyclical, the trend is already a drop due to climatic and population changes. Even WVWA will show you slides representing a 2 foot per year drop for each of the last 10 years. Do the math. Limiting the drop to 19 feet over 50 years given the current trend will be a significant accomplishment - not something to be ridiculed.
The author clearly has no understanding of the permit process or the roles of the different governmental agencies or political subdivisions of the state. The TWDB is not "backed by big land developers" - it is an agency of the State of Texas. Duh.
As far as the destruction of your "school's namesake", you can solve your imagined immediate problem by renaming the school.
The author also fails to recognize that Jacobs Well is nothing but an overflow valve with a long "pipe" down. There must be a considerable excess of water for the overflow valve to work. You can't expect the overflow valve to work when all water levels are generally declining. You also can't expect to artificially create an excess condition by legislating that all other property owners in the GMA 9 area should be prevented from having groundwater so that a few Wimberley residents can enjoy a surface water amenity. Get over it.
The city of Wimberley is one of the bigger abusers. They threw over 700,000 gallons of treated groundwater on a measly 1/4 acre for 5 months. This took place during an extreme drought for irrigation in the Blue Hole area. Is this "native"?" Is this "natural"?
If you want to complain about water usage by others, start by complaining to the Wimberley city council about their irrigation. Also since you apparently oppose wells, surely you will oppose any attempt by the city of Wimberley to put in/operate a well at Blue Hole given the proximity to Jacobs Well?
What a load of malarkey.
Regarding the HCA article:
• Note the author's conspicuous failure when it comes to identifying any property rights they claim to seek protection for. HCA and its ilk seek to eliminate - not protect - existing property rights with respect to groundwater. WVWA's David Baker is on the HCA board. The organizations he affiliates with promote the eradication of property rights. .
• WVWA's experts testify that a 19 foot drawdown will be exceeded in 5 - 19 years. The HTGCD must have a DFC that is obtainable for a 50 year term. WVWA's expert testimony establish that the DFC should be at least 3 times the selected level - not less. Thanks for that admission WVWA!
• WVWA had the burden of establishing unreasonableness. WVWA failed to address the issue of reasonableness in its petition. This "article" also fails to address reasonableness.
• The WSP permit is to enable mixing with septic water to dilute sewage sufficiently that it can be sprayed on the "golf course". Golf is a secondary purpose. WVWA failed to establish that any of this was not beneficial. Given the sewage presently being dumped in the creek, one would think WVWA would support rather than oppose sanitary improvements in the area.
• Andrew Sansom - who cares? Mostly nothing but "coulds" and "mights". Did Sansom bother to mention the economic harm that WVWA was attempting to wreak on all property owners in GMA9?
• David Baker - nothing but hype and speculation.
• Experts - noted above
• Langford - a real blowhard. Complained that a 1930s well on the property he inherited wasn't producing like it used to. Claimed his property was the source of all the water in the aquifer. Falsely believes he has an entitlement for water to be at a certain level in his well and that property owners outside his ranch border should be denied access to groundwater to ensure water in his inherited well stays at some level.
The complainants have little standing to complain and failed to address the legal issues. Notably they won't tell you what is "reasonable" but they'll sure oppose any achievable number as "unreasonable". This was nothing but a circus sideshow. Predict that they will lose - and that TWDB may recommend a larger drawdown
First of all, the county-sponsored meeting at the Wimberley Community Center started at 6:30 pm not "8:30 pm" as you reported. Frankly, it wasn't worth the gas it took to drive over there!
I find Ms. Raines' letter is hardly news worthy or even interesting as it shows just how much she doesn't know about Aquifer Science and Jacob's Well in particular. Trying to spread a false rumor about the Elementary School running out of water is very indicative of what she is up to. This is just another well meaning but overly protective parent trying for the limelight. Chicken Little syndrome, I suspect.
I live less than a mile from the school and I receive my water from the same source ATI and have not experienced any interruption in service for many many months. There is construction going on in the immediate area so the interruptions if there ate any are likely from that.
The Aquifer is not drying up any more than, "Red/Yellow Dye #5, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil" will harm your kids. By the way Ms. Raines the 30 foot draw down you mention is not an accurate figure for our area and that figure was for a period of 50 years. I suggest you try and educate yourself on the subject before you throw around terms you do not understand.
The threat to Jacobs Well and Cypress Creek is REAL, not imagined as some of the commenters here would lead you to believe. The economic value the Well and Creek represent to this community is PRICELESS.
I greatly respect activist citizens such as Terry Raines who stand up for their beliefs. The students and staff at JWES would be the first I would go to to join in the preservation of JW.
Many more people are needed to combat the greedy developer resource wasting mentality that is so engrained here, the Take the Money/Water and Run crowd.
ALL in the Wimberley valley should be taking up the fight FOR conservation, FOR conservation minded groundwater managers, FOR a secure groundwater conservation plan, AGAINST over-development and dangerous draw-downs of the aquifer water table, FOR SUSTAINABLE development, FOR protection of current property owners/values and water resources, AGAINST EXPENSIVE IMPORTED WATER.
Remember the DROUGHT is expected to get WORSE A LONG TIME before it gets better. Remember we all get our water from the aquifer. Remember the aquifer is already over pumped. Remember real estate developers (and most elected bumpkins) don't give a rats arse about any of you/us except their big money buddies/investors.
If there is not an organized vigorous push back to save ourselves we will all be flushed down the proverbial toilet with the last remaining drops of groundwater. Helluva plan.
Yesterday I received a vote endorsement flyer in the mail for Will Conley.
Contrary to the gist of the angry rants of the "Take the Money/Water and Run" crowd and their local citizen lemmings, Conley' re-election is being endorsed by Winton Porterfield and his wife (she on the San Marcos City Council).
What about those "facts", mindless property rights goobers?
Conley is supported by the Porterfields, who you fools support against WPOA and your nightmare boogeyman David Baker, who Conley supports with county money, who both want to make you pay for their unlimited use of your water, which you fools defend
as an American "inalienable right."
Talk about a bunch of confused hypocrites.
Ironically, one of these hypocrite hate ranters makes a couple good points about Ms. Raines's Jacob's Well facts.
But the primary tenet of her letter is exactly correct. And make no mistake, Winton Porterfield loved the school being built near his development - regardless of the water shortage realities.
Btw, parents, "Red/Yellow Dye #5, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil" is poison to your kids.
But the right wingers only care about themselves and their confusing personal "rights."
In fact, their mass consumption of "Red/Yellow Dye #5, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil" may be the reason this extremists can't put two concepts together and see reality. They are cognitively impaired due to years of a poisoned diet.
There should be a 12 Step program for right wing obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Bob Ochoa says in his intro to the Roundup:
"The RoundUp is an independent, alternatve news source and voice in Hays County."
Hell, Ochoa is a clearly a leftie and a closet socialist. Look at who writes for his so-called "newspaper."
And with a last name like Ochoa, I bet he has some past history with illegal aliens and them being the real cause of the decline of the economy.
Post your birth certificate, Bob. We should all see it before we read your propaganda anymore.
To Anonymous Jan 20, 8:23 AM:
You say:
"I live less than a mile from the
school and I receive my water from the same source ATI and have not experienced any interruption in service for many many months."
Well, Richard Sullivan, ATI (Aqua Texas) would rather inconvenience
JW Elem rather than a host of residents in Woodcreek North. Aqua Texas can't afford any more nasty complaints by Woodcreek and Woodcreek North residents to TCEQ.
Belterra Schmelterra. The point Raines is making is the ground water budget in our neck of the woods can't afford a sprawling thousand home water-sucking subdivision for the rich. Belterra, btw, does consume a lot of groundwater and the developer receives some sizable county subsidies. Who you kiddin?
Apologies for the meeting time slip up.
Emancipator said:
"Conley is supported by the Porterfields, who you fools support against WPOA and your nightmare boogeyman David Baker, who Conley supports with county money, who both want to make you pay for their unlimited use of your water, which you fools defend as an American "inalienable right."
He/she forgot to mention that Winton Porterfield is also a good friend of ATI, as is Conley, who supports WVWA and also supports WSP.
These are not strange bedfellow, just more proof that the developer cartel that has the right wingers so confused are in total control.
Simple solutions:
1) Stop buying houses in Winton Porterfield's WSP area.
2) Vote Conley out.
3) Demand that the Jacob's Well area park become a public park (since it was paid for by tax dollars) maintained by committed community volunteers that care about the local water needs and our local environment.
4) Oppose vehemently any future developments in the area and boycott buying or leasing any properties built by the "Take the Money/Water and Run" crowd in Hays County.
It is time concerned activists get active - and simply ignore and challenge the OCD right wing who are too foolish to even know why they support who they support.
@ Emancipator,
Your run-on and conflicting sentences make your point(s) difficult to discern.
The county's gift of property to the Baker clan is unlawful and the statute of limitations has not run on challenging the transaction. Just don't expect Mark Kennedy or Sherri Tibbe to do anything about it given the DA's office involvement in the deals to begin with.
As far as supporting WSP vs the WPOA, I'd support virtually any entity against the WPOA. The residents would have been better off seeking to simply eliminate WPOA corp from the restrictions in their section. However, given the various ownership interests that might not have been feasible The residents certainly took the lesser of two evils: moving to the WSP rather than allowing themselves to be abused by the WPOA.
Hopefully other sections will make a similar move or perhaps they can simply dispense with the WPOA via amendment as opposed to choosing between two HOAs. I'm glad a newsletter like TruthRunner is shining the light on the activities of the WPOA corp board and how it has abused the involuntary members.
@ Madder than Eddie who said...
The threat to Jacobs Well and Cypress Creek is REAL, not imagined as some of the commenters here would lead you to believe. The economic value the Well and Creek represent to this community is PRICELESS.
Considering the diversion of millions of dollars of taxpayer monies to the benefit of WVWA, I'd say that the conduct over there is an economic threat to every property owner in Hays County. All you demand is more handouts and freebies for WVWA. Sorry, I'm not buying it. Your "community" better come up with a better business plan.
I greatly respect activist citizens such as Terry Raines who stand up for their beliefs.
Admiring a lemming doesn't mean you have to be one. Raines' beliefs had a serious disconnect with reality. Is this the result of the "educational" programs over there in Wimberley?
The students and staff at JWES would be the first I would go to to join in the preservation of JW.
Ha ha ha. Your complaints have all been directed at preventing growth or change in the Wimberley Valley. Those people that you claim to seek support from are the very ones that you have tried to deny any right to be here in the first place. Will you be soliciting the support of the students at the next school that is built or merely pitting the then-crop of students at JW against them?
The "economic value" of JW is nowhere near as great as you imply and any benefits are showered on very few. Property owners along the creek took the risk of paying a premium for property along surface water that may not be there tomorrow. Tough. There are lots of dry creekbeds in Texas. Property owners that aren't along the creek aren't going to see much change and didn't receive any benefit to begin with.
Things come and go. JW has not been here since the dawn of time and just as it came into being it will cease to exist at some point. Something even better may come of such a change. Quit trying to hold nature still. It usually has bad results and it's elitist to believe that you have such power or should have such power in the first place.
Some of these commenters seem to think that allowing rampant residential development and even drying up our creek and Jacob's Well is an acceptable outcome.
I disagree.
"Things come and go"? Well, this kind of thinking about our beautiful land and water needs to go.
Yesterday.
Lambasting Terry Raines as not knowing enough about all the ins and outs of this water issue is unfair. We were all in that boat at one time and only going to the meetings, reading up on the issues and learning more, year by year, has allowed some of us to understand just how this whole things works.
We should help one another on this path rather than bludgeon a fellow citizen who hasn't had the thorough immersion into these complicated (and controversial) water issues just yet.
There is no reason to keep allowing our water resources to dry up just so somebody can make money. No reason at all. If there is no current RIGHT on the books that allows people to protect their water and their creeks, then that RIGHT needs to be added to those we have now.
Wimberley without Cypress Creek would be a tragedy of epic proportions and anyone who says only the immediate landowners along the creek would suffer have never enjoyed a summer afternoon in Blue Hole or Jacob's Well....or any number of other places where non-owners are welcome.
We have to stop the degradation of our shared beauty and water and we do so by getting rid of Conley, not buying (or buying into) Porterfields's housing scheme or golf courses.
We, as a community, need to act to save our natural treasures and if someone wants to destroy them, then we stop that behavior.
Simple as that.
Emancipator: why do you select the name "Emancipator" when you oppose rights and seek only to apply restrictions on everyone else? Why not "Slavemonger" or "Communitarian" or just "Marxist"?
@ Occupy Cypress Creek who said...
Some of these commenters seem to think that allowing rampant residential development and even drying up our creek and Jacob's Well is an acceptable outcome.
it isn't "your creek". The creek belongs to the state of Texas and the state of Texas can choose to do what it wants with surface water. Your perception of ownership or rights is misplaced.
WVWA;s own "experts" testified that the current decline would continue even if there were NO further development. Look at the charts from WVWA or their experts. The rate of decline is fairly linear. If the change was due solely to "new development" you would expect the rate of decline to increase - perhaps exponentially - and yet it has not. So your anti-development rhetoric is no different from the anti-immigrant, us-vs-them, nationalism, or other mentalities.
"Things come and go"? Well, this kind of thinking about our beautiful land and water needs to go.
Again it isn't "your" land nor "your" water. Explain why you were "allowed" to have a house here and why others should be prohibited from doing so. They have the same rights that you do. By the way, you are one of the things that will be going - hopefully sooner rather than later.
There is no reason to keep allowing our water resources to dry up just so somebody can make money. No reason at all. If there is no current RIGHT on the books that allows people to protect their water and their creeks, then that RIGHT needs to be added to those we have now.
Again you err in suggesting that the water resources are yours, they aren't. There IS a right on the books that allows people to protect their right to access water. Those rights of others are the very rights you are trying to eradicate under the pretext of protecting water that is NOT yours.
Groundwater does not belong to the state. Surface water does. You are trying to suppress or deny the rights of property owners with respect to groundwater in order to convert their property to state property in the form of surface water. That "creek" you keep referring to is not yours or your neighbors' nor does it belong to your mythical "community". Perhaps you should re-familiarize yourself with the Texas Constitution. You knew it when you moved here, didn't you?
About the only thing we agree on is Conley albeit for different reasons. I'm tired of taxpayer dollars being used to heap financial rewards on unscrupulous groups like the WVWA. I'm disgusted that the county paid millions of dollars for land rendered virtually worthless after the fact through the use of falsely named "conservation easements". I'm disgusted that these errors and the fraud is actually used as an excuse to justify giving this group or spending more money on the place. Above all, I'm not pleased that the county gave the Baker clan ownership of the 15 acres + buildings that the county taxpayers paid for. Those that do pay taxes in Hays County are forced to do so under threat of foreclosure on their property. Conley then turns around and gifts these extorted funds to the Baker clan and gives them exemptions on the property after the fact? Shouldn't equal protection dictate that the county buy me a 15 acre spread with a house and then give me property tax exemptions moving forward?
You put a little too much faith in abstract concepts like "community". The type of "community" you propose is not one that anyone but the "leaders" du jour of the community would want.
Wimberley without Cypress Creek would be a tragedy of epic proportions and anyone who says only the immediate landowners along the creek would suffer have never enjoyed a summer afternoon in Blue Hole or Jacob's Well....or any number of other places where non-owners are welcome.
The comment was directed towards the silly property values argument.
Non-owners aren't unwelcome ... until they start trying to assert ownership over other people's property as you propose.
Anonymous says:
"The county's gift of property to the Baker clan is unlawful."
Convenient for you the statute of limitations has run out (if that is even true) since now you can just say what you want without being able to prove it.
I think the best way to prove your credibility is to name yourself. We would all know immediately if you have any credence or NOT.
But at least you admit the WSP is evil (although the lesser of two, in your biased mind.)
No wonder you hide behind the Anonymous.
There is a persistent anonymous commenter in this blog who is nothing more than a deranged and out of touch shill and sycophant for land developers and realtors and a corrupt county commissioner. Stop wasting the space in this blog, shill. As much as you despise and attack "community", I guarantee you your views have about as much traction as a large freshly laid cow patty in the middle of a barn dance floor.
Most the people I know and run across are very supportive of and concerned about conserving our ground water and natural resources. I really do not understand where some of these shrill anti-environment voices come from. Are they simply spiritually bankrupt? If so, may God have mercy on them.
@ A. Michael:
There's that misplaced "our" again...
When are you Wimberley folks going to get it? Seems like taxpayer dollars are being wasted on whatever "educational" programs are being offered over there.
The water is not "yours" nor is it collectively owned. You also seem to be under the mistaken belief that you have some personal entitlement to having surface water running through town. You have no such entitlement.
As far as conservation - that means "not wasting" or "putting to a beneficial use". There isn't a water bank
The hypocrisy of the Jacobs Well cult is illustrated by their lack of opposition for massive planting and irrigation at Blue Hole.
Now that the city of Wimberley has applied for a well permit inside Blue Hole, will WVWA be protesting that application?
If WVWA ignores Wimberley's attempts to operate a commercial well at Blue Hole, how are they going to reconcile that with WVWA's opposition to the Camp Young Judaea permit application? Blatant religious/ethnic discrimination?
It is almost as if some people out there are on a personal mission to destroy the beauty that is Wimberley's natural treasure.
Mark my word, NONE of them lives or plays along Cypress Creek.
Just jealous, I guess.
Whoever keeps ranting on about how evil the concept of "community" is the same deranged person that equates feeling a sense of commonality with your neighbors with Communism and has done this dozens of times in the past year or so.
Every time someone uses the word "community" or possessives like "our" (as in "our creek" or "our water"),they get frightened that maybe Stalin is hiding out at Jacob's Well planning world domination.
Yes, somebody is off their meds.
Anonymous aka as Bill Davis:
Please stop lecturing Wimberley on their right to have a dry creek running through their town.
Go back to your gated "community" of La Ventana and leave the people who love Cypress Creek and Wimberley alone.
Please seek counseling and get back on your medication.
Anonymous says:
"@Emancipator,
Your run-on and conflicting sentences make your point(s) difficult to discern."
It is only a "run-on and conflicting sentences" when you are too blind to follow your own angry hypocrisy and ignorance.
@ no longer bemused who said...
Anonymous aka as Bill Davis:
Wrongo.
Please stop lecturing Wimberley on their right to have a dry creek running through their town.
Do dry creeks run anywhere?
Go back to your gated "community" of La Ventana and leave the people who love Cypress Creek and Wimberley alone.
La Ventana is not a "community", it is a subdivision. A few of the people "who love Cypress Creek" seem to spend an inordinate amount trying to deprive landowners in GMA 9 from being able to have water.
The ranter who objects to the phrases "our water" or "our creek" is Mark Key.
@ Anonymous who said
The ranter who objects to the phrases "our water" or "our creek" is Mark Key.
Incorrect.
Claims of ownership unsupported by logic, law, or facts are easy to challenge. Just one of the fundamental flaws of the arguments made by the anti-change crowd.
LCRA wells dry up at Spicewood Beach, and there are worries for both Cedar Park and Leander.
As of today (Jan.30) LCRA began trucking water to customers at Spicewood Beach.
Problems also loom for the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority (Texas' first PUA), composed of the cities of Cedar Park, Leander, and Round Rock. BCRUA's new water plant on the shores of Lake Travis is scheduled to begin piping water this summer to Cedar Park and Leander, but there now are fears that "water levels at Lake Travis could drop low enough by June to render the intake pump...inoperable because water at the pump sites would be too contaminated with silt and dirt." BCRUA and the City of Leander are developing a contingency plan to use a temporary deep intake site "in time to replace the pumps that could essentially dry up should the lake level continue to drop."
What is West Travis County Public Utility Agency's contingency plan for continuing drought?
"
What is West Travis County Public Utility Agency's contingency plan for continuing drought?"
Ray Whisenant mentioned that these pipelines COULD be hooked up to groundwater sources if Lake Travis did not have adequate water.
That would take the cake.
Would you water fairies let the subdivisions die from thirst just to save YOUR precious groundwater? When water supplies dwindle we must tap every source available, even put a pipe into Jacob's Well if necessary.
I know you left wingers will shriek in horror at the thought, but like the Donner Party, during emergency needs you gotta do what you gotta do. A load of concrete and a big pipe, I say. Even at the present flow rate Jacob's Well could supply needed water for the Fiends of Blue Hole for their St. Augustine grass which seems to be an ongoing priority in Wimberley. How come no outrage at that hypocrisy?
The left has lost the argument, now they have lost their minds.
JD
Since when did protecting our water supply become the same as being a left-winger or even a liberal?
Everyone who cares about their life or their property will want to protect their water supply.
We do not need more people being encouraged to move into the Wimberley area, this is neither wise nor inevitable.
This is simply a housing construction business strategy that isn't concerned about whether our water supplies run out or not.
Those subdivisions have acres of roofs that could be catching rainwater.
Why new construction was not mandated by the Hays County subdivision rules to be fitted with rainwater collection systems is a travesty. This could have solved our problems...and still could.
It always amazes me that the proponents of rainwater collection forget that it is predicated on rainfall. The existence of a drought is brought on by the absence of rainfall. That seems self defeating to me. While rainwater harvesting is a good thing it is not going to be the answer to a shortage of water now or in the future. We need meaningful conservation.
Why is it always the source that is addressed just like the in the war on drugs, why not address the consumption; that is where the rubber meets the road. Water wasting should be a crime and punishable by fines or incarceration. Talking and high water rates have not worked especially when the Wimberley City government sanctions water wasting on a grand scale like the waste at the Blue Hole! It doesn't help that some of the most vocal water conservationists are silent on that particular case. Hypocrisy on a grand scale, it seems to me.
JD
Well apparently the ne'er-do-wells at WVWA were not able to drum up enough support for the "swarm" - not that swarming was ever rational or productive conduct to begin with.
WVWA has a ten minute presentation opportunity at the upcoming TWDB meeting.
At the last minute, WVWA begged the TWDB for a continuance to delay the proceedings - claiming they weren't prepared. Never mind that they are a petitioner, they asked for this, and they have known about this date for many months. What happened to the 2 hours of presenters, slides, and BS from their property owner testiliars? They had no shortage of propaganda materials to pull a measly ten minutes from.
Let's also not forget that there were other petitioners traveling from much, much further away who were prepared to attend and cannot get resolution due to the WVWA tactics.
The TWDB is giving WVWA until March 1, 2012 to prepare for its 10 minute presentation. WVWA can't complain that they weren't given every chance and ample time to make their case. Everyone bent over backward to accommodate them. Fortunately, the time for excuses has passed.
Don't doubt for a moment that Baker and his clan won't try to turn this into a month long fundraiser to pay his $80,000+ salary from this "non-profit" between now and March 1, 2012.
WVWA never had a case to begin with; all they can do is delay and carp about the unfairness of it all. What a bunch of phonies. I remember when Baker tried to delay the pumping permit for the golf course by filibustering before he illegally voted. It will be sweet justice if the TWDB changes the draw-down to 40 feet. This delaying tactic is all they know; unless the stage a sit-in or some other crazy stunt it is over for them.
Why on Earth would anyone oppose trying to protect Cypress Creek, Jacob's Well and Blue Hole?
This is insanity for the sake of bashing one guy who bested them over the years and has been honored for his work by the State and other numerous awards.
This is what people get for standing up for what is right.
David Baker and the WVWA are trying to help the Wimberley community, don't you get it?
Or do you really wish ill on the land, water and people who live in Wimberley?
Baker isn't "protecting" any of the water amenities you identify.
If preserving quantity was an objective, then he/WVWA would support bringing water in to the area.
If preserving quality was an objective, then why oppose a permit for diluting sewage effluent?
Baker is trying to help Baker's pocketbook, period. Baker hasn't "bested" anyone except the entities that voluntarily contributed to his organization. The taxpayers were not willing contributors.
As far as standing up for what is right:
1. Is it "right" for taxpayer dollars to be used to pay far over the value of that property?
2. Is it "right" for elected officials to devalue the taxpayer purchased property by gifting the development rights to a private entity?
3. Is it "right" for the elected officials to borrow money at twice the market rate for this purchase?
4. Is it "right" that WVWA retain title to property that taxpayers monies purchased?
Regarding the HTGCD lawsuit: HTGCD can recover its attorney fees from WVWA if HTGCD prevails. WVWA never had a legitimate beef and is trying to run up legal costs for the HTGCD. As payment for HTGCD's legal fees, wouldn't it be fitting for HTGCD to wind up with the 15 acres that the county previously paid for but left titled with WVWA?
To that last poster, why don't you heap your disdain on Will Conley instead of Baker?
I know why. Because you are actually batting for the same team as Conley and successful environmentalists like David Baker make you crazy...er.
Conley enabled all those things that you conveniently blame on Baker.
Conley is playing both sides of this game: kissing the asses of both Porterfield and the WVWA.
This way, he gets to look reasonable.
Only problem is, the nod to environmentalists is a ruse to create cover for development interests.
And bring in water? Really?
How about you just move to wherever that water is now and save us all a million bucks a mile for a pipeline.
watching and waiting:
Sure Conley enabled it - as did Barton and Ford, both of which were shown the door by the taxpayers here when their term was up. Baker also directly profited from it. They are both responsible.
I personally don't consider Baker to be "successful". There are victims - in this case taxpayers as well as donors. Until the various statutes of limitations has run, Baker hasn't escaped criminal or civil liability for his actions.
The WVWA deal hasn't done much harm to the taxpayers, this is why Conley could ram it through and keep his TeaBagger cred.
The WVWA is simply a way for Conley to keep environmentalists quiet while he goes to get the lube.
Conley's involvement is about the larger project for him and his developer handlers: the urbanization of rural lands.
He keeps his road buddies in TxDot and Hays County contracts and the developer landowners safe from restrictions on water use and density issues.
Although I support the WVWA, I think working with Conley was foolish and short-sighted and has had the predictable effect of silencing a once-loud chorus of voices.
I do not see Baker's actions as criminal, although in hindsight, he should have recused himself sooner from the controversy and have been more transparent about his own pecuniary interests in these deals.
Now, how about getting the financial information on Conley and how he stands to benefit now and in the future from all the people he has enabled?
Conley will slip up eventually and the scandal will be epic. I just hope it doesn't cost the County too much money to settle all the lawsuits.
@ watching and waiting:
I do not see Baker's actions as criminal, although in hindsight, he should have recused himself sooner from the controversy and have been more transparent about his own pecuniary interests in these deals.
Well he better hope to have biased cult members like yourself on the jury. Recusal wasn't an option and neither was transparency. Recusal is mandated by law as was reporting his conflict - if his organization has "standing" to challenge well permits as it is currently alleging.
The WVWA deal hasn't done much harm to the taxpayers, this is why Conley could ram it through and keep his TeaBagger cred.
What are you - another county politician? Maybe the $5 MILLION should have come out of your pockets - or do you only support WVWA so long as taxpayers are involuntarily footing the bill?
Please, call me a cult member if you must, I can take that, but please don't call me a...POLITICIAN, that is just too cruel.
If you are worried about your pocketbook, you better keep an eye on all the new roads Conley wants to build and wants you to pay for.
Makes $5 million look like chump change.
Then, once the roads are built, his developer friends will attempt to attract the hordes to come be your neighbors.
Only thing is, the economy has not been cooperative and that isn't likely to change any time soon, so there will be these big, wide roads to nowhere, but you will still be paying for them.
Remember that every dollar spent on development COSTS the community it gets built in at least a dollar and a quarter in costs like fire, police, schools and utility infrastructure.
Development never pays for itself.
We do.
Tell that to your rancher friends who think they will pawn off their overvalued land to build subdivisions.
They make a profit, the developer makes a profit and the taxpayers pick up the tab.
Did I mention there is a water shortage?
@watching and waiting:
An obvious switch between the "community" of the individual subdivision vs the larger "community" of taxpayers in Hays County. The diversion did not work.
The larger group of taxpayers is not paying for the infrastructure in these subdivisions. The people in the subdivisions are paying for theirs and for yours in addition they pay "assessments" to private, unaccountable corporations that the county mandates to be created in all of these subdivisions.
Who do you think pays for the miles and miles of county roads between the largely tax exempt "rural" properties?
The "new" folks pick up a portion of YOUR tab as well as their own. They don't have electric, water, or wastewater infrastructure from the county nor does the county install the roads. The county isn't providing fire or "police" protection or really much of any service at all. These subdivisions are cash cows for the county and that's why their land use policies mandate high density development.
If $5 million for one cult is "chump change" to you, then who is the "chump". It's certainly time for a change.
Anon 2/9 10:03 AM,
there is no "manddate" in the county subdivision rules for HOAs/POAs.
Period, end of discussion.
Yes there is. It's part of the "open space" nonsense. The county mandates that new subdivisions have "open space" and mandates that it be privately owned and maintained. The mechanism for doing that is an HOA corporation. Making it privately owned keeps it on the tax roles and also relieves the county from any responsibility for caring for it. The requirement is not as direct as some places like Garland. The explanation for the numerosity of the HOAs is not popularity but rather local government (and developer) mandate.
Anon 2/9 10;03 AM
The County roads you mention in paragraph 3, are paid for by all taxpayers in Hays Co., not just the new folk.
The new folk are not picking up a dime of the costs of those who came before them. I'd love them to chip in on the cost of my well, septic, rainwater collection and repairs on my private road; but it will never happen, because it is not their obligation, it's mine.
None of us has water, wastewater, electric infrastructure paid for by the County, it's not the County's job.
Hays County did a survey during the Powers regime, and rural subdivisions were found to be a money pit, not a cash cow as you claim. And if you will actually take the time to read the County subdivision regulations, high density is not the objective.
Your ignorance of fact and law is beyond belief.
@ Anonymous 02/09/2012 8:20 PM who said...
Anon 2/9 10;03 AM
The County roads you mention in paragraph 3, are paid for by all taxpayers in Hays Co., not just the new folk.
Yeah right. The rural properties identified in par. 3 get large tax exemptions AND there is more road required to travel between them. You aren't paying for these roads, the highly taxed people in the "planned communities" are paying for them. They don't get the tax exemptions.
The new folk are not picking up a dime of the costs of those who came before them.
Absolutely false. Those "who came before them" have saddled future generations of taxpayers with considerable debt. The new folk are sharing that tab PLUS they have to pay for the roads, etc. via lot prices in the subdivisions.
I'd love them to chip in on the cost of my well, septic, rainwater collection and repairs on my private road; but it will never happen, because it is not their obligation, it's mine.
The disproportionate burden argument was with reference to roads. As far as the other stuff, they don't "chip in" on yours and you aren't paying for theirs. To the extent you improved your property with worthwhile improvements, you should be able to collect them when you sell.
None of us has water, wastewater, electric infrastructure paid for by the County, it's not the County's job.
The county doesn't provide the service but the county restricts how one is able to address these services. For example, for new subdivisions the county has foolishly and probably unlawfully attempted to dictate that property owners not be permitted to have residential wells. This ensures homeowners are held over a barrel by investor owned utilities- needlessly increasing costs for the owners. Same with water.
Hays County did a survey during the Powers regime, and rural subdivisions were found to be a money pit, not a cash cow as you claim.
I would not trust "surveys" conducted by Hays County. The surveys are generally run by facilitators whose job is to guide you to a pre-determined outcome.
I've listened to the nonsense that people in subdivisions cost the county $1.21 for every tax dollar raised while "farmers" cost the county only $.36 for every dollar in taxes raised. This is utter nonsense especially when you consider that the farmers aren't paying taxes. The people in these subdivisions are taxed to the hilt and get no county services to speak of.
And if you will actually take the time to read the County subdivision regulations, high density is not the objective.
Puhlease. Look more carefully at the rules. Consider the groundwater control scheme that the county is trying to impose (outside its jurisdiction we should add).
For a property owner to have a residential well the county is demanding minimum 6 acres lot sizes (not county's jurisdiction). However, if there is a "central groundwater system", there is no minimum (well say 0.5 acres based on wastewater and other issues). This is intellectually challenged to say the least.
If this intellectual honesty was inserted into the process then the rule would require 6 acres regardless of the groundwater source. (Not that the county should have such authority) But this wasn't about intellectual honesty. There is nothing friendly or communal about these "central water systems". The utilities supported these new rules, of course. Under this scheme the county promotes 12 homes per acre and discourages anything less dense through platting and other requirements. The county receives higher tax revenue per acre
If you are convinced otherwise maybe you can identify all those new subdivisions with 6 acre or greater sized lots.
Your ignorance of fact and law is beyond belief.
Well you are entitled to your opinion.
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