Bastrop, Lee officials criticize Hays County water strategy

May 01--

Key officials from water-rich Bastrop and Lee counties rebuked Hays County at a Wednesday meeting for what they characterized as a brazen approach to securing more resources.

Last October, Hays County inked a $1 million annual contract with Forestar Real Estate for 45,000 acre-feet of Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer groundwater, a deal one official lauded as an "insurance policy." Forestar is suing the groundwater conservation district in Lee and Bastrop counties because it granted the company a permit for only 12,000 acre-feet a year, not the full 45,000 acre-feet.

"We don't have the luxury of doing nothing," Hays County Judge Bert Cobb told a group of elected officials from seven Central Texas counties, including Williamson.

"It's not just a matter of doing something; it's a matter of doing the right thing," Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said a few minutes later. "You can't pump day in and day out until the cows come home."

Lee County Judge Paul Fischer said the philosophy "if we don't get it, we're taking you to court" deeply bothered him.

Disagreement over how to secure water -- and whether counties should work together to do so -- has all but dashed Hays County's hopes of forming a regional corporation of governments that would focus on locking down future water supplies.

Hays County officials, who project their jurisdiction will need less than the 12,000 acre-feet of Carrizo-Wilcox water that Forestar has permitted, had previously pitched the idea of divvying up that supply in addition to searching for new ones. Eventually, the corporation could create a network of pipes that could easily transport water from one place to another, Hays

Last September, the county hired consultant Pix Howell, who was president of the Coalition of Central Texas Utilities Development Corporation, to foster regional collaboration on water issues. Howell's contract pays up to $25,000.

If a new corporation is formed, different county officials said they'd like to see it carry out different missions.

Pape said in an interview that a regional corporation should act as a middle man between those who have water and those who need it. The corporation could regulate its members' water sources to ensure they were distributed judiciously, Pape said.

Standardizing water rates and conservation measures on a regional level could also be part of the corporation's job, Pape said. For instance, the corporation should have the authority to shut off a city's water if it refuses to conserve, he said.

"Our problem here in Texas is that we've had too much water," said Pape, who later noted that cheap rates are indicative of the large supply. "We've had so much water that we've learned to waste it."

Hays County Commissioner Ray Whisenant said in an interview that the corporation could work on projects identified by Texas Water Development Board regional planning groups.

Two of those groups include Hays County and have proposed projects that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 50 years, such as purchasing water from the City of Austin and pumping water from Caldwell and Gonzales counties to five miles northeast of San Marcos.

Howell emphasized another duty that could belong to the corporation.

"To me, the critical thing is creating some kind of organization that has the capacity to come to the Legislature with a single voice," he said. "We've considered all these things, and we're asking you to help us with these things, in this order, in this priority. That kind of entity can be put together quickly."

County officials agreed to meet again in three weeks to continue talking.

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