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Groundwater meeting attended
Published December 4, 2009
SONORA - Del Rio wants in.
Del Rio Mayor Efrain Valdez and Councilman Mike Wrob on Thursday attended a meeting of regional groundwater conservation district representatives and elected leaders here to underscore their commitment to participating in decisions about Val Verde County's water supply.
Members of the Del Rio City Council voted Nov. 24 to contribute $25,000 toward a proposed regional water study that may be conducted with an eye on helping the region's groundwater conservation districts set “desired future conditions” for the region's groundwater resources.
The council took its vote after learning that the state has mandated that groundwater management areas (GMAs) must establish those desired future conditions by September 2010.
Valdez and Wrob after Thursday's meeting both said the city of Del Rio must have a voice in that process.
“Well, if we don't have input on what's going on, they're going to dictate to us what we need to do, and therefore, I'd much rather have input than be dictated to,” Valdez said.
The mayor said after the meeting he believes the Del Rio City Council made the correct decision in allocating the $25,000 to fund part of the water study.
“And as I've said before, we need to start a water district in Del Rio because if we don't, we're going to be dictated (to as to) what to do. We don't want people to tell us what to do. We want to have input. Yes, they might tell us what to do, but we'll have input on what will be done,” Valdez said.
Valdez said he believes that if Del Rio does nothing “then sooner or later the state is going to just come in and tell us what to do.”
“We're the largest population center in (our groundwater management area), with the most water, and that will attract a lot of the people that need water. And if we don't put restrictions on what is done in our area, then they are going to tell us what to do. I am here looking out for the constituents,” Valdez added.
Councilman Mike Wrob said the meeting was “pretty much what I expected.”
“I think a lot of people were expecting policy decisions to be made today, and that's not it at all. We're just looking at the scope of the study, and I hope that the other groundwater districts decide to participate,” Wrob said.
Wrob said his number one priority in participating in the study is the protection of San Felipe Springs, which serves as the source of most of the drinking water for the city of Del Rio, as well as for population centers located just outside the city limits.
“That would be, to me, the ideal thing to base (the desired future conditions) on, because what else is there that we need to worry about?” Wrob said.
Saturday: Details of the planned water study.
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