Del Rio News Herald

BRACKETTVILLE – In the end, members of the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District (KCGCD) board of directors decided that they wouldn’t decide, or, more accurately, that they would postpone their decision.

The KCGCD board convened two hearings here Tuesday.

During the morning hearing, the board was to consider a slate of changes to the district’s rules, and during the afternoon hearing, the board was scheduled to consider several permit requests from a company called Grass Valley Water LP of Kingsbury, Texas, that wants to pump Kinney County groundwater and sell it to the City of Laredo.

About 40 attorneys, Kinney County residents and a handful of Del Rioans attended the hearings.

Darlene Shahan, KCGCD general manager, and attorney Rick Lowerre, who serves as Shahan’s advisor, opened the first hearing by allowing public comment on the proposed changes to the district’s rules.

Lowerre noted that the rule changes included proposed amendments to the way in which a permitted water user may get more than his or her authorized amount in a particular year.

The board was also to discuss changes to some of the ways in which the board makes rules and authorizes permits. Some of those changes were necessitated by changes to that portion of Texas law that governs groundwater districts in 2005, Lowerre said.

The remaining rule changes to be considered included a proposal for “High Impact Regular Permits” for pumping Kinney County groundwater.

Most of the persons commenting on the rule changes urged the board to take its time before making decisions, and many called on the board to extend the period for public comment on the measures.

While many of the amendments to the district’s rules were strictly procedural and generated no comments at all, some, including a proposal allowing the district’s general manager to approve an up to 10 percent exceedance of the amount of water a permitted user is allowed in any given year and the proposal to create a “High Impact Regular Permit” drew controversy.

Several of the persons making comments to the board pointed out the lack of scientific studies that exist on the effects that the withdrawal “high impact” pumping would have on the aquifer or aquifers under Kinney County.

A member of the Uvalde Groundwater Conservation District, told the board its decisions “have the potential to be precedent-setting in Texas” and urged its members to “postpone consideration of Grass Valley’s permit.”

A Kinney County rancher told the board, “Make sure you understand what your game plan is.”

Brackettville Mayor Joe N. Garza Jr., who told the board that he represented the people of Brackettville and of Spofford, said, “I am adamantly opposed to any ratification of proposed rules authorizing the exportation of any water to any other part of the state. This is a clear and present danger to our communities.”

Garza also said he had not heard about the water hearings until Friday and told the board, “We are opposed to the sale of water.”

Kinney County Justice of the Peace Joe York Jr. told the board, “We’re not in a hurry to give away the whole hog.”

Attorney Paul Terrell protested the designation of certain permits as “high impact.”

“Nobody in the entire state has done this sort of thing,” Terrell said, adding that the Texas Water Code prohibits “discrimination against exportees of water.”

Terrell said the only permit Grass Valley can apply for is a regular permit, just like any other user.

Terrell also said the Kinney County groundwater district is using what he called “artificially low” numbers to calculate the availability of groundwater and urged the district to find out how much groundwater is available.

Kinney County Attorney Tully Shahan, who is also Darlene Shahan’s husband, told the board he was “lived and ranched next to the applicant” for the “high impact” permit.

“I am opposed to the high impact permit application you have received,” Tully Shahan told the board. “You need to think about who you represent. . .We need to protect our citizens first. We need to protect Kinney County first.”

He urged the board, “Don’t rush; take you time and make good decisions. Don’t give away what you can’t recover.”

Jay Johnson Sr., president of the West Texas Springs Alliance, was the only Del Rioan to make a public comment at the hearing.

Johnson, who told the board that he represented not only the West Texas Springs Alliance but also the Texas Water Alliance, read two letters from those organizations into the record.

“The greatest resource of this county is water,” Johnson said. He urged the board to wait until science is able to answer more definitively where Kinney County’s water comes from and how much exists.

In the end, the board voted to extend the public comment period on the amendments to the district’s rules until March 27, then meet on April 11 to consider those proposed changes.

The afternoon hearing of the board was abruptly adjourned shortly after it began on a 4-2 vote of the board members present.

The move to adjourn was led by board member Duke Meek, who said he did not believe the board could proceed with consideration of a “high impact” water pumping permit when it had not yet ratified the rules to create such a permit in the first place.

“How can we proceed on something that we don’t even have yet?” Meek asked. “I don’t think this is legal.”

Only board chairman Cecil Smith and vice chairman Don Hood voted against the motion to adjourn.

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