By Marty Kufus

JOURDANTON — The Evergreen district’s board has signed a "cooperative service agreement" with Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi for a year of technical assistance including computerized mapping of local aquifers.

The agreement takes effect immediately.

During its Oct. 10 meeting, the board also voted unanimously to buy land at Pleasanton’s industrial park, on U.S. 281, for construction of a new headquarters.

The Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District will pay $5,000 for one acre, the board agreed.

The new building will occupy 3,000 square feet. The Evergreen’s headquarters in Jourdanton now has 1,800 square feet.

The new building will cost about $175,000, General Manager Mike Mahoney said after the meeting. The Evergreen already has about $75,000 in the bank for the project.

Construction is expected to begin "within 30 days," he said. Completion is expected by March 2001.

Attending last week’s meeting were Evergreen board President Ken Stephens of Atascosa County and directors Paul Bordovsky and Fabian Jendrusch of Karnes; Clifton Stacy of Frio; and, Doug Brownlow and Steve Snider of Wilson County.

Last month, the Evergreen’s board voted to hire a hydrologist, currently employed at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who specializes in the computer modeling of ground water (Sept. 20 Wilson County News).

She will begin working at the Evergreen early next year.

In the meantime, the hydrologist is being hired by the Evergreen to perform technical work while still at the university’s Center for Water Supply Studies.

The Evergreen’s agreement with A&M specifies payment of $3,500 a month for four months for "a full-time graduate level hydrogeologist plus part-time professional staff."

After that, the Evergreen will spend $1,500 a month for eight months of work performed at the center.

That will include the design and construction of a Web site for the Evergreen and development of "educational resources," according to the agreement.

The Texas Water Development Board is putting together a computerized "ground-water availability model" (GAM) for standardized use on all of the major aquifers in the state, Mahoney explained.

This computer model is due in 2002, he said.

Before that, however, the Evergreen will "audit" and update the current model of the Carrizo Aquifer. The model used 1994 water data.

Outside consultants HDR Engineering Inc., used computer modeling this year to estimate the amount of water in storage in the aquifers under Wilson, Karnes, Atascosa, and Frio counties.

The consulting engineers also tried to predict the effects of a hypothetical water-well field stretching five miles across Wilson County.

Until 2002’s arrival of the water board’s GAM, Mahoney said, "We’ll have this [at the Evergreen] current for interim use," Mahoney said.

During the board’s meeting, President Stephens said in-house research is needed as a defense "to keep everybody from stealing our water."