By Brian K. Murphy

SAN ANTONIO — For several months now, some South Texas residents have pleaded with regional water-planning officials not to consider any plans that called for the construction of any new reservoirs.

Yet last week when consultants unveiled a modified water plan that included an option for one new reservoir, no one complained.

Of course, it would be located miles away in Caldwell County. In recent weeks, officials there actually have asked planners to add the item to the proposed plan.

During their July 25 workshop, members of the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group reviewed consultants’ analyses of the draft plan.

They also scheduled three public hearings for later this month. All three meetings will begin at 7 p.m., and will be held Sept. 25 in Victoria, Sept. 26 in Uvalde, and Sept. 27 in San Antonio.

During those meetings, residents will be able to comment on the regional water plan. The document must be placed in the county clerk’s office and a public library in each of the 20 1/2 counties within the region 30 days prior to the hearing, according to state law.

Region L consists of Atascosa, Bexar, Caldwell, Calhoun, Comal, DeWitt, Dimmitt, Frio, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, La Salle, Medina, Refugio, Uvalde, Victoria, Wilson, and Zavala counties as well as part of Hays County.

A lot of water

During an afternoon session of the workshop, HDR Engineering, Inc., of Austin, presented the “Draft Regional Water Plan.” This plan is a modified version of the “hybrid,” or “new draft alternative” plan, which the board reviewed last month (July 5 Wilson County News).

The 16 proposed items listed as “water supply options” would provide approximately 659,466 acre-feet of water, according to HDR’s analysis. (One acre-foot of water is 325,860 gallons, or enough for about eight people a year.)

Nearly 23 percent of that, or 150,000 acre-feet could come from the lower Colorado River.

About 122,000 acre-feet a year would be transported to Bexar County from Bay City via a 173-mile pipeline, according to discussion. Another 28,000 acre-feet would be piped to Hays County from a collection site near Bastrop.

Current water-demand projections for the municipal, industrial, steam-electric, and mining segments total 467,089 acre-feet a year, the HDR report said.

A new reservoir?

Nine other items were listed in the report as “additional options requiring further study.

Only one of those would require the construction of a new reservoir.

In recent weeks, officials from Caldwell County have sent letters to the Region L board requesting the addition of a new “Lockhart Reservoir” option to the plan.

The reservoir would submerge approximately 2,900 acres of land along Plum Creek, just north of Lockhart. It would provide a firm yield of 5,600 acre-feet, consultant Sam Vaugh of HDR said Monday. The reservoir would supply water primarily for Lockhart.

In contrast, the “Cibolo Reservoir” option in Wilson County received staunch local opposition and planners pulled it from the plan.

Despite that, Wilson County Water Action Project member Diane Savage still asked board members to make their decision permanent.

Savage explained that property owners there are in “limbo.”

However, board Chairman Evelyn Bonavita denied the request.

“I’m just not sure the regional-planning group has the authority to do that,” she said Monday. “If one of the projects falls through, we [might] need another option.”

State law also allows the board to amend its plan even after it has been approved by the Texas Water Development Board.

Region L board reviews ‘draft’ plan

By Brian K. Murphy

SAN ANTONIO — Water planners last week modified their early draft of a “Regional Water Plan,” which includes 16 possible water projects, or “options.”

Nine other options, including one new reservoir, were listed as possibilities although they require further study.

The most notable change was the addition of the “Lockhart Reservoir,” an approximately 2,900-acre lake that would provide 5,600 acre-feet of water annually for local use.

There are no other new-reservoir options in the list at this time.

The Region L board Thursday also dropped a Medina Lake-enhancement option from its plan.

A list of options included in the draft plan follows.

In this list, designations such as “L-10” identify some options. The options may be viewed in greater detail at Region L’s official Web site, at www.watershedex perience.com.

The individual options’ projected water yields or savings are for the year 2050. (An acre-foot is about 325,860 gallons).

Options

•L-10: Demand reduction and water conservation in municipalities and farm irrigation; 71,428 acre-feet.

•L-15: Purchase or lease of Edwards Aquifer irrigational water, for municipal and industrial use; 42,686 acre-feet.

•L-18a: Edwards “Type 2” recharge projects (small rain-catching dams in aquifer-recharge zone); 21,577 acre-feet.

•Water recycling by San Antonio Water System (SAWS) and possibly other municipal systems; 52,215 acre-feet.

•CZ-10C: Pumping of Carrizo Aquifer in Wilson and Gonzales counties; 16,000 acre-feet.

•CZ-10D: Pumping of Carrizo Aquifer in Gonzales and Bastrop counties; 27,500 acre-feet.

•SCTN-2a: Local municipalities’ increased future pumping of Carrizo Aquifer; 14,700 acre-feet.

•SCTN-1a: “Aquifer storage and recovery” project in Carrizo Aquifer in southern Bexar County; storage not projected.

•G-15C: release of unappropriated water from Canyon Lake (Comal County) for release into Lake Nolte (Guadalupe County) and consumption in Bexar County; 15,000 acre-feet.

•G-24: Canyon Lake water for Blanco, Wimberley, and Wood Creek communities; 1,348 acre-feet.

•Diversion of Colorado River water to Bexar and Hays counties via pipelines from Bay City and Bastrop; 150,000 acre-feet.

•SCTN-16: Diversion of lower Guadalupe River water via pipeline from saltwater barrier; 100,000 acre-feet.

•SCTN-3c: SAWS’ plan to purchase Simsboro Aquifer water piped from Bastrop, Lee, and Milam counties; 55,000 acre-feet.

•SCTN-17: Possibility of future, large-scale desalination project on Gulf Coast; 84,012 acre-feet.

•Purchase of water for Kendall County from a major water provider; 8,000 acre-feet.

Other options

Nine other options requiring further study were included in the draft. They include:

•SCTN-9: Rainwater “harvesting” for household use; savings not projected.

•SCTN-5: Weather modification (regional “cloud seeding”); yield not projected.

•SCTN-4: Brush management (removal of some vegetation in watersheds to increase stream flows and aquifers’ recharge); savings not projected.

•Cooperation with Corpus Christi for new water sources; yield not projected.

•G-21: Construction of 2,900-acre “Lockhart Reservoir” on Plum Creek near Lockhart; 5,600 acre-feet.

•Municipal recycling programs; yield not projected.

•Small aquifer recharge dams; yield not projected.

•Edwards Aquifer recharge and recirculation systems; yield not projected.

•Additional storage (underground and/or surface); yield not projected.