By Marty Kufus

SAN MARCOS — Facing a public-information deadline a month off, two regional planning groups deliberated July 18 on the framework of a proposed $1 billion deal that could significantly supply San Antonio for decades and fund water development in the lower Colorado River basin.

Planners expressed general agreement on the merit of the water-supply proposal by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA).

The South Central Texas (“Region L”) and Lower Colorado (“Region K”) water planning groups met jointly at the San Marcos Activity Center.

The proposed project would pipe 150,000 acre-feet a year to the San Antonio area. That amount is about a third of the forecasted year-2050 shortfall for the 20 1/2-county Region L.

An acre-foot is 325,860 gallons: enough for about eight people in a year.

At last week’s meeting, a handful of planners voiced concern whether the proposed diversion of large quantities of Colorado River water would harm the downstream ecology of Matagorda Bay.

The LCRA and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department already have pledged to research the effects of decreased fresh-water flows into the bay and estuary, according to a joint statement released to the planners.

A river-diversion project ultimately would receive governmental approval only if the “environmental needs of the ecosystems within the Colorado River basin affected by diversions … can be met or mitigated to acceptable levels,” the statement said.

Regions K, L

Although incomplete in its planning, the proposal has been endorsed by the Region K group (July 12 Wilson County News).

The water-supply project could become reality “in three to five years,” planning-group Chairman John Burke, general manager of the Aqua Water Supply Corporation in Bastrop, said last week.

Region L planner Mike Thuss, president and CEO of the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), agreed.

He said the two planning groups “need to look at [the proposal] at a macro level … but the details need to be worked out by those bringing this to fruition.”

Since the LCRA made its proposal July 6, it has been analyzed by the consulting engineers with the Region L group.

The list of preferred Region L “options” (potential projects) already included a different approach to a lower Colorado River project, yielding 100,000 to 150,000 acre-feet a year (July 5 Wilson County News).

The clock is ticking, the planners acknowledged last week.

Members of both groups fretted over the level of technical detail — such as river water-diversion points or pipeline routes — their plans should have in order to meet state planning requirements.

For the project to receive governmental permits, interbasin-transfer approval, and possible financial support, the proposal must be included as an option in the water plans of both regions.

“You all have a very difficult job,” Tommy Knowles, the Texas Water Development Board’s deputy executive administrator for planning, said in deadpan, drawing laughter.

The water board will require some “specificity” in the groups’ regional plans, Knowles said. But “again, we’re not looking at ‘river mile 14’ versus ‘14.2,’” he said.

HDR Engineering Inc., economist Herb Grubb said a full report, including independent cost analyses, on versions of the lower Colorado proposal would be ready for a July 25 workshop of the Region L group.

Region K planner Stovy Bowlin, general manager of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, attends Region L meetings as a liaison member.

He confirmed with Region L Chairman Evelyn Bonavita that HDR’s report would be available for Region K planners at their July 26 meeting.

The deal

In the interregional proposal, the Austin-based Lower Colorado River Authority would transfer via pipeline 150,000 acre-feet of water a year from somewhere between Bastrop and Bay City to its partner in the project — probably SAWS.

The LCRA estimated the project’s cost — including water delivery, treatment, and distribution — at $800 million to $1 billion. There also would be an “export surcharge.”

With money from the project, small off-channel reservoirs and additional Gulf Coast Aquifer wells would be developed in the lower Colorado River basin, according to the LCRA.

That, plus conservation and more-efficient irrigation of rice, would yield another 180,000 acre-feet a year that stay in the basin, according to the LCRA.

Paul Thornhill, an executive manager with the LCRA, assured Region L planners last week that the 150,000 acre-feet a year would be a “firm” (drought resistant) yield. But there would not be a permanent transfer of water rights.

The contractual duration of the interregional project would be another detail to be worked out, Thornhill told the two planning groups.

The LCRA “anticipates there eventually would be a cessation,” he said.

Thornhill reminded planners, though, that last year the LCRA signed “a 100-year contract” with the city of Austin.
Deadlines: sooner and later

Although their final plans are not due until Jan. 5 at the state water board, the regional groups must send a draft of their “initially prepared” plans to the printers Aug. 18.

Those publications will be circulated in conjunction with public meetings through Sept. 29, according to the planners’ schedule.
Sixteen regional groups in Texas are preparing plans for incorporation into the water board’s master plan. It is due, in final form, at the Legislature in January 2002.

Each regional plan is supposed to identify specific options or management strategies to meet forecasted water needs through the year 2030; also, in more general terms, the needs of the following 20 years.

Planners will revisit each regional plan every five years. Amendments are a possibility, officials have said.

Planners agree on 'storage'

SAN MARCOS — A majority of Region L planners on a special committee last week showed no desire to add a large, new reservoir — such as the "Cibolo" in Wilson County — to the list of possible options for the upcoming "initially prepared plan."

Ten members of the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group met after a two-hour joint session with the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group.

The issue at hand was the satisfaction of the region’s — and particularly, San Antonio’s — future need to store large quantities during wet-season abundance for use in peak summer demand.

"Between now and 2010, if we have another drought of the ’50s, we’re going to be in a world of hurt," regional planner Bill West, general manager of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, said.

One fear is that in another "drought of record," governmental restrictions might decrease the pumping of the Edwards Aquifer below the 340,000 acre-foot annual figure that is a Region L planning standard.

Planner Darrell Brownlow, a geologist from Wilson County, pointed to the assembled options in the current "hybrid" plan and the water they are projected to yield in coming decades.

"I don’t see a need for the ‘Cibolo,’ ‘Goliad,’ ‘Sandies,’ and ‘Cuero,’" Brownlow said.

The Cibolo Reservoir is a planning option for a 16,000-acre lake in central Wilson County. It has drawn significant public and governmental opposition here.

But even larger in surface areas — and the targets of as much or more local opposition — are options for a Goliad Reservoir in Goliad and southeastern Karnes counties, and the Cuero I and Sandies Creek reservoirs in Dewitt and Gonzales counties.

Earlier this year the Cibolo was identified as the likely candidate for a "regional reservoir," owing in part to its proximity to Bexar County.

However, it was left off the first list of hybrid-plan options compiled earlier this month (July 5 Wilson County News).

After meeting for an hour and 15 minutes last week, the committee agreed on these storage options:

oAquifer storage and recovery, the San Antonio Water System’s test project in southern Bexar County in a portion of the Carrizo Aquifer. (Test injections and withdrawals of Edwards Aquifer and/or treated surface water are at least a year off, a SAWS official said recently.)

If successful in scientific testing and in receiving state permits plus the approval of the Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District, an ASR production project might be expanded into Wilson County or Atascosa County (March 22 Wilson County News).

oA version of the "recharge and recirculation plan" to fortify the Edwards Aquifer, and ensure its springflows, via an east-west series of pipelines and rain-capturing "recharge structures."

Although some planners have expressed doubts about its feasibility, others in the Region L group have insisted HDR Engineering continue studying the complex scheme.

oChoke Canyon Reservoir, which typically is well below capacity. A project to pipe in additional water for storage, then pipe it to the San Antonio area, would require the cooperation of the city of Corpus Christi and the "Region N" planning group.

oConstruction of small "off-channel reservoirs" in Bexar County. Covering 1,500 to 2,000 surface acres to a depth of about 20 feet, they would hold water for "operational" use: daily treatment and distribution in the metropolitan water system.

Observing the committee’s meeting were four members of the Wilson County Water Action Project; Doyle Hines, president of the DeWitt-Gonzales River Authority; and, Carol and Kirk Patterson, authors of the recharge and recirculation plan.

Regional planner Mike Thuss, president and chief executive officer of the San Antonio Water System, apparently conceded the lack of support among Region L planners for a large, new reservoir.

"So, if I put on my SAWS hat," he said, gesturing, "ASR — OK; Choke Canyon — OK; off-channel reservoirs — OK …"

"But if I put on my regional hat, my public-servant hat," Thuss continued, gesturing as if putting on headgear, "I think that answer is very narrow minded."

It is a missed opportunity to ensure several categories of water supply in the region, he said, as well as a missed economic opportunity, not to recommend development of "regional storage" (a new reservoir).

The next monthly meeting of the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group will begin at 10 a.m., Aug. 3, in the Kenedy Municipal Auditorium in Karnes County.

It is open to the public.