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Golf resort plan moves forward quietly In December, the PGA Tour golf resort plan seemed to fly beneath radar from possibility to done deal. Early in the month, officials seemed pleased about their December 3 visit at PGA Tour headquarters and continued to talk up the idea. Little opposition to the plan emerged, and business leaders said the resort would be a real boon for San Antonio. Groups that were vocal against the first PGA plan reported feeling helpless as the new proposal sped toward what appeared to be certain approval. On Christmas Eve, SAWS' Board of Trustees approved an agreement designed to be more protective of the Edwards than what would have applied to the first PGA proposal. The agreement includes a limit on impervious cover of 15% and a closed-loop irrigation system to recycle irrigation and storm water. |
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Few details emerge on talks with PGA Tour In mid-November, negotiations with the PGA Tour for a luxury golf course on the site of the abandoned PGA Village resort were described as "intense", but there were few details. Officials publicly hoped the new deal would include stricter environmental controls, and there were still various opinions on whether the deal previously hammered out could apply in a new situation. City leaders planned a trip for December 3 to PGA Tour headquarters to meet personally with corporate representatives. After the meeting, Nelson Wolff said "They were very favorably impressed with our presentation, and they are going to continue to intensify their efforts on this project." Meanwhile, since the time that rumors of a new development emerged in August, polarized interest groups have sought to spin the outcome of the previous battle to their advantage. Judge Nelson Wolff said he thought the vast majority of citizens were now aware the city had lost a very valuable asset, and Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mike Novak said he thought the first deal's failure would motivate residents to be more vocal in support of a new one. At the other extreme, community activists insisted that more people than ever are now engaged in Aquifer protection and more firmly against tax breaks and deferments for recharge zone developments. EAA adopts 2005 budget, raises fees On October 9 the board of the Edwards Aquifer Authority raised 2005 pumping fees for municipal and industrial users by 31 percent, from $29 to $38 per acre-foot. The $14.5 million budget for 2005 includes $500,000 toward a new headquarters, $1.5 million in aquifer optimization studies, and $750,000 for investigations and monitoring. It also restored $128,520 in funding for a controversial cloud-seeding program, and set aside $1.3 million for educational and informational programs. |
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On October 12 the board of the Edwards Aquifer Authority unanimously selected Robert Potts to succeed Greg Ellis as General Manager. Mr. Potts is a lawyer who has previously served for several nonprofit groups engaged in conservation of natural resources. Prior to accepting the position at EAA, he served as Executive Director of the Westcave Preserve in Travis county, and before that he spent more than a decade as state director of the Nature Conservancy. Board chairman Doug Miller said "I think what impressed the board the most was not only his legal background - he is an attorney - but also his attitude toward working with business and industry and other development groups to seek economically based solutions that work for everyone involved." |
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Different opinions heard on Aquifer quality control, junior/senior permits In a September 20 hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee, legislators heard from many speakers with divergent opinions about who should monitor and regulate activities designed to protect Edwards water quality. In 2003 a bitter debate erupted regarding the Edwards Aquifer Authority's powers to adopt rules designed to protect water quality and a task force was formed to examine the issue (see previous Newsflash). At the legislative hearing, some argued that the Edwards Aquifer Authority has the specialized expertise to do the job, and others insisted the task is much larger than the EAA's boundaries and must be addressed on a regional or state-wide basis by the TCEQ. For example, protecting water quality will surely involve regulating activities on the Edwards plateau, but this area lies outside the boundaries of the EAA and within the jurisdiction of other groundwater districts. Legislators also heard differing opinions about the junior/senior water rights permitting scheme that EAA adopted in 2003. EAA Chairman Doug Miller indicated the problem is the cost of compensation, and that his agency would be asking the legislature for revenue bond authority to raise money to pay off the owners of junior rights. Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority general manager Bill West said the junior/senior permit scheme is a Trojan horse for exceeding mandatory pumping limits and the EAA should proportionately reduce pumping rights without compensation. |
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PGA Tour confirms rumors of new golf course plans at PGA Village site In May, when the Professional Golfers Association ended a bitter three year battle between San Antonio environmentalists and developers by terminating a letter of intent with Lumberman's Investment Corp., the issue of building a golf resort over the recharge zone in Bexar county seemed settled. In August, the PGA Tour, a separate organization from the one that had planned the PGA Village golf resort, confirmed the same site was being considered for a Tournament Players Club that would include one golf course, a 700 room hotel, and a training facility. Grass roots activists who organized a petition drive against the PGA Village plans promised they would work just as hard against the new proposal, and differing opinions emerged on whether the controversial deal hammered out with the city by Lumberman's Investment Corp. could apply to a different development at the same site. Panel debates impact of freeways on Aquifer At an August 3 meeting of the San Antonio Environmental Network, a group of panelists tossed around various issues involved with highway construction over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Much of the discussion centered on Loop 1604, which bisects the recharge zone along much of its east-west route north of town. There are plans to double its width within seven years. Panelist Bill Parker said he didn't think it was a good idea to build freeways over the recharge zone in the first place and that he saw no compelling reason to expand them. Texas Department of Transportation representatives said such freeways are an important component of economic vitality and that safeguards such as catchment basins and grassy areas minimize the impact on the Aquifer. The panel discussed ideas for directing growth toward other areas, such as by land use controls or by simply not building additional freeway lanes, but panelist Joanne Walsh of the Metropolitan Planning Organization pointed out such measures have not worked in Austin. History has shown that simply not building infrastructure has also not worked in San Antonio. Decades ago, planners envisioned that Loop 1604 would be an "urban curtain" and that growth would be controlled if the city simply did not provide roads and water and sewer infrastructure. People went there anyway, septic tanks and private wells proliferated, and roads are generally inadequate to handle the extreme congestion that has developed. Vote on Prop 3 extension set for May In July and August, environmental and community groups pressured the Mayor and city council to include an extension of the Proposition 3 tax on the November ballot, but they were unable to persuade the city leaders that such a measure would not jeopardize other public funding initiatives that will be decided at the same time. A poll in March found strong support for extending the 1/8 cent sales tax initially approved by voters in 2000 to raise $45 million to fund purchases of undeveloped land in the Edwards recharge zone. The Mayor and other council members indicated they wanted only a VIA Metropolitan Transit funding issue on the ballot. Another option would have been to hold a special election in February, but on August 12 council decided the measure would wait until May 7, when higher voter turnout is expected. |
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SAWS purchases land for Aquifer protection In July the San Antonio Water System ensured the perpetual protection of 275 acres of sensitive Medina County land by purchasing a conservation easement. The Blazon-Long Williams Ranch, located four miles southwest of Medina Lake, contains many recharge features, one of which is also an important bat cave. The easement ensures the property will never be developed and allows the owners to maintain a single-family residence and hunting and grazing rights. SAWS paid $275,000 for the easement, and the utility said it has an additional $7 million to spend over the next year on similar arrangements with other landowners. |
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SAWS opens Aquifer Storage and Recovery facility On June 18 the San Antonio Water System dedicated the region's first project to harvest and store Edwards water. The Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery project will enable the utility to lessen its impact on the Edwards by storing water during wet times for use during dry times when springflows and endangered species habitats might be threatened. The $215 million project includes 16 wells spread over 3,200 acres to inject and recover water, 30 miles of pipeline, and the city's first water treatment plant. Because of unusually high aquifer levels this year, the utility plans to inject Edwards water for the remainder of the year, storing about 5,000 acre-feet for later use. For more, see the ASR page. After late May's stunning announcement that the PGA would quit San Antonio, leaders launched last-ditch efforts and speculation ran rampant about what the pullout would mean for local politicians. Current mayor Ed Garza and former mayor Nelson Wolff resolved that they would travel to see the PGA's board of directors in Chicago and make a personal appeal for reconsideration. PGA chief executive Jim Awtrey asked them not to come. They said they would go anyway, and the size of the group descending on PGA headquarters ballooned to nine. Garza said the door appeared to be shut on the deal for now, but they wanted the PGA to consider San Antonio for a future resort. Meanwhile, the media speculated that the prospects of local mayoral candidates who had anything to do with the deal, either in support or in opposition, would be diminished. It was suggested that the business community would be unlikely to support Julian Castro, who opposed the deal, and the general public would be unlikely to trust Carroll Schubert, who supported it. |
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PGA scraps plans for San Antonio resort On May 28, the Professional Golfers Association stunned San Antonio by terminating a letter of intent with Lumberman's Investment Corp. to build a PGA Village golf resort in San Antonio. Wild finger-pointing immediately ensued, with some claiming that local opposition drove away the resort, while others insisted it was simply a matter of bad economics and a lack of financing. Local business leaders said the loss of the PGA Village reflected a complete lack of leadership and vision by elected officials, who in turn claimed a flawed process made the resulting deal unacceptable. Concerns began to arise about what might happen to the site instead, which could now be developed into high-density residential housing. EAA affirms junior/senior water rights scheme In May the Edwards Aquifer Authority Board rebuffed a request from an advisory group to reconsider the junior/senior water rights permitting scheme it implemented in December 2003. Opponents fear it will affect drinking water supplies and employment downstream, and they argue the EAA does not have the legal authority to issue permits in excess of the mandated cap. Others insist the plan is a good way to avoid having to either buy down the excess water rights or litigate the lawsuits that would surely result if water rights were cut back without compensation. Western Edwards water will be studied In January of this year, citizens and officials debated the merits of a proposal to bring large amounts of water to San Antonio from the western Edwards Aquifer, where well levels are higher and less variable (see previous Newsflash). In May, the San Antonio Water System and the UTSA Center for Water Research announced a five-year cooperative agreement for technical and research support, and one of the first projects to be studied will be the potential for drawing more water from the west. After largely disappearing for several years, the PGA Village issue exploded back into the headlines in May 2004. Grass-roots activists alleged that since the City approved the agreement, city staff had made secret deals to eliminate living-wage provisions. Further, they insisted that since contract deadlines had been missed and a final report was never produced, the deal was now invalid. They also questioned the quiet passage of a retroactive law in the 2003 Texas legislative session that seemed designed to legitimize the City's negotiation process in the deal. The new law makes it legal for cities to negotiate development within their extraterritorial jurisdiction, an area outside of public scrutiny where city codes might not apply. In response, Assistant City Manager Chris Brady said the development corporation had five years to finalize the plan and in the interim, city staff only had to keep the council informed. He also denied that city staff had modified the deal behind council's back, pointing out that all revisions were submitted to council. The new provisions give the development corporation the right to determine which employees, if any, will receive a 'living wage'. Several community groups withdrew their opposition to the plan after receiving assurances about such wages. Julian Castro, the only council member who voted against the deal, said this points out how "the city needs to change its contract approval process to look at the check first instead of writing half of a blank check and then letting staff fill it in." At its next meeting, city council seemed determined to get to the bottom of the contract changes, but did not seem eager to kill the deal altogether. |
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EAA OKs controversial aquifer yield study On April 13 the EAA Board voted to spend $330,000 on a two-year engineering study to examine the feasibility of shifting pumping and selectively recharging the Aquifer to protect springflows and increase the overall yield. Such a plan has long been favored by Board member Carol Patterson, and fellow Board member George Rice, an ardent aquifer protectionist and respected hydrogeologist, agreed the study could answer some lingering questions. The idea is that excess water from near Comal and San Marcos springs or from floods could be recharged in areas where they would make their way back to the springs, helping to sustain their flow during droughts and when pumping is heavy. Officials disagree on the merits of such a scheme. The San Antonio Water System is highly supportive, but Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Natural Resources Director Todd Votteler said the plan is "a thinly veiled scheme to undermine the approved regional water plan." |
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Extension of Prop 3 tax has public support In March 2004 several conservancy groups commissioned a poll to gauge public support for the idea of extending the Proposition 3 tax, and found that 73% would be in favor. In May 2000, voters approved Proposition 3, a 1/8 cent sales tax, to raise $45 million to fund purchases of undeveloped land in the Edwards recharge zone. By the end of 2003, about 5,700 acres had been purchased for Aquifer protection. The tax is set to expire when it raises the target amount, which is expected to occur sometime in 2004. EAA Manager Ellis announces resignation In March 2004 Edwards Aquifer Authority Greg Ellis announced that he would resign his position as soon as a replacement could be found. Since taking the job in 1997, Ellis had been commuting between San Antonio and his family home in Houston, and said he would leave because "I really do need to spend more time with my family." EAA Board members and other officials praised the job Ellis had done since 1997 in the difficult task of implementing the first-ever permit limitations on Edwards Aquifer use. |
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SAWS Board proceeds cautiously with Colorado water supply studies On February 17 2004, the SAWS' Board of Trustees voted to proceed with a $43 million schedule of studies to evaluate the feasibility of diverting up to 150,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado River to San Antonio. If the project is feasible, the water probably would not be needed until around 2045. For more see the page on the Colorado River. |
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Power line will miss Government Canyon On January 30, the Express-News reported it had obtained documents that showed CPS had decided not to built a huge new power transmission line through Government Canyon. Because the main purpose of Government Canyon State Natural Area is Aquifer protection, the issue had been hotly debated when it first surfaced in December 2003 (see previous Newsflash). The document obtained by the Express-News stated the Government Canyon alternative is "not feasible at this time", because the use of federal funds to acquire the land and the presence of endangered species there would make it extremely difficult to have the line in operation by the utility's June 2006 deadline. Merits of western Edwards water proposal debated In January 2004, public policy makers and interested citizens discussed the merits of an offer by a group of water marketers to pump vast amounts of water from the western Edwards Aquifer and send it to San Antonio in a new pipeline. The water marketers include former Governor Dolph Briscoe and former state Senator Buster Brown, who say they own or have access to 60,000 acre-feet of Edwards water rights. Water would be pumped from the Edwards Aquifer in Uvalde county and transported to San Antonio. Uvalde and San Antonio are on opposite sides of the "Knippa Gap", a narrow opening within an extensive, complex system of barrier faults that is a major controller of flow within the Aquifer. Huge amounts of water cannot pass quickly through the gap, so water piles up in storage units behind it, causing water levels in wells to the west to display much less variability than wells to the east (see the Hydrogeology page). One theory of moving water from the west is that pumping from the other side of the gap might not have much impact on the J-17 index well in San Antonio or flows at Comal and San Marcos springs. However, a study commissioned by SAWS suggested that pumping 40,000 acre-feet per year from the Edwards in Uvalde county would triple the amount of time Uvalde residents spend in drought restrictions, and would also drop J-17 levels in San Antonio by four feet, thereby increasing the duration and severity of drought restrictions in San Antonio as well. At any rate, under current Texas law, such transfers would be illegal, and legislation that would have allowed it failed in 2003 under intense criticism from Uvalde residents. The issue surfaced when Mayor Ed Garza held a private meeting with business officials who were highly critical of SAWS' leadership and questioned the utility's ability to adequately and economically meet the city's future water needs. Mayor Garza, who sits on SAWS' board, said he was surprised because such dissatisfaction with SAWS had "not been on the radar", and he said SAWS is doing a great job of lining up alternative water sources. From 1996 to 1998, SAWS held 61 public meetings and worked closely with the public and all interested parties to develop a 50-year water plan, which was approved by City Council in 1998 and formed the basis of the region's contribution to the new State Water Plan (see the Edwards Alternatives page). The San Antonio Express-News published a comment by SAWS Board Chairman James Mayor, who said SAWS' policy is that water supply projects will be designed to produce the greatest benefit for San Antonio, the Edwards region, and partnering communities, not the "greatest good for a few". Although acquiring additional Edwards rights may be the cheapest option, Chairman Mayor said SAWS' policy is it will only buy Edwards rights in quantities that do not disrupt another community's economy. The Express-News also published a comment by Joe G. Moore, Jr., who served as court monitor for federal judge Lucius Bunton and was a central figure in the Sierra Club v. Babbitt case that resulted in pumping limitations for Edwards users. Moore said that so far, SAWS is doing exactly what the federal court expected San Antonio to do in seeking water sources other than the Edwards. He warned that if SAWS is forced by business or political interests to purchase more Edwards water instead, it would be like putting all of the city's eggs back in one basket, a major mistake the city has made before. Water quality committee issues harsh criticism of TCEQ Aquifer protection efforts In January 2004 San Antonio's Ad Hoc Water Quality Committee, which has been reviewing the performance of governmental agencies regarding Aquifer protection, asserted the TCEQ lacks adequate staff, monitoring, enforcement, and rules. While being questioned by Committee members, TCEQ senior water policy analyst Mary Ambrose admitted the TCEQ does not limit development or prohibit businesses that use hazardous chemicals, and has mainly focused on requiring stormwater ponds to keep oil and grease out of the Aquifer. Former San Antonio Councilwoman Bonnie Conner serves on the Committe, and she said she thinks they are "just very, very shaky". The Committee was formed after last year's skirmish between the EAA and Sen. Ken Armbrister over the EAA's powers to regulate water quality (see previous Newsflash). Another committee, the EAA's Water Quality Task Force, is also considering Aquifer protection in the region. Last year, former EAA Chairman Michael Beldon and Ken Armbrister agreed to abide by the Task Force's recommendations regarding the EAA's powers to regulate land use for water quality protection. San Antonio ends recharge zone tax breaks On January 9, after what the Express-News called a "dizzying, five-hour debate", a divided San Antonio City Council acted on the recommendations of a joint city-county task force to end tax increment financing (TIF) in the Aquifer's recharge zone. The practice of offering tax abatements to lure businesses to the city and county has long been a contentious issue, especially when properties are over the Aquifer. The new regulations will continue to allow the use of tax increment financing in the Aquifer's contributing zone, which environmentalists had also sought to end. As the Jan. 9 debate proceeded, so many amendments were proposed that observers were uncertain about what exactly the Council had passed. Regarding the contributing zone, staff and the council eventually agreed that since the impact of development has not been well studied, the science did not support banning TIFs there. Councilman Patti Radle did not agree, saying the council's job was "to be on the safe side." Her motion to ban TIFs on the recharge, contributing, and transition zones failed.
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