The Blanco Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District board continued Stage 3 of its drought status and held a lengthy discussion on the City of Johnson City’s permit during its March 20 meeting.
The board discussed possible action regarding district drought status and drought conditions.
“Studies indicate water levels are dropping and the scenario is flat,” said district general manager Erik Kubinski. “With no normal amounts of rain forecast for February and into March we recommend continuing in Stage 3. We will continue to monitor the stage 3 situation and hope to see some recovery in May.”
The board discussed possible action on the Johnson City operating permit amendment. The current permit is for 150 million gallons of water annually with use of approximately 130 million gallons annually. Kubinski said that city consulting engineers want to increase the permit to 270 million gallons annually due to anticipated growth.
“To address the variance request I will need direction from the board to prepare a work order, get a proper response to the board and the city and schedule a public hearing. The city wants this resolved soon,” Kubinski said.
A motion was made for Kubinski to obtain a work order, and Precinct 2 Director James Sultemeier recused himself because this is his precinct.
Kubinski indicated that he had discussed the impact for the new apartment hookup and other indicators for hookups which are already planned with the Johnson City mayor, city staff members and consulting engineers on March 3.
“They’re running at 130 million gallons and a permit for 150 million gallons is not much headroom, so they are looking for an operational permit,” Kubinski said.
Kubinski referenced page 2 of the impact study regarding planned and projected growth, and said the city is addressing those concerns.
“Even if the city request is modified, the variance would still be needed with a licensed (engineer) to look at it,” he said. “The city has presented their impact study and it is the district point of view to ascertain if the water is there which is why I asked about the variance after gathering professional feedback. The process will probably cost in the $2,000 range.”
“This does not fundamentally address the expanded demand for water,” Sultemeier said. “Is this for apartments under construction for the past three years? The city territory is confined, although it can be expanded through ETJ annexations, but there’s nothing hard core as far as I know that would even remotely allow a common- sense person to say Johnson City is seeing this kind of explosive growth. I don’t see the details of how these connections will materialize.”
The item was discussion- only and no action was taken. Sultemeier said he didn’t see the need for such a large increase.
“Where does this huge number come from that demands this volume of water which doubles what the city has? This huge variance isn’t supported by professional data generation,” he said. “What is the general nature for this massive increase?”
Sultemeier suggested perhaps taking the process step by step instead of doubling the permit amount.
Kubinski said that he had asked the city about something intermediate as determined through pumping early on, and it wasn’t well received. He said, “Maybe a session with the city and the county with the objections to determine needs?”
Jimmy Klepac, board president, said that the purpose for the variance is to determine how they conduct their pump tests and to prove if the water is there.
“The city wants to act on the hookup for the apartments which is soon,” said Kubinski.
“The onus is on the city to provide us with details to prove beyond a reasonable doubt there is such expected future demand,” Sultemeier said. “It’s our job to weigh and grant permits if we feel it meets all the rules and (regulations). The city hasn’t provided any basis for this huge doubling of their capacity.
“I don’t see in the Johnson City limits that there’s any place to do much development and cause a great number of high-volume connections. Doubling? Maybe 10 or 20%, because what is their basis?”
Kubinski said that BPGCD rules allow for conditional approval while waiting for Director George Cochran to review the permit request.
Kubinski said the latest version of the recognition of achievement for completing the groundwater management plan was received from the Texas Water Development Board.
An upcoming date for water discussions and a water availability study with Blanco County Judge Brett Bray are scheduled for April 14 at 11 a.m.
“There is a lot of activity regarding Hye Springs Ranch, and we plan to make an amendment to the operating permit,” said Kubinski.
Kubinski reported on legislative advocacy and said that February was a busy month for work in Austin.
“Senator Charles Perry has formally filed SB 7 and SJR 66 to establish funding for the Texas Water Fund. The funds will be used for infrastructure for moving water and for a constitutional amendment for a vote,” he said. “Representative Ellen Troxclair filed a Bill regarding HB 3637 for ad valorem taxation from water conservation systems, and Senator Donna Campbell has filed SB 1954. This bill will be used for regulating land use in certain hydrologically sensitive areas. We are pleased that Senator Campbell initiated this.”
The BPGCD is gathering data for the US Geological Survey CBSL potentiometric project participation. The regional planning is coordinated by the USGS.
The board adjourned into closed session at 1:32 p.m. for discussion on appealing the Attorney General’s Public Information Act letter opinion. Open session resumed and no action was taken.
Early voting for the BPGCD board begins April 22 and election day is May 3. Precincts 1 and 2 are uncontested. There is a contested race between incumbent Jimmy Klepac and challenger Whitney Walston for the director-at-large position.
