By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The third Southwest Water Coalition meeting was held at the IBC Bank on March 21 to discuss solutions to water management issues locally and statewide.
The purpose of the Southwest Water Coalition is to bring together individuals representing an array of agencies and governmental entities to learn about current and future water-related issues in the Val Verde County region. More than 10 people, local and from out-of-town, attended the meeting.
Gage Brown, representative of The Border Organization, first discussed the goals of the meeting and reviewed discussions and issues raised during the coalition’s previous meeting.
The focus was to provide updates on current actions and studies being done to examine the health and infrastructure of local water sources.
The first agenda topic was the Southwest Texas Research Institute presentation. Randi Salazar, representative of the San Felipe Creek Coalition, showed a poster created by studies of annual flow rates, elaborating on how the region’s water circulates and moves from the Pecos River to the other springs and creeks in the area.
Mauricio Flores, of the Southwest Research Institute, created the poster to show the health of local water sources, including vegetation and the pollution affecting the water. The poster helps pinpoint what areas need to be worked on.
An update was given on the Manageable Available Groundwater (MAG) Regional Planning process. Julie Lewey, representative of the Nature Conservancy, discussed ways of bringing the MAG levels to zero when the spring flow levels reach the desired future conditions.
Lewey talked about the Texas water planning process and finding solutions to droughts in Val Verde County by speaking with leaders at Groundwater Management Area (GMA) Seven, which is formed by representatives of local groundwater districts. Meetings were scheduled for the end of March, and Lewey said she will provide updates from those meetings at the next coalition meeting.
“Every seat on GMA 7 is made up of groundwater districts. Val Verde does not have a groundwater district. That means we do not have a seat on that board and that means when any decision GMA 7 is making, they are sticking their necks out for a region that doesn’t have representation, which they are very hesitant to do,” Lewey said.
Legislative updates were then presented by Teri Marsh, representative of the League of Women Voters in Southwest Texas. Marsh said there are discussions being held in Austin, Texas about creating a permanent revenue stream to fund water infrastructure in the state.
Marsh talked about legislation pending for using produced water from oil and gas extraction as new sources to be used alongside natural water.
The second legislative discussion was on the Devils River Act. Romey Swanson, representative of the Devils River Conservancy, said the bill seeks to eliminate permitting for the discharge of treated effluent wastewater directly into the river or major areas in Val Verde.
Swanson said the bill focuses on industrial development wastewater facilities pumping wastewater into the Devils River and other Amistad areas. He added there is unanimous support from various local leaders to pass the bill.
“The idea is we have the most pristine water stream in Texas and want to keep it that way,” Swanson said.
The Southwest Water Coalition meets on the third Friday of every month.
