Fall 2012 - Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority
Fall 2012 - Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Fall 2012 - Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority
2013 Texas Legisby Barbara Elmorefaces water drama8 GBRA River Run Fall 2012Old West movies often depict leathery cowboyscrossing barren plains, hoarding water in their canteens fora long journey and scrapping for the last drop if the canteenfeels light.Today’s water battles bear a striking resemblance.Substitute vast numbers of people for the cowboys,shrinking reservoirs and aging pipes for the canteens, andthe picture facing Texas legislators as they convene in 2013comes into sharp, dry focus.Some lawmakers are writing a script that shows the stateinvesting unknown amounts to keep the water flowing.Republican House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, for example,calls the need for legislative attention “critical” as he travels around the stateto talk up water. What form that attention will take is unknown, as a method forfunding projects does not yet exist and the battle ahead appears to be difficultand protracted.Complexities of waterTexas water issues are complex. Within the state’s vast borders, water supplies in someareas are robust, while others are near-crisis. Some areas have large reservoirs that enablethem to sell water to water-poor neighbors. Some municipalities depend on wells andimplement strict conservation measures when rainfall is low and the water table drops. Otherlocales ask for voluntary conservation.Competing budget interests—education, health care, transportation, immigration—also arevying for legislative attention.Complicating the water picture is the drought of 2011, which climatologists agree was theworst one-year drought since 1895. A 1954-1956 drought occurred too long ago for manypeople to remember, but state leaders’ actions to fix water problems afterward, such asconstruction of reservoirs, were responsible for a healthy water supply that allowed the state
latureof epic proportionsto grow into an economic and agricultural force. The increasingpopulation that star status attracts is a problem, however,especially when combined with the 2011 drought, which cost$7.62 billion in agriculture losses alone.“The drought last year—even though we are climbing out ofit—the severity of it has a lot of people’s attention,” CarolynBrittin of the Texas Water Development Board, said recently. “Theeconomic engine of the state is also paying attention.”The TWDB manages the state’s water planning process andoffers financial assistance programs to help fund projects. Brittinis its deputy executive administrator.The economicengine shementionedincludesother statescompeting forindustry bycomparing their plentiful water supplies with Texas’ diminishedreservoirs. “People understand the problem—verification iscoming from other states around the country,” said Rep. DougMiller, R-New Braunfels. The state of Wisconsin, which has wateraplenty, airs advertisements showing its brimming lakes side-bysidewith Texas’ Lake Medina, which is only 13 percent full.“They say, ‘Do you want to go to Texas?’ It’s an economic,competitive factor.”These are the backdrops for the drama that Texas legislators willbe starring in come January.Setting the state legislature’s tableAlthough the issue is as big and diverse as the Lone Star State,water planners on the regional level have offered legislators acourse of action. It is called the 2012 State Water Plan, and itsintroduction is blunt: “In serious drought conditions, Texas doesnot and will not have enough water to meet the needs of itspeople, its businesses, and its agricultural enterprises.” It thenoffers conservation and water management strategies necessary tomeet needs.Taken as a whole, the water plan’s price tag is a steep$53 billion dollars. Although the cost complicates discussions,the TWDB isIn serious drought conditions, Texas does not and willnot have enough water to meet the needs of its people,its businesses, and its agricultural enterprises.making proposalsto the legislaturethat requiresmaller amountsof financing.The TWDB wascreated after the 1954-1956 Texas drought with a mandate to planfor the state’s water supply. In 1997, after another drought, Texaschanged its method of water planning. The legislature created abottom-up process, where 16 state groups make decisions aboutregional water needs. The last three state water plans are productsof this process.However, all planning stops at the plans because the state hasbalked at the expense and because of the philosophy of somelegislators against incurring more debt. Every legislative proposalto finance water projects has failed thus far. For example, a tap feeGBRA River Run Fall 20129
- Page 1: GBRA RIVER RUNA publication of the
- Page 7 and 8: itCanoe RacePhotos by Julie Mathews
- Page 9: Work Plan for the Texas Instream Fl
- Page 13 and 14: ortionsWhat might happenSen.Glenn H
- Page 15 and 16: Photo by Charlie HickmanPhotos by B
- Page 17 and 18: Inside GBRAwhere are they now?Charl
- Page 19 and 20: GBRA Training & LicensesDennis Walk
2013 Texas Legisby Barbara Elmorefaces water drama8 GBRA <strong>River</strong> Run <strong>Fall</strong> <strong>2012</strong>Old West movies often depict leathery cowboyscrossing barren plains, hoarding water in their canteens fora long journey and scrapping for the last drop if the canteenfeels light.Today’s water battles bear a striking resemblance.Substitute vast numbers of people for the cowboys,shrinking reservoirs and aging pipes for the canteens, andthe picture facing Texas legislators as they convene in 2013comes into sharp, dry focus.Some lawmakers are writing a script that shows the stateinvesting unknown amounts to keep the water flowing.Republican House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, for example,calls the need for legislative attention “critical” as he travels around the stateto talk up water. What form that attention will take is unknown, as a method forfunding projects does not yet exist and the battle ahead appears to be difficultand protracted.Complexities of waterTexas water issues are complex. Within the state’s vast borders, water supplies in someareas are robust, while others are near-crisis. Some areas have large reservoirs that enablethem to sell water to water-poor neighbors. Some municipalities depend on wells andimplement strict conservation measures when rainfall is low and the water table drops. Otherlocales ask for voluntary conservation.Competing budget interests—education, health care, transportation, immigration—also arevying for legislative attention.Complicating the water picture is the drought of 2011, which climatologists agree was theworst one-year drought since 1895. A 1954-1956 drought occurred too long ago for manypeople to remember, but state leaders’ actions to fix water problems afterward, such asconstruction of reservoirs, were responsible for a healthy water supply that allowed the state
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