The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District is gearing up to expand its monitor well reach and further its regionalized hydrologic data collection in an effort to support additional county regulation.
There has been an ongoing push from the Kendall County commissioners, notably Precinct 2 Commissioner Richard Elkins, to better understand the impact development has on water quality and availability in the county after legislation to control population density died in the state legislature last year. The legislation was aimed at protecting vital resources in the county, including water, but if failed after pushback from development lobbyists spoke before a congressional committee.
The proposed legislation aimed at increasing Kendall County’s control of development in unincorporated areas of the Hill Country – which was submitted by State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, and spearheaded by Elkins and the other county commissioners – was shot down by a 5-4 vote in the Land and Resource Management Committee in April 2021.
During the groundwater district meeting Monday, Elkins urged the directors to present projects to the commissioners with specific goals identified, following the procedure the commissioners have used for awarding American Rescue Plan Act funds. He said a pure engineering approach to explaining the impacts on water would provide a data set to defend any future legislative attempts.
Any future legislative efforts will see a lot of pushback as development lobbyists likely will come out in full force again and because State Sen. Donna Campbell, R-25, said at a local town hall on her last campaign trail that she would not support any legislation that granted counties more development control. Campbell said she would have a hard time granting such powers, noting it was a slippery slope to start granting local municipalities more control.
The groundwater district has been working toward expanding its monitor well reach, which gauges the water levels of the upper, middle and lower Trinity Aquifer, but staff has had a difficult time finding residents willing to give up a permanent easement to the district to access the wells. However, Elkins said he has been in contact with residents who may be up to the task once they understood why it was needed.
The groundwater district approved and successfully completed a nearly $40,000 contract with Advanced Groundwater Solutions in Austin to conduct a hydrologic study of the district’s water supply, beginning the district’s attempt to better understand any sensitive features that may warrant specific and more restrictive ordinances.
James Beach, principal hydrogeologist for Advanced Groundwater Solutions and former senior vice president at LBG-Guyton Associates, conducted va modeling assessment for the groundwater district to show how pumping impacts the water levels, which will help the board members develop policy.
“We got caught flat-footed last go around,” CCGCD President Milan Michalec previously said about the county’s legislative attempts. “We thought we had good science, but it really wasn’t a science that was recognized. Our goal is to actually really, really do get science we could put on the table and bring to other people’s table to really understand hydrological condition under this county where we really have authority to build this case.”
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