A local groundwater district is keeping a careful watch on a flood of water-related bills during the 88th legislative session but has stopped short of challenging a bill expanding SAWS’ water and wastewater rights.
For now, Kendall County wouldn’t be affected if the bill promoting San Antonio Water System sales beyond the utility’s current boundaries did pass, officials said.
In addition to this measure, the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District board during a legislative workshop earlier this month reviewed several legislative efforts with its lawyer.
One point of discussion: House Bill 1646, filed by state Rep. Tracy King, D-Batesville, would expand the customer base for the San Antonio Water System by allowing the utility to sell beyond its current service area.
In the past, Cow Creek directors convinced Gov. Greg Abbott the move would effectively abolish their agency and take away local control of water resources.
While the Cow Creek directors took a strong stance against the proposed legislation two state sessions ago, the board opted to take a back seat this go-around after the SAWS board sought to revoke its selling rights in Kendall County last year.
If passed in its latest incarnation, the bill would allow SAWS to sell Edwards Aquifer water within “the geographic area of a certificate of convenience and necessity that extends beyond the boundaries of the authority and a portion of which existed within the boundaries of the authors on June 28, 1996.” Essentially, this would allow the San Antonio-based utility to go beyond the boundaries placed on the Edwards Aquifer by legislation passed nearly three decades ago where SAWS has a CCN which exceeds the boundaries.
A CCN is an agreement between a development and a public-utility provider granting the public utility exclusive rights to serve the area.
This isn’t the first attempt by legislators to allow the expansion of SAWS’ sales. In fact, this is King’s second attempt.
In 2019, King filed HB 1806, which was joined by Senate Bill 1170 – a companion initiative championed by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels.
The two bills read, “A municipally owned utility owned by the city of San Antonio may sell water withdrawn from the aquifer at wholesale to a retail public utility or river authority for use in a county adjacent to the boundaries of the authority.”
The companion bills as HB 1806 went to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. However, Cow Creek directors sent a letter successfully urging the governor to veto the bill.
The directors argued allowing the sale of Edwards Aquifer water into Kendall County would render local authority obsolete and violate state law, which stipulates there can’t be overlapping groundwater jurisdiction, noting the Edwards Aquifer Authority began as and continues to operate as an underground water district for the Edwards Aquifer.
“In the view of the (Cow Creek) board of directors, this bill would have a drift negative impact on the effective governance because it runs contrary to the state’s long-standing, preferred method of groundwater management an removes local citizens and elected officials from (deciding) local issues,” Cow Creek Director Milan Edwards Michalec’s 2019 letter to Abbott read.
“If allowed to become law, it would allow a single legislator, acting on behalf of a single developer, to proceed with their own agenda despite numerous written objections of local citizens their locally elected representatives of affected city, county and groundwater districts.”
Abbott vetoed the 2019 bill on June 15 of that year.
Cow Creek this session, for now, is withholding any opposition to the lawmaker’s effort, primarily because SAWS has lessened its influence in Kendall County.
Last July, the SAWS board voted in favor of transferring its water and wastewater rights to SJWTX – the subsidiary of a California-based company which purchased Kendall West Utility last year.
“It’s been a long time coming,” SAWS board member Amy Hardberg said during the decision. “I just do want to recognize that we understand there are still some concerns about how these areas might be developed, but I think it’s important for us to remember as a water utility, we have built in some assurances that I think are appropriate for a water utility.”
While the local groundwater district directors may not plan to pursue lobbying efforts to halt the legislation, the change, if approved, would have the same ramifications for several other counties.
SAWS has CCNs which overlap portions of Atascosa, Wilson, Comal, Medina and Guadalupe counties.
Comment
Comments