Nobody wants A bigger Boerne

05/01/2024 06:00 AM

Editor, Almost nobody wants a bigger Boerne. Just look at the results of the HB-3883 Water Protection Bill survey commissioned by the county in 2021.

To gauge the potential for voter support of this legislation, the Kendall County Commissioners Court conducted a survey. The quantity of responses exceeded expectations and showed overwhelming support to grant additional powers to locally manage growth.

When questioned about water, 96.4% responded “yes” to “Providing Kendall County Commissioners Court to require all future developments to provide a primary and secondary different source of water to ensure a sustainable water supply is provided during drought conditions.”

It was the highest rated topic; the city of Boerne needs to take note.

Providing water to the Water Control and Improvement Districts (Esperanza- Duennenberg, George’s Ranch) through its utility department is diminishing the city’s backup water supply. And George’s Ranch (WCID No. 4) isn’t even in the city’s legal utility service area or its extra territorial jurisdiction.

The city says that “we needed to provide the water to George’s Ranch because another utility (Kendall West Utility) would have done it instead” and they wouldn’t have required a development agreement.

But the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority wasn’t going to give KWU more water for George’s Ranch.

The city never got a development agreement to limit density. They just got a utility agreement which contains superficial landscape recommendations and requirements. The county actually negotiated density downward on this project.

Take note, residents of Boerne. Canyon Lake, the city’s primary water source, is getting drier every day. And many millions of gallons of it are being sold outside of your city daily.