Water Worries… A Serious Issue
By Dixie Pape 01.JUL.09
With the ongoing drought, June heat wave and the increasing demand, people of south and south central Texas have worries and serious concerns for our most precious resource… Water! Rivers are seeing a dramatic drop in flow levels, reservoir levels are also dropping with more in sight, and almost everyone is already on or preparing for water restrictions and conservation plans. Many of the Bulverde, Spring Branch, New Braunfels and Boerne subdivisions including Comal Trace, Cordillera Ranch and Windmill Ranch are currently under Stage 2 Drought Restrictions as are New Braunfels Utility customers. BexarMet customers hit Stage 2 Restrictions on June 15; and Canyon Lake Water Service Company (CLWS) implemented Stage 1 Drought Restrictions for customers on June 30. The City of Boerne implemented mandatory Stage 2 restrictions as of today, July 1. As of the morning of June 29, the Canyon Lake Reservoir level had dropped to 895.70 ft., from the normal 909 foot level. The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) controls the amount of discharge flow from the reservoir, downstream into the Guadalupe River, when the the reservoir level is at 908.9 feet or less, meaning “conservation mode”. On June 29 the discharge flow was at 60 cfs (Cubic Feet per Second). With the Guadalupe River having dried up in some places, the flow into Canyon Lake had dwindled to a 4.4 cfs from the river on June 29, and with more demand for water in the Guadalupe River Basin, residents may soon see the lake level drop even more. On June 30, GBRA issued a press release stating it would increase the release rate from Canyon Lake from 60 cfs to 125 cfs beginning at 1:00PM that same day, due to the current drought conditions and increased demands for water supply by the City of Victoria. According to GBRA General Manager W.E. “Bill” West, the 125 cfs rate of release of water reflects the sum of the downstream commitments of water plus an amount for environmental flows. Water users upstream and downstream are implementing water conservation measures in response to the demands resulting from the drought and dwindling supplies of both surface and groundwater. Like many other cities and industry, Victoria has made an investment in their future by securing alternative water supplies to sustain them during low flow and drought conditions. Flow levels through the Basin are very low including the declining spring flows of Comal and San Marcos Springs. “Canyon is fulfilling its role of storing flood waters and releasing them to provide beneficial uses to cities, industry and others,” said West. All users throughout the Guadalupe River Basin are encouraged to limit their water usage.
The Guadalupe River Basin is looking head-on at a serious water shortage
Source: www.issuewire.com With the Guadalupe River reaching critical levels, member of Texans for a Sound Energy Policy Alliance (TSEPA) on June 24 questioned how the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and Exelon continue to believe that there is enough water for the proposed Exelon nuclear power plant near Victoria. With the U.S. Geological Survey reporting that much of the Guadalupe River was running at less than 10 percent of its normal flow, and the Victoria Advocate reporting on June 22 reporting that a city official confirmed the Guadalupe River dropped so low over the weekend that the City of Victoria had to stop pumping water for a few hours, many are left concerned about a serious water shortage. “The Guadalupe River Basin is looking head-on at a serious water shortage, even without the proposed Exelon nuclear power plan,” explains Jim Blackburn, an environmental attorney for TSEPA. “The Guadalupe is proving to us right now that Mother Nature overrides state-issed water rights.” In December 2007, the GBRA cut a deal with Exelon that reserves more than 75,000 acre feet (24 billion gallons) of water from the Guadalupe River each year for the proposed nuclear power plant. This amount of water is over 7 times the amount of water the City of Victoria uses every year. “By acting as a water merchant and not a conservation authority, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority is mismanaging this precious resource and failing as a steward of our precious water,” says Blackburn. “There is scarcely enough water throughout the Guadalupe River Basin to meet the current needs, especially during a drought. Future municipal and industrial water uses combined with climate change will only amplify this problem.” The Guadalupe River which runs from Kerrville down to the coast, not only supplies Victoria County with water; it also creates the freshwater inflows that the endangered whooping crane relies on for survival during its wintering season at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio Bay. Lower freshwater inflows have had a grave impact on the habitat of the federally endangered whooping crane that winters in the San Antonio Bay. The winter of 2008/2009 was the worst in recent history for the whooping crane, with the deaths of 23 birds or 8.5percent of the flock. Scientists believe that reduced fresh water inflows and increased salinity of the bay correlate with the crane deaths. “In a nutshell, less fresh water reached our bays and estuaries this year than can be explained by the drought,” said Blackburn. “Our current way of life is at issue. Our water recreation, our current settlement patterns, our fisheries and even the whooping cranes are at risk.” TSEPA’s mission is to support a Texas energy supply policy that is reasonable, sustainable, and environmentally sound. To learn more about TSEPA, visit www.speakupvictoria.com.
The situation has many people in south and south central Texas including those involved with TSEPA asking some very important questions… With the dwindling water supply, where is the water going to come from for all of the water promised by GBRA?
Does GBRA even have enough water rights to be promising this water to Exelon and supply all the other regional water needs like the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project?
What is the long-term effect of a nuclear power plant’s reservation and use of this water have, not only downstream, but on reservoirs that supply water to communities throughout the area? How will this affect our water supply? People everywhere, whether upstream or downstream should be concerned and speaking up and demanding answers. Without the precious resource of water, everyone’s future is at stake. People have lived without electricity, but you cannot live without water.
