Be Careful What You Wish For
When we moved to the Wimberley Valley in the summer of 2008 we were not prepared for, nor had we ever heard of a Water War. Like many Americans we were used to turning on the tap and receiving clean plentiful water from the cities we lived in. We moved here after living in Colorado Springs for 22 years, where we irrigated about ¼ acre of a beautiful Kentucky Bluegrass lawn, washed our cars and even used the water to sweep our driveway and sidewalks. I always felt a little guilty about some of that water use or misuse but there seemed to be an unlimited supply and we were paying for it. The population of Colorado Springs was rapidly growing and we were just beginning to see the effects of water shortages. The city instituted water rationing and everybody complied; so well in fact that the City complained that they lost revenue so the raised or rates. We felt we had been robbed; little did we know.
The water we received was sweet, clean, clear and soft, being from snowmelt that flowed down from the nearby Rockies. Our water bills ran around $30 per month with an occasional summertime bump to $50. Yes, we were wasteful and spoiled!
Having lived most of my early life in Texas; I knew we would have to adjust to some differences here, some more subtle than others. Both my Wife and I are retired and we expected to live out our days in the relative peace and quite of the Texas hill country. We really believed that. Deep in the dark recess of my memory I recalled an old saying, “Whisky is fer Drinkin ... Water is fer Fightin". I have often thought of that phrase in the last two years. Another old saying which I remembered was, “Be careful what you wish for”; it was to haunt me later on
After settling in, our first negative experience with water was when we received or water/sewer bill from Aqua Texas. The bill was about $170 and we attempted to call the company and protest, with no success. After asking around the neighborhood we found that our bill was typical and maybe a little low for the area. To make things even worse Texas was in the throws of record setting drought and everybody was saying to conserve water. We figured that conserving water would be the right thing to do morally and would make our water bill shrink as well. To our surprise and horror our bill stayed the about same since the ATI bill was comprised mostly of “Base Facility Charges” and “Deferred Capital Expenses Surcharges” amounting to about $150 per month. The actual water only cost about $10 for 2700 gallons. So, no matter how much water we used or didn’t use we would still have to pay at least the $150 per month. That way ATI makes a ton of money even if a drought condition exists and they have to enforce water rationing. Where I come from that would be called a scam! I was told this is not a scam; it’s just Texas politics as usual. Damn The TCEQ!
The water we received was sweet, clean, clear and soft, being from snowmelt that flowed down from the nearby Rockies. Our water bills ran around $30 per month with an occasional summertime bump to $50. Yes, we were wasteful and spoiled!
Having lived most of my early life in Texas; I knew we would have to adjust to some differences here, some more subtle than others. Both my Wife and I are retired and we expected to live out our days in the relative peace and quite of the Texas hill country. We really believed that. Deep in the dark recess of my memory I recalled an old saying, “Whisky is fer Drinkin ... Water is fer Fightin". I have often thought of that phrase in the last two years. Another old saying which I remembered was, “Be careful what you wish for”; it was to haunt me later on
After settling in, our first negative experience with water was when we received or water/sewer bill from Aqua Texas. The bill was about $170 and we attempted to call the company and protest, with no success. After asking around the neighborhood we found that our bill was typical and maybe a little low for the area. To make things even worse Texas was in the throws of record setting drought and everybody was saying to conserve water. We figured that conserving water would be the right thing to do morally and would make our water bill shrink as well. To our surprise and horror our bill stayed the about same since the ATI bill was comprised mostly of “Base Facility Charges” and “Deferred Capital Expenses Surcharges” amounting to about $150 per month. The actual water only cost about $10 for 2700 gallons. So, no matter how much water we used or didn’t use we would still have to pay at least the $150 per month. That way ATI makes a ton of money even if a drought condition exists and they have to enforce water rationing. Where I come from that would be called a scam! I was told this is not a scam; it’s just Texas politics as usual. Damn The TCEQ!
Nothing about this encouraged conserving the water, which I thought was important; apparently Aqua Texas doesn't care. It looked like we were sunk! We began to attend just about every meeting of every organization in the valley that might have a stake in the water situation. We met as many people as we could even some politicians and some real nutcases (in some instances they were the same people). We quickly found that there were various factions in the area, all concerned about water. These factions ran from the “true believers” that ‘walk the walk’ and ‘live the life’ of conservation on all fronts, to the “deniers” that believe that we will never run out of any natural resource especially water. We listened to all sides and learned a lot.
We were surprised to find that several people had converted over to rainwater harvesting for all of their home use since that practice had been outlawed in Colorado. That State claims to own the water that falls on your property and you are not allowed to interfere with it. You can’t even use a 50-gallon rain barrel. Likewise, graywater recycling is strictly controlled rendering it all but forbidden. So far Texas has not caught on to outlawing the collection of rainwater or taxing it. If it were to become widespread, the Texas Legislature and our local governments might take notice. Wouldn’t it be ironic if rainwater harvesting were to be blamed for interfering with the re-charge of the aquifers therefore requiring regulation? Never underestimate our politicos. That is another quote to live by.
A smaller group that included those of us who live in the area and was more concerned about the extremely high water/sewer bills. We were beginning to see that although about 1600 people were affected we were unorganized and most of that number was not motivated to act and felt that we were wasting our time. They would rather complain than get involved. Going up against ATI, the TCEQ, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District was going to take time, numbers and money. Since we had none of those, we made the decision to mount an attack on ATI over their wasting of aquifer water. CARD was a little extreme in their methods but we appreciated any help we could get but chose not to align to closely with them or join them.
We went forward wishing for the water wasting to end. This was not really a sound method of getting the water bills lowered but it felt good to get even with the enemy, so we lobbied the local groundwater board to do their job and stop the leaks. All through 2009 and the first half of 2010 they didn’t listen or act. When a new Board was elected in April of 2010 we saw hope that our wish might come true.
Finally, we were told by the local groundwater board that ATI was going to present an plan to fix their leaks over the next 5 years. The kicker was that they will bill the customers as provided by Texas law for the work amounting to about $5 million. This is not what we wished for.
As far as conservation is concerned ATI would be allowed to keep the pumping rights to the roughly 80 megagallons/yr. they are now wasting through their leaks. They could use it in any “legal way” such as selling it. That is bound to anger the conservationists as it does me.
We must stop wishing and chose between embracing the offer by ATI and paying higher water bills or rejecting the offer and let the leaks continue. In other words our choice is between cost and conservation. What a predicament!
We have therefore decided to let the pipes leak, thinking that ATI will eventually have to fix them on their own, as they get worse or it becomes necessary for increased development in the area.
Those of us in Woodcreek, Texas have already seen our property values plummet as our water bills increased to the point of a financial hardship. We simply can’t take any more costs added to our utility bills and we can’t move out since we are all “under water” on our mortgages. Renters can move but the landlords will likely suffer lack of a cash flow. Many have lowered their rent below their costs to mitigate the impact. Foreclosures are increasing and home are not selling in Woodcreek. Frankly, anyone would be foolish to buy a home here, as we did.
This agreement does nothing for our already overstressed pocket books or the overstressed Trinity Aquifer; it is a win-lose situation that actually makes our predicament much worse. This could be the financial tipping point for a few property owners in The City of Woodcreek and Woodcreek North.
We were surprised to find that several people had converted over to rainwater harvesting for all of their home use since that practice had been outlawed in Colorado. That State claims to own the water that falls on your property and you are not allowed to interfere with it. You can’t even use a 50-gallon rain barrel. Likewise, graywater recycling is strictly controlled rendering it all but forbidden. So far Texas has not caught on to outlawing the collection of rainwater or taxing it. If it were to become widespread, the Texas Legislature and our local governments might take notice. Wouldn’t it be ironic if rainwater harvesting were to be blamed for interfering with the re-charge of the aquifers therefore requiring regulation? Never underestimate our politicos. That is another quote to live by.
A smaller group that included those of us who live in the area and was more concerned about the extremely high water/sewer bills. We were beginning to see that although about 1600 people were affected we were unorganized and most of that number was not motivated to act and felt that we were wasting our time. They would rather complain than get involved. Going up against ATI, the TCEQ, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District was going to take time, numbers and money. Since we had none of those, we made the decision to mount an attack on ATI over their wasting of aquifer water. CARD was a little extreme in their methods but we appreciated any help we could get but chose not to align to closely with them or join them.
We went forward wishing for the water wasting to end. This was not really a sound method of getting the water bills lowered but it felt good to get even with the enemy, so we lobbied the local groundwater board to do their job and stop the leaks. All through 2009 and the first half of 2010 they didn’t listen or act. When a new Board was elected in April of 2010 we saw hope that our wish might come true.
Finally, we were told by the local groundwater board that ATI was going to present an plan to fix their leaks over the next 5 years. The kicker was that they will bill the customers as provided by Texas law for the work amounting to about $5 million. This is not what we wished for.
As far as conservation is concerned ATI would be allowed to keep the pumping rights to the roughly 80 megagallons/yr. they are now wasting through their leaks. They could use it in any “legal way” such as selling it. That is bound to anger the conservationists as it does me.
We must stop wishing and chose between embracing the offer by ATI and paying higher water bills or rejecting the offer and let the leaks continue. In other words our choice is between cost and conservation. What a predicament!
We have therefore decided to let the pipes leak, thinking that ATI will eventually have to fix them on their own, as they get worse or it becomes necessary for increased development in the area.
Those of us in Woodcreek, Texas have already seen our property values plummet as our water bills increased to the point of a financial hardship. We simply can’t take any more costs added to our utility bills and we can’t move out since we are all “under water” on our mortgages. Renters can move but the landlords will likely suffer lack of a cash flow. Many have lowered their rent below their costs to mitigate the impact. Foreclosures are increasing and home are not selling in Woodcreek. Frankly, anyone would be foolish to buy a home here, as we did.
This agreement does nothing for our already overstressed pocket books or the overstressed Trinity Aquifer; it is a win-lose situation that actually makes our predicament much worse. This could be the financial tipping point for a few property owners in The City of Woodcreek and Woodcreek North.
If the newest proposals by Aqua Texas are approved and executed,
Aqua Texas will have:
- an additional 80 million free gallons of water/year to sell.
- enhanced sales potential due to more a favorable climate for additional development.
- fixed their leaky system substantially increasing its value, at no cost to them.
- the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, the TCEQ and the Public will be off of its back for wasting water.
- a 3-year uninterrupted pumping permit to allow for increased expansion and contracting.
The Customers will have:
- increased water/sewer bills.
- some further lowering of their property values.
- knowledge that most of the 80 million gallon leaks have stopped however, now ATI can sell the water and gain increased revenues.
- increased development in the area, therefore more pressure on the aquifers.
- construction inconveniences and water interruptions for about 5 years
- no guarantee that Aqua will not ask for further rate increases during their 3-year permit period.
Although I feel that everything here is proven fact, it is the responsibility of the reader to do his or her own research before arriving at their own conclusions about the veracity of any statement(s) herein. Everything contained within these pages is protected speech guaranteed by the United States Constitution. So There!
