Farm couple sues Valley utility company over water shut-off

August 29, 2008 - 12:18AM
By ALLEN ESSEX/Valley Morning Star

LOS FRESNOS - A farm couple has sued a utility company claiming their drinking water was shut off because they refused to allow a waterline to be installed near their front door.

Carl and Janel Parker sued East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corp., alleging the company turned off their water on Aug. 13 to punish them for refusing to sell an easement for the water line for $1, their daughter, Linda Swartz, said.

A judge signed a temporary restraining order that forced the utility company to restore water service on Aug. 22, Swartz said. The utility company refused to change its plans when her parents offered to let the company install the pipe through the property at a location farther away from their home, Swartz said.

"They were without water for nine full days," Swartz said of her elderly parents. "My 78-year-old father had to carry water from their cistern for the horses and dogs."

Brian Macmanus, general manager of East Rio Hondo WSC, said the Parkers have been unreasonable and refused to even discuss the location of the 12-inch water line. "The first time that we approached them to talk about it, they just said to contact their attorney," he said.

"It's the same alignment all along the 20-mile route that it has to take. It affects other homes the same way. But it's not going to be as close to their house as they say. It will only affect one of their trees and it will probably only have to be trimmed on one side."

Swartz said that before signing up with the utility company 14 years ago, her parents had irrigation water service and purchased drinking water, which was stored in their cistern.But irrigation water is not safe to give the horses for drinking, she said. Her father raises cattle, but they are on land owned by the Port of Brownsville, she said.

There is no alternative for potable water at her parents' home, north of Los Fresnos, other than having service from East Rio Hondo WSC, she said. "They can't live out there without water," Swartz said.

Family members hauled water to her parents' home for drinking, cooking, laundry and baths until a judge ordered East Rio Hondo to restore service temporarily, Swartz said. "We have to be back in court on Sept. 4," she said.

Macmanus said the water utility company has no choice but to put the water line where it is planned. "Everybody knows the county is going to widen FM 510," he said. "It's going to be the second route to the (South Padre) Island. When they do that, they would just make us move that water line back over, out of the way. It's going to be a battle now or a battle later. So let it be now."

The Parkers' lawsuit claims that, by shutting off their water service for refusing to grant an easement for a water line close to their home, East Rio Hondo WSC violated the terms of its Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, as well as the terms of its service agreement with the Parkers.

Her parents are upset about the dispute and refuse to discuss it with anyone but their lawyer, Swartz said.

Attorney Trey Wilson of San Antonio is the lawyer for Carl & Janel Parker. His law firm, R L Wilson, P.C. concentrates its practice in water and real estate-related litigation. Trey Wilson was recently voted as one of San Antonio's best real esatet litigation attorneys. He regularly represents water utilities, their suppliers and their customers.