Water wheeling and dealing in Kendall County -- from the Boerne Star

The long-running water saga based on the true life stories of the Tapatio Springs Golf Resort and the Kendall County Utility Company made its debut on a new stage this week: Boerne City Hall.

After hearing a presentation in a workshop session Tuesday by Assistant City Manager Jeff Thompson and resort-KCUC co-owner Michael Shalit, the city council members reached an apparent consensus to allow water the utility company has purchased from Canyon Lake to be “wheeled” through the city’s pipelines to serve KCUC customers in an emergency situation. Thompson said a vote on a formal agreement could take place at the next council meeting on Aug. 11.

Because the city has pipelines in close proximity to KCUC pipelines, near the Mission Pharmacal plant on Interstate 10, wheeling is an alternative method for getting Canyon Lake water from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority’s point of delivery on Cascade Caverns Road to the KCUC’s nearest water tank on Johns Road without building a six-mile pipeline estimated to cost more than $2 million.

Shalit said there was no immediate crisis need for the lake water, but he said he was worried that conditions could deteriorate rapidly due to the ongoing drought and he wants to have a pre-approved backup plan for wheeling in place in case of an emergency.

Mayor Dan Heckler indicated he would like Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District General Manager Micah Voulgaris to be the arbiter who determines what constitutes an emergency situation.

As the current drought nears the two-year mark, KCUC has struggled to produce enough water to serve the basic needs of its 850 customers, implementing the county’s most severe drought restrictions that prohibit any outdoor watering.

Voulgaris said only three of the KCUC’s eight wells are producing much water and the pumps on those wells run round the clock. A problem in one of the three main wells, even for a short time, could cause taps in customer homes to go dry, he said.

However, Voulgaris agreed with Shalit that there is not an immediate crisis and he said conditions have actually improved some since KCUC implemented its most severe Stage 4 drought restrictions at the beginning of July. Voulgaris said the level in KCUC’s best producing well has rebounded from 20 feet above the pump to 38 feet above the pump since the restrictions went into effect.

Thompson told council members the city has the capacity to wheel the additional water from the GBRA through the city’s pipes and storage tanks on a temporary basis, but he said the city could not do so over the long haul without increasing the capacity of the system.

“We’re not built to be a bus, but we could be a bus for a temporary period of time,” Thompson said.

He presented council members with the outline of an agreement with KCUC that he said would net the city a profit of about $5,600 over three months.

Thompson told council members there was “no evidence of a resolution” in sight for KCUC’s problems and he cautioned that once the city begins wheeling the water it may be difficult to pull the plug and end the arrangement because 850 KCUC customers could be dependent on the city for water.

“It’s the right thing to do, but we need to do so very carefully and with open eyes,” Thompson said.

Several council members expressed concerns. “I don’t want the City of Boerne to get between you and your customers,” Councilman Bob Manning said to Shalit.

Tapatio Springs Homeowner’s Association President Bill Weidler, who was in the audience at the council workshop, complimented the city staff and city council members for quickly grasping the complex situation and for agreeing to help out in an emergency. “I liked the way they were going. They were very astute and picked up on the issues very quickly,” Weidler said.

Two other major concerns of council members seemed to be the same ones that have expressed at the numerous Cow Creek board meetings: is water being diverted from customers to the resort’s golf course and is there a viable plan in place to take delivery of the GBRA water?

“We’re your friends and neighbors and we’re willing to help, but this water will be used for residents and nothing else,” Councilman Ron Warden said.

“Not one drop will go to the golf course, not one drop will go to their landscaping,” Shalit replied.

Tapatio Springs resident Andy Calvert claims that pumping from the resort’s three wells on the golf course has diminished the pumping capacity of KCUC wells, effectively diverting water from KCUC customers to the golf course.

Voulgaris disagrees, saying the golf course wells are not directly impacting KCUC wells.

In response to questions about the status of plans to build a pipeline, Shalit said financing for the project is being actively sought and the pipeline would have been built several years ago if two Tapatio Springs homeowners had not protested a proposed service area expansion. Shalit blamed the protest and a subsequent lawsuit for delaying the service area expansion, which in turn caused a developer, billionaire auto dealer Red McCombs, to opt out of a contract that would have provided funding for the pipeline.

The homeowners who filed the protest have denied that their actions were responsible for the funding falling through. Weidler said he has no interest in taking sides in the debate. “If you spend all your time fighting yesterday, you’ll never see tomorrow,” Weidler said.

He said the number one priority of Tapatio homeowners now is to gain access to the GBRA water. He said he was confident that KCUC management is trying to obtain financing for the pipeline, but said those efforts have obviously fallen short. “It doesn’t make any difference who’s right or wrong, there’s still no pipeline in the ground,” he said.

Shalit acknowledged during the meeting that he and Parker are actively trying to sell the resort and the utility company and are seeking financing to build the pipeline.

Weidler said one potential solution that homeowners have been discussing is for a separate company or group of investors to step in and finance the project, but he acknowledged that is a long shot because of concerns investors will have about a return on the investment and the difficulty that a private group might have in obtaining easements and permission to use public rights-of-way.

“I do believe we can find a way to get this done,” Weidler said.

By Dave Pasley - Boerne Star