Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District Grants Permits for New Wells to Operator of Tapatio Springs Golf Resort

On June 28, 2011, the Board of Directors of the CCGCD entered a written order granting the applications of SPE GO HOLDINGS, Inc. to amend the operating permit for existing wells, and to drill 4 new wells on Tapatio Springs Golf Resort property. The Order follows the Board's verbal approval of the permit applications at its Meeting of June 13, 2011. The Resort's owners filed the permit application seeking additional water for the purposes of irrigating the golf course.

Kendall County Utility Company, Inc. filed a protest to the applications based upon concerns that production from new wells would further de-water the already precariously-low middle Trinity Aquifer in Kendall County. Representatives of the KCUC spoke out against the permit applications, and presented evidence that further depletion of the aquifer in the area of KCUC's existing wells could seriously compromise the utility's ability to provide potable water service to its residential customers.

During the same meeting that the CCGCD Board approved the drilling of 4 new wells on Resort property, the Directors also declared the District to be in "Stage 5" drought restrictions. According to the CCGCD website, Stage 5 drought is considered "EXTREME," and mandates a 40% reduction in groundwater use, and prohibits use of sprinklers at any time.

KCUC -- acting through its attorney, Trey Wilson -- has filed a request for contested case hearing, seeking formal review of the CCGCD's action in granting SPE GO HOLDINGS, Inc.'s application to drill new water wells within KCUC's CCN area.

The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District was ratified in 2002, with the stated purpose of "conserving, preserving, recharging, protecting and preventing waste of groundwater from the aquifers within Kendall County."

Water Cops in San Antonio...What Gives?

As the current drought becomes more and more severe, residents of the greater San Antonio, Texas area are increasingly receiving citations for violating the City's water conservation ordinance. As a lawyer with an active water law practice, I'm frequently questioned about the legitimacy of these citations issued by "water cops," and whether "City Hall" has the right to make it criminal for citizens to water their lawns whenever they darn-well please.

Short answer is: "Yes, They CAN do that." And because they can, you'd better not shove that citation/summons in a drawer somewhere and forget about it.

The authority for "water cops" -- who are generally trained SAWS/BexarMet employees or off-duty police officers -- is found in Chapter 34, Article VI, of the San Antonio City Code. This is the Code containing all City ordinances, including what has become known as the "Conservation Ordinance" adopted in 1995. The entire ordinance contains several sections, but the real "meat" related to restrictions and enforcement appears in Section 34-288:

Sec. 34-288. Violations.
It shall be a violation punishable by city municipal fine for any San Antonio Water System water and/or waste water service customer residing or doing business within the corporate limits of the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, to intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or criminally negligently to allow or cause water waste, to allow or cause landscape watering outside the prescribed hours for landscape watering, or to allow or cause any violation of any provision of this division or of the Aquifer Management Plan, Article IV, Division 4.

Section 34-290 of the Code authorizes the President/CEO of the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) to enforce watering restrictions "in the manner and to the extent allowed by law, including, but not limited to, filing complaints with the city municipal prosecutor's office for such violations, serving notices of violations and filing civil enforcement actions."

Because of this clear grant of authority by the City Council, citations issued by water cops are legitimate, and must not be ignored. Sometimes they are accompanied by a Summons, commanding alleged offenders to appear in Municipal Court to answer to a Judge.

That's right. Citations for violating mandatory water restrictions are criminal in nature, and are treated by the City just like other Municipal Court cases, such as traffic tickets. If found guilty of violating the ordinance, you may be ordered by the Judge to pay a fine, be placed on probation and/or pay court costs. Further, failure to appear in Environmental Court to answer to allegations of illegal watering could result in a warrant being issued for your arrest!

In extreme cases involving "locations of repeated or continued violations," the President/CEO of the San Antonio water system "shall have the authority to discontinue the supply of potable water to the registered meter holder." See Sec. 34-289. I take that to mean that folks who'd rather pay a fine than let their landscaping suffer better not tempt fate (or the water barons)!

God has seen it fit to park a high pressure system over South Texas that prevents rain from settling in above us. Our City Fathers have seen it fit to enact conservation measures whenever God gets that inclination. The rest of us need to endure, lest we be hauled into Court to do some explaining.

And No; I DO NOT "HANDLE" CITATIONS ISSUED BY WATER COPS, AND CAN'T "MAKE A CALL" TO MAKE YOUR SUMMONS GO AWAY.

Let's all just follow the law, and pray for rain!

Kendall County's water restrictions unchanged

BOERNE — Despite dramatic drops in the water levels in its monitoring wells, Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District officials declined Monday to ban all outdoor watering in Kendall County.

Since June 2008 the district has been under Stage 5 restrictions, which limit lawn watering to once a week by hand-held hoses and prohibit using groundwater for construction or to irrigate hay, parks and athletic fields.

“I feel like we're just now getting people on board with Stage 5,” District Manager Micah Voulgaris said Tuesday.

He said eight violators have been cited in July, up from three in June.