Nine admitted as parties in Fort Stockton Holdings hearing

Pioneer Staff Writer

The word for the day is “justiciable.”According to Merriam-Webster, the word means “capable of being decided by legal principles or by a court of justice.”According to the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District Board of Directors, it means you get to be a part of the process of determining whether the production permit for Fort Stockton Holdings is approved.A total of nine parties were found to have a justiciable interest by the MPGCD Board of Directors during a nearly six-hour meeting and hearing Tuesday at the Large Community Hall.“These are people with a real interest,” MPGCD special legal counsel Bill Dugat said, “or could be potentially adversely affected.”Eleven parties were not qualified. They included a number of groundwater districts south and east of Pecos County, as well as the City of Del Rio, the City of Menard, the Brewster County Groundwater Conservation District and Brewster County.
The Rio Grande International Study Center, which recently formed an alliance with the City of Fort Stockton to fight Fort Stockton Holdings' plan to export about 47,000 acre-feet of water per year from 18,000 acres Clayton Williams controls in the Leon-Belding area west of Fort Stockton, was also found to not have a justiciable interest and was not qualified.Dugat, who was retained by the MPGCD board earlier in the meeting, said the parties who were admitted during the hearing had easily-identifiable links to the district. He said the board's focus must be on the MPGCD and the sustainability of desired future conditions for the district, not on issues outside the district's jurisdiction.Those who were granted party status at the meeting will advance to the hearing on the merits, Dugat said. That hearing - which is yet to be determined, according to MPGCD board president Glenn Honaker - will include sworn testimony before the board.

The nine qualified at the hearing were:

>> Fort Stockton Holdings, which has its amended application for a production permit and transport authorization before the board. According to the application, Fort Stockton Holdings plans to withdraw water from 46 existing wells currently permitted for irrigation purposes to market to potential municipal or industrial users in as many as 22 counties.

>> The general manager of the MPGCD, Paul Weatherby.

>> The City of Fort Stockton, which has four wells in the Leon-Belding area.

>> Pecos County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, which has wells in the Leon-Belding area it uses to supply potable water to about 900 families in Pecos County, according to Harvey Gray, chairman of the PCWCID No. 1 board.

>> Mark Bradley Davis, a Pecos County landowner who has about 3,400 acres about 20 miles away from Leon-Belding, according to his attorney Charles Myers of Midland.

>> Gregg McKenzie, a former Pecos County Commissioner who ranches and owns land in Pecos County. McKenzie also briefly served as an MPGCD director before resigning due to a conflict of interest. McKenzie also said he has a well-lease with Williams that only allows for agricultural withdrawls.

>> Dan Piercy, a Pecos County landowner who owns land adjacent to land controlled by Williams in the Leon-Belding area

>> Tom Beard, a Brewster County rancher, who owns land in a small part of southern Pecos County

>> L.B. Ryan, a Pecos County landowner with property in the area of Leon-Belding. Ryan said he has a lease with Williams similar to McKenzie's.

MPGCD officials stressed early and repeatedly the meeting was not a forum to debate the merits of the application. The nearly-full Large Community Hall at the start of the meeting was only half-full a little more than an hour in, and was nearly empty as the session moved into the afternoon.The meeting and hearing was for process and procedure - the process and procedure of who may formally protest or support Fort Stockton Holdings' application. Some speakers, who comprised potential parties and public commenters, did make their views known, however, and most either came out against or signified they were against the application.Several speakers admitted confusion about the process, specifically regarding the qualifications required to be admitted as a party.

During the regular meeting of the board, it approved the accounts payable, the treasurer's report for March 31 and the line item transfers.The board also discussed possible agenda items for the board's next regularly-scheduled meeting at 1 p.m. May 18, including the restructuring of board offices, the status of a director for Precinct 1, and applications from SandRidge Energy and the City of Iraan.

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