Valley Leaders Oppose Pecos Water Extraction Plans

McALLEN, May 3 – Two more elected officials down-river of the Amistad Reservoir have weighed in on oil tycoon and developer Clayton Williams’ application to extract groundwater from the Pecos River watershed.

Hidalgo County Judge Rene Ramirez and McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez have followed the lead set by Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas, who made clear his forceful opposition to the plans two weeks ago.

In an interview with the Guardian on Saturday, Ramirez characterized William’s intention to draw 41 million gallons per day from the Edward’s Aquifer as “devastating.”

“Water is not a luxury, it is a necessity. When you have that kind of impact on the kind of growing population that we have here, it causes serious concern. I’m sure there is going to be a strong argument that he doesn’t have the right. You can’t live without it. Development can’t occur without it,” Ramirez said.

The Guardian also interviewed Cortez on Sunday.

“I am aware of the Pecos groundwater issue and like most of the mayors of the border am strongly opposed to that (William’s) action. Whether or not he is supported by any state law, when the common good is threatened for the benefit of a few, the law in question loses its validity,” said Cortez.

Laredo Mayor Salinas said he and other border officials “will stand tall in staunch opposition” to efforts to extract billions of gallons of groundwater from the Pecos River watershed.

“I am in the process of contacting every political leader down-river from the Pecos. I am contacting the Texas Border Coalition, both of our U.S. Senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, all of our elected federal and state legislators and senators and will be meeting personally with the mayor of Nuevo Laredo tomorrow,” Salinas told the Guardian, in a phone interview two weeks ago.

“As mayor of a city that depends almost exclusively on the Rio Grande for our water, I will not sit by and let it be taken away by someone in West Texas.”

Last week Salinas and Nuevo Laredo Municipal President Roman Garza Barrios issued a joint proclamation opposing Williams’ intent to extract the large quantities of aquifer water destined for the Rio Grande, describing the application as “a significant thereat for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural sustainability and growth in Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.”

The Pecos River feeds approximately 80 million gallons of water per day into the Rio Grande.

In a telephone interview with the Guardian, Fort Stockton City Manager Rafael Castillo referred this reporter to the documents listed on this Web site:

http://www.cityfs.net/ (Click on to read documents relevant to the water losses projected by Fort Stockton)

The hydro geologic study conducted by the Texas Water Development Board indicates that if the permit were executed as requested by William’s Fort Stockton Holdings Company, the net loss to the aquifer that ultimately feeds the Rio Grande would be 68,000 acre feet per year. An acre foot is an acre of water at a depth of one foot. One acre foot equals 325 851.429 U.S. gallons

Williams’ own study claims that no more water would be pumped from the aquifer than is already going on. The ancient Texas rule known as the “Right of Capture” based on old British Common Law grants ownership of ground water to the owner of the land above it. Subsequent state laws have come into conflict with the “Right of Capture.”

“Obviously there are differences in what Mr. Williams claims and what the Texas Water Development Board states through its study,” said Castillo acknowledging that it is yet to be determined what the net effect on water flow down river will be after such a huge net loss to the Edwards Aquifer, because it is not yet known how much of that water ultimately flows into the Rio Grande.

“If Clayton Williams is ultimately successful in sending billions of gallons of water to the Midland-Odessa metropolitan area with approximately 300,000 population, what will the effect be on the 10 million people that live down-river on either side of the U.S.-Mexican Border,” Castillo said.

U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, had already vowed to contact the office of Gov. Rick Perry and the International Boundary and Water Commission prior to the April 20th hearing held in Ft Stockton.

“We have some new and innovative ideas that we have about the recapture of water but we have to live in today’s times. Taking that much water away will have a devastating effect on our communities,” added Ramirez, summing up the projected role of such water loss to the Rio Grande Valley and cities on both sides of the river.