October 16, 2019 830 PM
PRESIDIO — County water officials are on a mission to conserve municipal water.
In Presidio County, the mostly-volunteer Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District is tasked with monitoring and protecting county water supplies. But thanks to a 2011 rule called the “Midland exemption,” small cities are exempt from the rules governing other county water wells.
That means cities can effectively pump and sell as much water as they want — but officials with PCUWCD say it’s a devil’s bargain; it also means that local water districts (in this case, PCUWCD) can’t intervene if an outside entity like a corporation or a nearby big city starts drinking up all the local water.
In exempt cities like Presidio, if a user starts taking too much water, the municipal utility can always stop selling it.
But since exempt cities aren’t factored into water-district data, officials like PCUWCD have little recourse to clamp down on users who are guzzling up nearby water. “We cannot justify denying that permit,” Vicky Carrasco, a PCUWCD board member, said of situations like this. “We have to give it to them.”
For those reasons, PCUWCD is on a mission to convince cities in Presidio County to give up their Midland exemptions and give water officials oversight.. Last Thursday, the group held a town hall in Presidio in hopes of convincing city leaders to join the district’s jurisdiction. Next up, if all goes well, is Marfa.
PCUWCD wanted to approach Presidio first because Presidio has the largest population in Presidio County, officials explained at the meeting.
“Let’s face it: Y’all are the biggest town in the county,” Trey Gerfers, PCUWCD chairman, said. “You guys could really lead on this.”
Joining PCUWCD would likely add a slight increase to Presidio water costs. Gerfers estimated these charges would max out at around $1 per person per year. In exchange, “your water wells are as protected as they possibly can be,” he said, adding: “We’re viewing this as an insurance policy.”
He stressed that PCUWCD would be happy to find terms that were agreeable to Presidio and could even have a Presidio representative on its board. “We’re putting out a hand of friendship and asking y’all to join us to solve this before it’s too late,” he said.
After outlining the water cycle and the importance of underground water supplies, Gerfers described some of the challenges facing local water.
Population growth in Presidio County will lead to more water usage, and larger regional cities like El Paso are looking farther afield for their own water needs, he said. Meanwhile, Helios Energy’s new fracking operation in Presidio County suggests the oil and gas industry could soon become a larger consumer of local water as well.
At the meeting, local leaders seemed enthusiastic about the proposal. “I think it’s a good thing for the city,” said Brad Newton, executive director of the Presidio Municipal Development District.
John Ferguson, mayor of Presidio, was also on board. “I just want to go on the record and say I support this,” he said. “I’m not speaking for the rest of the county, but I think this is the right thing to do.”
PCUWCD hopes to reach an agreement soon with Presidio City Council. If an agreement is reached, officials would help craft a bill to finalize the agreement during the 2021 Texas legislative session.
