Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group
For The Southern High Plains of Texas
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Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group For The Southern High Plains of Texas
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Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group Meeting May 19, 2005 10:00 A.M.
1. Call To Order and Welcome. Chairman H. P. Brown Jr. called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. in the A. Wayne Wyatt Board Room of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 office, 2930 Avenue Q, Lubbock, Texas. Notice of the meeting was provided to each member and was also filed in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act at the following locations: Lubbock County Courthouse, Administrative Offices of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1, and the regional water planning group web site at www.llanoplan.org. 2. Roll Call Of Members and Establish Quorum. The following Llano Estacado Water Planning Group members were in attendance: Chairman H.P. Brown Jr.; Vice-Chairman Ches Carthel; Secretary-Treasurer Jim Conkwright; and members Melanie Barnes, Bruce Blalack, Dallas Brewer, Harvey Everheart, Bill Harbin, Doug Hutcheson, Bob Josserand, Richard Leonard, Terry Lopas, Don McElroy, Jared Miller, Sukant Misra, Gene Montgomery, Ken Rainwater, and Kent Satterwhite. Non-voting members in attendance were Dr. Herb Grubb of HDR Engineering in Austin and Temple McKinnon of the Texas Water Development Board. Unable to attend (excused absences): Those unable to attend today’s meeting were Delaine Baucum (family illness); Delmon Ellison Jr. (farming); Don James (business meeting conflict); and Jim Steiert (family member doctor appointment). Non-voting members Joan Glass, Steve Jones, and Malcolm Laing also have excused absences due to meeting conflicts. Absent members (unexcused absences): None There was a quorum of the Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group members in attendance (18 of 21 members or 85.7% attendance). Others in attendance: Tom Adams, City of Lubbock; Elliott Blackburn, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; Jason Coleman, South Plains Underground Water Conservation District; L.C. Childers, City of Wolfforth; Clyde Crumley, Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District; Judge Tim Fambrough, Sweetwater, TX; Doyce Field, Slaton, TX; Joe Hargrove, Mayor of Crosbyton; Odie Hood, Lake Alan Henry Water District; Janette Kelly, Amarillo, TX; Cleon Namken, USDA-NRCS; Frankie Pittman, City of Wolfforth; Judy Reeves, High Plains Water District; Bruce Rigler, High Plains Water District; Mickey Rogers and wife, White River Municipal Water District; Stefan Schuster, Freese and Nichols; Steve Stephens, Mesa Water; John Taylor, Friona, TX; David Turnbough, Sandy Land Underground Water Conservation District; Colby Waters, Panhandle Regional Planning Commission; and Ben Weinheimer, Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Carmon McCain of the High Plains Water District staff was also present to take minutes of the meeting. ACTION ITEMS: 3. Approval of the April 21, 2005 meeting minutes. The minutes of the April 21, 2005 LERWPG meeting were provided to members by e-mail / hard copy for review prior to today’s meeting. There being no additions or corrections, a motion was made by Terry Lopas and seconded by Judge Dallas Brewer that the minutes of the April 21, 2005 LERWPG meeting be approved as printed. All voted “aye,” and the motion unanimously passed. 4. Approval of the Treasurer’s Report. The Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group financial statement for the period ending April 30, 2005 was provided to members for review prior to today’s meeting. Mr. Conkwright said the report shows an ending balance of $85,110.63. A motion to accept the report as printed was made by Jim Conkwright and seconded by Ches Carthel. All voted “aye,” and the motion unanimously passed. 5. The LERWPG will consider appointing Crosbyton City Manager Jared Miller to fill the vacant small municipalities representative position (less than 10,000 in population) to the LERWPG. In accordance with the LERWPG by-laws, information to support Mr. Miller’s nomination for forwarded to the executive committee for review. It is their recommendation to the LERWPG members that Mr. Miller be appointed to fill the vacant small municipalities representative position. A motion to appoint Mr. Miller to the LERWPG was made by Mayor Josserand and seconded by Don McElroy. All voted “aye,” and the motion unanimously passed. Chairman Brown then invited Mr. Miller to join the other planning group members around the table. 6. The LERWPG will hear a report from the policy committee. Policy Committee Chairman Bob Josserand thanked Gene Montgomery for his work on the committee—especially in his absence at the last meeting. Based upon his interpretation of the minutes and discussion with Mr. Montgomery, Chairman Josserand said the proposed policy was well discussed at the last meeting. Unless there are major modifications to the proposed policy that must be addressed now, it is his recommendation that they be discussed during Dr. Grubb’s report to the LERWPG. It was the consensus of the group that no action be taken on this agenda item at this time. 7. The LERWPG will hear a report from Technical Consultant Dr. Herb Grubb regarding the draft initially prepared 2006 Llano Estacado Regional Water Plan. Before Dr. Grubb’s report, Chairman Brown asked Mr. Conkwright to review the contractor’s deadlines to deliver the draft initially prepared Llano Estacado Regional Water Management Plan to the Texas Water Development Board by the June 1, 2005 deadline. At the last meeting, the LERWPG requested a 60-day deadline extension by the TWDB; however, only a 30-day extension was granted. It is the recommendation of Mr. Conkwright and Dr. Grubb that the LERWPG submit the draft IPP by June 1 and not use the requested deadline extension. It was noted that for every week taken to gather information—it will take Dr. Grubb and HDR Engineering a minimum of two weeks to process these data for use in the plan. After delivery of the draft IPP to the TWDB, there is a 30-day period before a public hearing may be held to receive comments on the plan. Mr. Conkwright recommends that the group set a date for the hearing during today’s meeting, based upon the number of additions/corrections to the plan proposed today. There are several review periods to be aware of. After delivery, the TWDB has 120 days to review the plan. Other state and federal agencies have a 120-day comment period from the date of the notice, while the public has 60 days to comment from the date of the notice. He also reminded the group that once the plan has been filed with the TWDB, review copies are to be placed in the public library and the law libraries in each county within the region. It will also be posted on-line at www.llanoplan.org. The final draft of the plan is to be submitted to the TWDB on January 5, 2006. The final deadline for the LERWPG completion of the plan is December 31, 2005. Mr. Conkwright suggested that the LERWPG members’ comments be received at the High Plains Water District office no later than 5 p.m. today (May 19, 2005) or tomorrow (May 20, 2005). Mr. McElroy asked about the benefits of such expedited comment. Mr. Conkwright said that he doubted much in the plan would change. There is no need to use the deadline extension unless absolutely necessary. Mayor Josserand concurred by stating that the LERWPG members have previously reviewed and discussed the draft plan chapter by chapter. He doubts that many members will spend additional time reviewing the material. If there are issues that need to be addressed, then they can be brought out at this meeting or by the suggested deadline. Speaking as a recently appointed LERWPG member, Dr. Melanie Barnes said one week is a very short time to adequately review the plan. Asking for an additional week is not unreasonable in order to review the plan and properly represent constituents. She would like more than just 24 hours to offer comments on substantive changes--not picky or frivolous ones. Dr. Grubb then proceeded with his report to the group. Beginning in September 2004, sections of the draft initially prepared plan have been provided to the Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group for review and comment. Approved changes have been made and are included in the draft initially prepared plan delivered to the group on May 10, 2005.
However, there is some new material that needs to be added to the plan at
today’s meeting. This includes a water
Section 4.3 (Social and economic impacts of not meeting water needs) was added since the previous meeting. Appendix E (High Plains Underground Water Conservation District analysis of Bailey County ground water supplies and Mesa Underground Water Conservation District analysis of Dawson County ground water supplies) will be added at today’s meeting to illustrate questions with the groundwater availability quantities provided by the ground water availability (GAM) model. Table 4-23 on page 4-85: The firm yield data for Lake Meredith needs to be revised under the wholesale water suppliers section. This has been changed from 67,750 acre-feet of firm yield to 63,000 acre-feet of “safe yield.”. There is also an arithmetic correction that needs to be made as well in this section. Chairman Brown asked Dr. Judy Reeves of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District to discuss the Bailey County analysis. Dr. Reeves compared the real data to the data compared in the GAMs and the regional water plan. There is concern that the data in the GAM varies a great deal by county and the Bailey County analysis is a good example of this. An individual county analysis is expected to be included in the third regional water planning cycle. It was the consensus of the group to add a statement in the executive summary (page 24) that the GAM data is inaccurate and that it had to be used due to time constraints. Chairman Brown encouraged the ground water conservation districts to begin their data collection as soon as possible so that these data will be ready for the third planning cycle. Mr. Conkwright stated that the High Plains Water District analysis also shows discrepancies in data, particularly in the base of the aquifer data. The High Plains Water District will do volumetric studies of each county within its 15-county service area. Jason Coleman of the South Plains Underground Water Conservation District said he has located problems due to unrealistic irrigation demand data provided by the TWDB. These data will show shortages as well. Chairman Brown commended Dr. Reeves for her work product. Due to time working on legislative matters in Austin, Mr. Everheart he has not had an opportunity to prepare Dawson County data for Appendix E. It will not be included in this report. Dr. Grubb then briefly discussed the draft initially prepared plan methodology and content with the planning group members. There was concern that some of the newer members may not be as familiar with the plan as those involved at the start of the five-year planning cycle. While there are changes that some of the new members feel need to be made, Mayor Josserand suggested that the LERWPG go ahead with the plan submission, get the “clock ticking” on the comment period, and allow the new members to offer their comments within the 60-90 day public comment period. This was agreeable to the new members as long as the comments were addressed appropriately. Dr. Grubb said there are two types of changes: editorial (minor) or substantive (major). The minor changes can be addressed easily—but the substantive changes will require action by the LERWPG. Chairman Brown asked how many members had substantive changes requiring action today. A few members indicated they had comments and/or changes. Chairman Brown then suggested briefly recessing the meeting to allow members time to formulate their thoughts and/or provide information to Dr. Grubb. Recess Chairman Brown recessed the meeting at 11:15 a.m. Reconvene Chairman Brown reconvened the meeting at 11:40 a.m. Mr. Miller left the meeting at this time due to an emergency telephone call. After discussion with some members during the break, Chairman Brown suggested that the planning group complete their discussion of Section 8 of the plan, review the socioeconomic/impact data, and then allow the regional water planning group members to offer individual substantive comments regarding the draft IPP contents. Dr. Grubb then reviewed Section 8: “Legislative and Policy Recommendations” with the group. He will make the additions and changes pointed out to him by the LERWPG members. Mr. Montgomery expressed concern about the GAM and uncertainty about recharge to the Ogallala aquifer. He would like to see a better understanding of recharge and the work underway to enhance it. The group should consider stronger emphasis of this in the plan with some additional language. Recharge should be added to the same area as other BMPs, such as brush control and precipitation enhancement. While it is difficult to quantify data, he suggests a reference to recharge at the conclusion of the executive summary. (Enhanced recharge could have been a water management strategy—had a study been conducted earlier.) He also added that the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) influence on recharge projects should be noted (possibly in the concluding comments?). He pointed out that the White River augmentation project should be added to the plan. It was the consensus of the group to do so. Mr. Miller rejoined the meeting at 11:45 a.m. Lunch Recess Chairman Brown recessed the meeting for lunch at 12:15 p.m. Reconvene Chairman Brown reconvened the meeting at 12:55 p.m. Mr. Leonard, Mr. Miller, and Dr. Misra left the meeting at this time. Chairman Brown then asked each member present if they had any substantive changes to be made to the plan. Mayor Josserand: No changes offered at this time. Doug Hutcheson: No changes offered at this time. Terry Lopas: His change regarding Brazos River Authority has been provided to Dr. Grubb. Gene Montgomery: Mr. Montgomery expressed concern regarding Page 2.12 (Municipal Water Demand). He feels that conservation benefits are not being shown here. A short summary section should be included to address this. Ches Carthel: Water demand figures do not match the City of Lubbock’s usage. The City may offer comments during the public comment period. Ken Rainwater: ES-16: This section will reflect concerns about irrigation demand numbers. As a result, he recommends not using specific figures here, as they are not precise to begin with. ES-25: He recommends that “actual demand” be termed as “satisfied demand.” Sec.1.71: The water quality concerns is short, but water quality issue list is longer. This needs to be brought into agreement. Sec.1.11: The title doesn’t match the text. Also, the section dealing with laws of physics and impacts on ground water pumpage doesn’t add much. It doesn’t fit with rest of section—recommends deleting section. It was the consensus of the group to do so. Sec. 2.6: Irrigation water demand projections. It might be best to refer to Appendix E or to put a similar explanation of methodology here. Chap. 3 A better explanation of the methodology is needed for the water supply analysis section. Page. 4.205 Recovery of Capillary water footnote. This footnote should be moved or similar language should be included in the environmental section. Jim Conkwright: Recovery of capillary water is an option available for use. He suggested leaving it in the plan with Ken Rainwater’s recommended changes. Bill Harbin: No changes offered at this time. Melanie Barnes: No changes offered at this time as she is still reading the plan. She suggested the addition of a stratigraphic column illustration. Kent Satterwhite: His changes have been forwarded to Dr. Grubb. Bruce Blalack: No changes offered at this time. He shares the same concerns as Ches Carthel. Don McElroy: He is concerned about the executive summary statement that “there is no room for improvement in water conservation.” He said that is an arrogant statement considering there is always room for producers to use best management practices and water conservation techniques. He says there is still too much overwatering and misting taking place. Dallas Brewer: No changes offered at this time. Delmon Ellison Jr. No changes offered at this time. He left the meeting at this time. Chairman Brown then called upon members of the audience for any comments. Judy Reeves: She is concerned about the cistern wells described in Section 4.211. There is concern that the concept promotes completion of wells in two aquifers. This is “cross formational,” and is against water well drillers’ rules. Also, there is some implied liability upon the regional water planning group for recommending this practice. After discussion, a motion was made by Jim Conkwright and seconded by Harvey Everheart that the cistern well references be deleted from the plan. All voted “aye,” and the motion was approved. Jason Coleman: He suggested removing capillary recovery from the plan. The South Plains Underground Water Conservation District has had bad results with it. He feels it is dangerous to promote it as a management strategy. After discussion, a motion was made by Jim Conkwright and seconded by Mayor Josserand that capillary recovery references be deleted from the plan. All voted “aye,” and the motion was approved. Chairman Brown: He suggests adding a specific reference to salt cedar under ES-18. 8. The LERWPG will consider approval of the draft initially prepared Llano Estacado Regional Water Plan and authorize its submission to the Texas Water Development Board in Austin for review and comment. A motion to approve the draft initially prepared Llano Estacado Regional Water Plan as modified and to authorize its submission to the Texas Water Development Board was made by Mayor Josserand and seconded by Judge Dallas Brewer. All voted “aye,” and the motion was approved. 9. The LERWPG will hear a report from Dr. Herb Grubb with HDR Engineering, Inc. Dr. Grubb had no additional comments at this time. 10. The LERWPG will hear a report from LERWPG Project Manager Temple McKinnon of the Texas Water Development Board. Ms. McKinnon had no additional comments at this time. She encouraged the regional water planning group members to contact her if they had questions. 11. The LERWPG will hear a report from the Regional Water Planning Group liaisons. Region A: Kent Satterwhite deferred to Region A project manager Stefan Schuster. Mr. Schuster reported Region A received revised GAM data last week. That region has asked for a 30-day extension in filing the plan. They have many of the same concerns as Region O (LERWPG). Region B: Ches Carthel asked Ms. McKinnon to report, as he was unable to attend the meeting. She said Region B approved their draft initially prepared plan as amended. A public hearing on the plan content is set for July 6. Region F: Harvey Everheart could not attend their meeting due to legislative hearings in Austin. Region G: Judge Tim Fambrough reported Region G asked for a 30-day extension at their April 26 meeting. The May meetings have been cancelled. Their next meeting is June 7-8. 12. Other Business. Public Comment: Chairman Brown asked for additional public comments from the audience. None were provided. Announcements: Mr. Conkwright reminded the planning group members of the upcoming deadlines. After brief discussion, a motion was made by Mayor Josserand and seconded by Ches Carthel to close planning group member comments on the draft IPP at 5:00 p.m. on May 20, 2005. Comments received after that time must be included in the public comment portion of the plan.. All voted “aye,” and the motion was approved. C. A motion was made by Melanie Barnes and seconded by Bill Harbin that July 14 or July 28 be considered as dates for the public hearing on the draft initially prepared plan at a suitable central location within the region. All voted “aye,” and the motion was approved. There being no additional business, Chairman Brown adjourned the meeting at 2:00 p.m. The above conveys my understanding of the issues discussed and conclusions reached. I assume this understanding is correct until notice of the contrary is received.
Respectfully submitted, Jim Conkwright, Secretary-Treasurer |
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