Ron Nirenberg and Steve Adler have joined forces for unfettered growth — at your expense.
Before we tell you the story of why we think San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Austin Mayor Steve Adler have joined forces, we have some urgently important business to attend to.
That would be convincing the Governor to VETO HB 1806 to put a public water utility on notice that he will not tolerate reckless water policy involving billions in public dollars and our most precious resource…groundwater.
Call Governor Abbott’s hotline NOW, during business hours — 512-463-2000. Urge him to veto HB 1806 to protect your water and your wallet. If you cannot call — our preference — email the Governor here.
MORE….“HB 1806 will set a bad precedent for unregulated transfers of groundwater which threaten Texas aquifers, and the millions of central Texans who rely on them,” Bastrop County Judge, Paul Pape, in this Austin American-Statesman article here.
HB 1806 will allow SAWS to move Edwards Aquifer water outside of its current prescribed zone at the very same time SAWS is moving forward with the $3.4B Vista Ridge, 142-mile “public-private partnership” water pipeline to north of Bastrop in Burleson County.
Vista Ridge (aka “The San Anone Hose”) is slated to begin in 2020. It is the most expensive groundwater in Texas, unnecessary and poses a serious risk to the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. The Simsboro does not recharge in terms of human lifetime, unlike the fast-recharging Edwards.
The Governor has until June 17th to veto HB 1806, sign it or let it become law without his signature.
The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, on the receiving end of this new SAWS water and wallet grab, has joined the call to urge a veto of HB 1806! See Cow Creek’s letter to the Governor here.
Also, since our last communication, we learned that the Hill Country Alliance (see HCA’s letter here), the San Antonio-based Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, and Alamo Sierra Club are supporting a VETO of HB 1806.
What Happened in San Antonio!
We will have much more to tell you about how San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg was reelected with only 51%. Suffice to say for now that the central Texas “growth at all costs machine” is getting ready to “assist” Nirenberg to do what Austin already did — drive affordability off a cliff.
The insurgency of Mayoral challenger, Councilman Greg Brockhouse, fell short by only about 2,775 votes.
You may recall Brockhouse supported the Vista Ridge Resolution (for an independent audit of Vista Ridge and a new ordinance to rein in SAWS). He also voted on May 16 with two others on the City Council (Courage and Perry) against the $87 million giveaway of water impact fees to developers.
By the way, the daily newspaper failed to print a word about the impact fees days before early voting began.
The good news is two women who support the Vista Ridge Resolution — Jada Andrews-Sullivan in District 2 and Adriana Garcia in District 4, were elected, Garcia by a wide margin.
Unofficial results are here.
The Vista Ridge Resolution and a related petition to the San Antonio City Council can be viewed and signed here on our San Antonio LIV webpage.
This is the year of the independent voter, come hell or low water!
What can you do? Help LIV grow throughout Texas. Start by becoming a dues paying member today.
Now, don’t let us stop you from NOW calling (512-463-2000 during business hours) or emailing the Governor through his website at: Gov.Texas.Gov
If you’ve done it already, ask someone else to join you by forwarding this message or sharing it from our Facebook page here.
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