texascavers Digest 18 May 2009 01:03:13 -0000 Issue 759
Topics (messages 10700 through 10711):
Jacob's Well and Hays Co groundwater problems Part II :
10700 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
Revamped WNS Website and Spring Updates
10701 by: Charles Goldsmith
Re: TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
10702 by: Jules Jenkins
10703 by: Fritz Holt
10704 by: Fofo
10705 by: Charles Goldsmith
10706 by: Jules Jenkins
10707 by: Don Arburn
ICS needs a few items
10708 by: Jon
Re: Cavers wanted for interviews
10709 by: Mary Kay Manning
Looking for Dan Welling
10710 by: Aimee Beveridge
OT - Room for rent, North Austin
10711 by: Grace Borengasser
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--- Begin Message ---
(continued from Part I)
Geologists say pumping in western Hays has already passed the limit of
sustainability. Computer modeling by the Texas Water Development Board predicts
water-level declines during a severe drought of between 50 and 100 feet
across the Trinity, including portions of Bexar, Travis, Kerr, Hays, Blanco
and Bandera counties.
What would that mean? Hays County got a small taste in 2006. Drought,
compounded by overpumping, left about 100 homes near Dripping Springs without
water and reduced Onion Creek, which flows through Hays County and South
Austin into the Colorado River, to a trickle. A report on the ’06 drought by
Austin hydrologist Raymond Slade warns of the consequences of a far worse
drought, which “will cause many more wells to become dry and probably result
in many thousands of people in the County to be without water. Nobody knows
when this will happen but it is likely to occur in the near future.” Onion
Creek, he concludes, is likely to stay dry except when there’s significant
runoff from storms.
Given this harsh reality, Baker says people in Hays County will have to
decide whether to trade flowing streams and springs for growth. “It’s a hard
conversation to have because no one wants to have limits to what we do,” he
says. “But there’s a carrying capacity to these systems.”
Water watchers are keen to see what happens in western Hays County. It may
hold clues to the future of the Hill Country. “Hays is the canary because it
’s so close to I-35,” says Marbury, the EDF policy specialist. Many Hill
Country communities are approaching the limits of sustainability, she says,
but “Hays is more dire because I personally feel like they’ve reached the
point of no return. Whatever decision they make will be extremely
difficult. However, they need to make it soon.”
Addressing the water crisis in western Hays County falls to a tiny
governmental entity with one full-time employee, five volunteer elected
directors,
a volunteer geologist, and an $150,000 annual budget. The Hays-Trinity
Groundwater Conservation District is one of 96 districts in Texas covering
roughly half the state’s landmass. The districts are supposed to be all that
stands in the way of the rule of capture, the unique Texas law that
essentially says you can pump as much water as you like, your neighbor’s well or
stream be damned. If you can pump it, it’s yours.
To combat the inevitable depredations of the rule of capture, most of Texas’
groundwater districts can collect taxes, meter wells, set minimum
distances between wells, issue permits, and impose pumping limits. The Hays
district has few of these powers. The man who wrote the legislation creating
the
district, former state Rep. Rick Green, an ultraconservative Republican
from Dripping Springs who now lectures on the myth of the separation of church
and state, designed it that way.
“Rick Green thought God would take care of our water,” says Jack Hollon, a
retired math teacher and member of the district board who grew up raising
Angora sheep on a farm on the Devil’s Backbone, near Wimberley.
Green’s 1999 legislation exempted agricultural and single-family
residential wells in the district from regulation—98 percent of an estimated
6,500
wells. The district has some authority over water utilities, which provide
about half the water in the district. But developers are taking advantage of
the district’s generous exceptions by building small, dense developments
that require homeowners to provision their own individual, exempt wells.
Another perverse provision of the legislation provides that funding for the
district primarily comes from a $300 fee on new wells.
“It’s like trying to save the buffalo from extinction by selling buffalo
hides,” Hollon says.
In 2003, Hays voters “confirmed” the district by a 2-1 margin and elected
a slate of directors, including Hollon, that was strongly pro-regulation.
None of the anti-district candidates, backed by the Hays County Republican
Party, won a seat. The group had little power, but that didn’t stop it from
setting an ambitious goal: preserving as much water for springs and streams
as possible. When directors ran the numbers, it became clear that the
aquifer was already tapped out.
According to groundwater availability models, the aquifer in western Hays
County can sustainably yield about 3,400 acre-feet a year without unduly
straining springs and streams. In 2008, pumping topped 4,600 acre-feet.
“We’re operating at what we think the aquifer can yield and still maintain
spring flow,” says Hollon.
As Hollon and the other water managers stand by idly, the pumps
proliferate. About 150 to 300 new wells are drilled in western Hays every
year. The
district has also identified at least 1,500 small tracts of land that are yet
to be built on.
“I know enough about exponential numbers to be scared,” Hollon says.
This summer will be a good test of the aquifer’s limits. The Trinity is
approaching the end of the rainfall boost it received in 2007, and the current
drought—severe, but not as prolonged as previous one—may well deepen.
Absent the ability to set limits on production and require sufficient
spacing between wells, sustainability activists are gloomy. As developments
keep
sprawling across Hays County, the streams will go dry with “increased
frequency,” says Andrew Backus, the district president and retired
hydrogeologist who lives in Driftwood. “It will be exceptional when they
actually flow.
”
Why, then, has Rep. Patrick Rose, the Democrat who beat Rick Green in a
squeaker of a race in 2002, been reluctant to give the groundwater district
greater power to regulate and possibly save the Trinity Aquifer? That
question nags conservationists in Hays County. For three sessions, the district
and its backers have asked Rose to file a bill granting full regulatory
powers. Rose has steadfastly declined, saying that he doesn't think the
district
should have taxation powers and that the issue is divisive. Four months
into this legislative session, he offered a “compromise” bill that allowed
the district to collect fees for two years to help pay for a groundwater
sustainability study—what Hollon compares to “throwing some candy to kids in
the backseat to quiet them on a long trip.” In late April, the district
board voted to say “thanks, but no thanks” to the proposal.
Miffed, Rose yanked the bill a few days later.
“Why are the legislators throwing us down a dry well?” asks board
president Backus. “They’re in the process of helping developers get water
utility
districts, but they’re not helping the Hays-Trinity district get powers
equivalent to all the surrounding groundwater districts. There’s something
else going on.”
The sense that Rose is protecting development and real estate interests is
widespread among the sustainability crowd. “The only reason I can see that
Rose and [Sen. Jeff] Wentworth are so reluctant to grant the district the
tools it needs to get the job done is they’re giving in to the real estate
interests who want a weak district,” says Jim McMeans, a founder of Citizens
Alliance for Responsible Development, a Wimberley-based group that
promotes “sensible growth” and has won major concessions from developers.
(Wentworth is a San Antonio Republican.)
Rose is a real-estate agent with his parents' own Rose Real Estate in
Drippings Springs. From 2004 to 2008, he received nearly $300,000 in campaign
contributions from real estate interests and developers, according to the
nonprofit watchdog Texans for Public Justice. One of Rose’s top donors is Bob
Perry, a Houston homebuilder who primarily funds Republican candidates.
Rose declined requests by phone, by e-mail and in person to be interviewed
for this story.
Whatever explains legislators’ inaction, it looks like western Hays County
will have to wait until 2011, when another Legislature convenes, to
address its water problems.
“Sadly, I think it’s too late for them,” says Marbury. She quickly softens
that statement. “They would have to throw caution to the wind ... and
there would be a severe backlash from Realtors, developers, and current permit
holders.”
Hollon, the Wimberley native, knows what they’re up against. “We’ve got to
come to terms with our growth,” he says. “Growth is fundamental to
capitalism, our banking system and so forth, but it doesn’t make much sense
ecologically speaking. That’s going to take some time to seep in.”
_http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=3047_
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
FYI
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Peter Youngbaer <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:35:45 PM
Subject: Revamped WNS Website and Spring Updates
Hi, Everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that we just went live with a totally
re-vamped WNS web page: http://www.caves.org/WNS/index.htm.
Many thanks to Alex Sproul for many hours of technical wizardry to
make all the links work and make it visually exciting. Thanks also to
Mike Warner for the Media Accounts updates. Gordon Birkhimer's report
from the WNS Congressional briefing to NGOs is there, and we've
incorporated several suggestions from other NSS members.
We've added a couple new features: a current Cave Closures tracking
link, and a new WNS Research Center. This highlights the WNS Rapid
Response Fund, including a description of the fund, links to the
donation page and application guidelines for researchers, and a report
on what it has supported so far.
And, of course, there is news included in the new Update message.
Spread the word.
Peter
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
trust me, if there are 50 junk, complainy cave tex emails I DELETE them all.
But, why should I have to spend so much time deleting junk, ridiculous
responses not meant for all or NON cave topic emails.
Perhaps, Charles, you should be more proactive and NOT the "normally quiet list
administrator"
I suspect many, many folks on the cave tex listserv feel similarly and also
know how to delete emails!
--- On Thu, 5/14/09, Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
To: "Texas Cavers List" <[email protected]>
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:16 PM
While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's
opinion on this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for speaking
their opinion. If you don't like a posting on here, a simple tap of
the delete key takes care of the problem.
Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so much nicer.
Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
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To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
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--- Begin Message ---
Charles,
We all appreciate your making this venue available to us.
As far as paper vs. electronic, I can understand why a younger, dedicated caver
may want to establish an original hard copy collection for posterity. I wish
that I still had all of The Caver issues which I received in the mid fifties.
We are all enthusiastic about caves, caving and the environment. However, while
I would prefer to receive the hard copies, it makes no sense to me to waste all
of the dollars consumed by printing and mailing when they could go towards
something more tangible and beneficial. It's not as if we didn't have access to
the same material.
A conservative geezer
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Goldsmith [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 6:17 PM
To: Texas Cavers List
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's opinion on
this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for speaking their opinion. If you
don't like a posting on here, a simple tap of the delete key takes care of the
problem.
Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so much nicer.
Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail:
[email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
No, actually, I like very much the list the way it is and how Charles
manages it.
The "delete" key is your friend.
- Fofo
Jules Jenkins wrote:
trust me, if there are 50 junk, complainy cave tex emails I DELETE them
all. But, why should I have to spend so much time deleting junk,
ridiculous responses not meant for all or NON cave topic emails.
Perhaps, Charles, you should be more proactive and NOT the "normally
quiet list administrator"
I suspect many, many folks on the cave tex listserv feel similarly and
also know how to delete emails!
--- On *Thu, 5/14/09, Charles Goldsmith /<[email protected]>/* wrote:
From: Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are
Now Online!
To: "Texas Cavers List" <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:16 PM
While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's
opinion on this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for speaking
their opinion. If you don't like a posting on here, a simple tap of
the delete key takes care of the problem.
Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so much nicer.
Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
</mc/[email protected]>
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
</mc/[email protected]>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I should be pro-active? Why should I spend my time moderating a list,
when it takes someone less than 1 second to delete an email.
I spend enough time maintaining, replying to questions, and paying for
the infrastructure behind this server, why should I spend even more
time policing adults?
You wouldn't like me moderating, and I'm sure it would drive a lot of
people away.
Thank you, but I'll pass. I volunteer enough of my time here and
while many people thank me, many more just complain about how they
want things changed.
Charles
On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Jules Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote:
> trust me, if there are 50 junk, complainy cave tex emails I DELETE them
> all. But, why should I have to spend so much time deleting junk, ridiculous
> responses not meant for all or NON cave topic emails.
> Perhaps, Charles, you should be more proactive and NOT the "normally quiet
> list administrator"
>
> I suspect many, many folks on the cave tex listserv feel similarly and also
> know how to delete emails!
>
> --- On Thu, 5/14/09, Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> From: Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now
> Online!
> To: "Texas Cavers List" <[email protected]>
> Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:16 PM
>
> While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's
> opinion on this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for speaking
> their opinion. If you don't like a posting on here, a simple tap of
> the delete key takes care of the problem.
>
> Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so much nicer.
>
> Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
DELETE
--- On Fri, 5/15/09, Fofo <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Fofo <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are Now Online!
To: "texascavers" <[email protected]>
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: Friday, May 15, 2009, 6:47 PM
No, actually, I like very much the list the way it is and how Charles manages
it.
The "delete" key is your friend.
- Fofo
Jules Jenkins wrote:
> trust me, if there are 50 junk, complainy cave tex emails I DELETE them all.
> But, why should I have to spend so much time deleting junk, ridiculous
> responses not meant for all or NON cave topic emails.
> Perhaps, Charles, you should be more proactive and NOT the "normally quiet
> list administrator"
>
> I suspect many, many folks on the cave tex listserv feel similarly and also
> know how to delete emails!
>
> --- On *Thu, 5/14/09, Charles Goldsmith /<[email protected]>/* wrote:
>
>
> From: Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are
> Now Online!
> To: "Texas Cavers List" <[email protected]>
> Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:16 PM
>
> While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's
> opinion on this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for speaking
> their opinion. If you don't like a posting on here, a simple tap of
> the delete key takes care of the problem.
>
> Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so much nicer.
>
> Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> </mc/[email protected]>
> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
> </mc/[email protected]>
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Do you not realize you are doing the very thing you complained about,
over and over!? Let it go.
On May 15, 2009, at 2:06 PM, Jules Jenkins wrote:
DELETE
--- On Fri, 5/15/09, Fofo <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Fofo <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's Are
Now Online!
To: "texascavers" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, May 15, 2009, 6:47 PM
No, actually, I like very much the list the way it is and how
Charles manages it.
The "delete" key is your friend.
- Fofo
Jules Jenkins wrote:
> trust me, if there are 50 junk, complainy cave tex emails I DELETE
them all. But, why should I have to spend so much time deleting
junk, ridiculous responses not meant for all or NON cave topic emails.
> Perhaps, Charles, you should be more proactive and NOT the
"normally quiet list administrator"
>
> I suspect many, many folks on the cave tex listserv feel similarly
and also know how to delete emails!
>
> --- On *Thu, 5/14/09, Charles Goldsmith /<[email protected]>/*
wrote:
>
>
> From: Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TSA Members Area Update - More TC's
Are
> Now Online!
> To: "Texas Cavers List" <[email protected]>
> Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:16 PM
>
> While this is a hot topic, and it's ok to disagree with anyone's
> opinion on this, it is unnecessary to jump on anyone for
speaking
> their opinion. If you don't like a posting on here, a simple
tap of
> the delete key takes care of the problem.
>
> Everyone needs to learn that trick, it makes the internet so
much nicer.
>
> Charles, the normally quiet list administrator
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> </mc/[email protected]>
> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-
[email protected]
> </mc/[email protected]>
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hi folks,
I am putting a request out to everyone for a couple of items we need at ICS.
These will only be needed for two weeks and then can be returned.
1) Does anyone have access to orange construction fence. We can use up to
2000-feet.
Every piece and part will help.
2) We need three large commercial-style kitchen sinks that can be set in the
campground so folks can wash dishes.
Please reply to me directly, off line, so we don't tie up every ones email.
Thanks in advance for any help.
JC
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Anyone interested? This film project was mentioned in the NSS News last year.
Mary Kay Manning
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 20:15:08 -0400
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Cavers wanted for interviews
Interviewing Cavers
Our crew has just returned from shooting in Slovenia, Hawaii and Texas. Along
the way it has become obvious how much we want to interview cavers and hear
their viewpoints, expertise and opinions. As a reminder, we are shooting an
educational film about caves - how they form, the karst around them and even a
bit of caver culture. If you are interested in being interviewed about your
area of cave expertise, drop us a note. We would love to hear from you and
include you into the collective knowledge of experts.
Sincerely,
Greg Passmore
email: [email protected]
web: http://www.passmorelab.com
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--- Begin Message ---
Can someone help me locate Dan Welling.
Dan recorded
a cave ballad called "Im a Caver" for the 1975 NSS Convention.
Any help you can give us on who to contact to get permission to use his
recording is greatly appreciated.
Bill Steele, could you post this to Tagnet?
Thanks
Aimee Beveridge
aimbev at yahhooo
512-699-1904
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--- Begin Message ---
Hey cavers,
I'm looking for a roommate and just thought I could throw this out there
since I would prefer to find someone I know or a friend of a
friend...anyway, it's a great house if you don't mind living a little north.
http://austin.craigslist.org/roo/1174720642.html
Thanks,
Grace
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