Growth challenge: Water

By Anita Miller
News Editor

San Marcos August 16, 2008 06:27 pm

— Pat yourself on the back, Hays County residents. You’re more informed than most when it comes to the critical issue of water resources.
That appears to be one striking find from results of a survey of 315 county residents recently conducted by the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project (CTSIP).
The survey found that 88 percent of Hays residents are “very concerned” about water supplies for new development. While that proved true in other Central Texas counties, the survey found Hays residents “more pessimistic about the water available in their communities,” with 36.2 percent responding they believe there is “probably” or “definitely” a shortage of water.
“Hays residents believe the biggest growth related challenge is ‘water supply’ at a statistically significant higher percentage than residents in Central Texas as a whole,” the survey found.
The survey also covered topics such as commuting to and from work or school, whether residents are more interested in new roads or alternative transportation modes and how residents feel about preserving their community’s “unique character.”
County Judge Liz Sumter, for one, says the survey contains some good news. “Our constituents know where their water comes from and in most cases in other counties that’s just not true,” she said. “It’s good that we have a base that understands that water will be the driver for growth. Whether you have it or not is the big determiner whether you’ll have economic growth or not.”
Some other findings:
• More than half (54 percent) of respondents said the actively commuted during morning and afternoon rush hours.
• The average commute time is 25.4 minutes, up from 23.7 minutes in the 2004 CTSIP survey. (Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell and Williamson counties all had longer average commutes. Only Travis County’s was lower, 22.5 minutes.)
• A majority (53 percent) said their commute time was “about the same” as in 2006; while that number dropped to 44 percent for the whole region.
• A relatively small number of Hays commuters said that ha changed their mode of commuting in recent years, 30 percent of those who did said it was due to high gas prices.
• Some 60 percent of Hays respondents “do not agree with investing in roads rather than investing more in public transit and other alternatives to cars. (CTSIP noted that sentiment “grew stronger” over the past two years.
• Overwhelmingly, (90 percent) said preserving the character of a community depends more on shaping growth than “growth per se.”
• Hays respondents believe there is a “community responsibility to ensure housing is affordable for the average worker. (That sentiment also grew over the past two years.)
Sumter said she plans to distribute the survey to Hays Commissioners and to bring it as an agenda item sometime in the future. “I will put it on agenda as a workshop and we will talk about indicators, the direction the county should be moving in and reintroduce the idea of a strategic policies plan,” which would amount to a master plan for the county.
Of those who responded to the survey, CTSIP said they had lived in Central Texas an average of 22.6 years and in their current neighborhoods an average of 11.8 years.
As for voting, 75.2 percent said they voted in November 2006 and 87.7 said they intend to vote this November. Slightly more (32.4 percent) identified themselves as Republicans, compared to 31.1 percent who identified themselves as Democrats. Sixteen and a half percent identified themselves as other political affiliations.