By Ashley Landis
Over the weekend local residents gathered to protest state water laws near the controversial San Marcos River Ranch.
Signs opposing the development’s ski lakes, which are filled by pumping water from the San Marcos River, lined Scull Road in response to a new minimum stream flow set for pumping by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Over the summer, the TCEQ set 130 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the Luling USGS gauge as a cut off point for pumping from the aquifer, but a 34 cfs minimum was recently set for pumping from September through April.
“Even during the 50s drought the river never got below 34 cfs. We feel that this is an outrage,” protester Tom Goynes, president of the Texas Rivers Protection Association, wrote in a letter to the TCEQ.
The new cut off point prompted the protest and a movement to change state water laws.
“We realize that passing any law to oppose a person’s right to change his water rights from agricultural to recreation is going to have some opposition, but I think we have a good chance of changing it,” Goynes said.
The River Ranch was given a water permit for agricultural purposes in 1980, when owner Gordon Hall acquired the property. Later, the permit was changed to a recreational permit through an administrative process.
“It didn’t go through public hearing, so that’s sort of how it slid through the cracks,” said LaMarriol Smith, manager of communications and education for Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA).
The Ranch is allowed to draw 150 acre feet of water per year, according to the permit, if water levels allow.
“This year because of the drought they’re probably not going to reach 150 acre feet,” said TCEQ spokesperson Andrea Morrow. An acre foot of water is the amount it takes to flood one acre with water one foot deep. That amount is widely considered to be adequate for four households for a year.
The actual amount of of water allowed to be drawn is based on the number of active diversions in the area.
“If the streamflow is up, they can divert more water. If the stream flow is down, they can’t,” said Morrow.
TCEQ designates a watermaster to help regulate diversions of surface water in the area. Watermaster Al Segovia set the 34 cfs limit.
River Ranch owner Gordon Hall said 34 cfs is not the magic number, however.
“Thirty four is the number when pumping goes to zero,” he said. During the summer, Hall said the ranch was filling one of the four private lakes and pumping twice a week, as designated by the water master.
Stream flow dropped to around 70 cfs over the summer, which is below the 130 cfs cut-off. Segovia was not available for comment, but Morrow said the River Ranch is treated just like any other permit holder.
“The water master, he’s just trying to do his job and it’s difficult because in times of drought water becomes a precious resource,” said Smith. “It’s understandable that people would get upset.”
Pumping for the ski lakes is legal under the current law.
“Every drop that we pump out of the river is monitored and metered,” Hall said.
Protesters challenged the water law that allows Hall to fill ski lakes because they were told to conserve water during the current extreme drought by doing things like not watering their lawns and turning off the faucet while bringing their teeth.
“There seems to be a disconnect here. The water we’ve conserved is being used for water skiing,” Goynes said . “If we’re going to allow this kind of development in the future then there won’t be any water reaching the coast.”
Hall said he saw the protest and welcomes the enthusiasm.
“We are always happy to see anyone protecting the spring flow of the river,” he said.
