By guest columnist Suzanne Hallam
Last week the city of Buda signed a contract with the Houston-based private water supplier, Electro Purification to pump one million gallons of water a day. This is important because Clark Wilson, the developer for Anthem, the subdivision going up behind Mountain City, along with Goforth Special Utility District, also signed contracts with this company for an additional 4.3 million gallons of water per day.
Over the course of just one year, that comes to more than one billion gallons of water.
As we all know, that’s a lot of water! We have been under drought warnings for several years. Our residents of Mountain City are thoughtful, conservative water users. Most of us do not water our lawns and have found alternatives to landscapes that thirst for water. Many Mountain Citians have rain barrels to collect and reuse their water. It does a heart good to see so many responsible homeowners who truly work together for the good of their neighbors.
That being said, it’s a little disheartening to see entities around us working just as hard in the opposite direction. It would be great if we lived in the Mountain City bubble, protected from all outside sources, but we don’t. The decisions made by the areas all around our community affect us and will more so as the years go by.
One thing that we can all still do is stay informed on this subject and attend meetings that are open to the public in our area and make our thoughts known. As I have learned, we can’t always assume that everyone else is fighting this fight for us. Collectively we can make strides and protect our home and our water source. Electro Purification will be using more than five times what is allowable to take from the Trinity Aquifer by the other permitting groundwater districts.
This week there is a meeting of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District regarding Electro Purification and its request to proceed in pumping groundwater. On the agenda it reads, “Discussion and possible action related to the Electro Purification Trinity well field located just outside of the District’s boundaries including options for possible annexation.”
If possible, attend this meeting and keep the conversation going. Meeting takes place at 6 p.m. Jan. 29 at 1124 Regal Row in Manchaca.
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