Hamilton Creek -
Unique But Not Unspoiled | |
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In 2003, a rock-crushing operation began creating a nuisance in Burnet County by polluting the air with dust and threatening to silt up nearby Hamilton Creek. The rock crusher needed permits from various state agencies, and local officials were searching for ways to make the job of obtaining those permits more difficult.
Jim Barho was representing Burnet County as a member of the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group (LCRWPG) and served as chair of the group's Unique Stream Segment Committee. Under Senate Bill 1, streams in Texas could be designated as ecologically unique by the legislature and thereby be protected from becoming sites for new reservoirs.
At its February 12, 2003, meeting, the LCRWPG discussed at length whether such a designation for Hamilton Creek was an appropriate use of the "Unique Stream Segment" concept. There were also questions about the desirability of the group's taking action without that action first being considered by the Unique Stream Segment Committee. The planning group voted eleven for and six against a motion to send a letter to Senator Troy Fraser recommending that Hamilton Creek be designated a "Unique Stream Segment." The City of Burnet was reported to have been on record as supporting such a designation.
Now Hamilton Creek is in the news again.
(To read the balance of this article, click here) |
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Funding Water Infrastructure |
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During several sessions of the Texas Legislature, there has been lots of talk about finding money to build the various dams and other water projects needed to keep Texas from running out of water, but so far, no action. The problem is that all parties agree that new tax dollars will be needed to provide the necessary funding, and that is okay so long as the parties being taxed are someone else's constituents.
Meanwhile, after a series of droughts, the virtually bankrupt California Legislature has passed a sweeping water bill that sets the stage for the construction of several billion dollars worth of new dams. Governor Schwarzenegger was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, "Without clean, reliable water, we cannot build, we cannot farm, we cannot grow and we cannot prosper. That is why I am so proud that the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, came together and tackled one of the most complicated issues in our state's history."
Perhaps the Texas Legislature will take heed and decide that if poverty-stricken California can fund new water projects, surely relatively prosperous Texas can do the same.
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