On October 13, the Hill Country Alliance hosted the second Grassroots Gathering of Water Advocates meeting in Bandera, TX. At least 25 water advocate groups, including both non-profits and governing authorities were
invited and most attended. The Pedernales River Alliance was represented by Katherine Peake and Deborah Youngblood.
The day started with a tour of the Bandera waste water treatment facility. The rest of the day included the following indoor presentations:
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- Drought updates by Marisa Bruno, Water Program Manager, HCA and Dave Mauk, General Manager, Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District.
- Championing One Water in the Hill Country by Nick Dornak, Director of Watershed Services, Meadows Center for the Environment and Robin Gary, Managing Director, Watershed Association.
- Goals and Strategies for the 2023 Legislative Session by Danielle Goshen, Policy Specialist/Counsel, National Wildlife Federation
- Engaging Our Communities Effectively, a discussion of how grassroots groups can effect change and consider the actionable goals for each of our organizations, led by Cliff Kaplan, Program Director, HCA.
We learned that many of the Hill Country’s water issues are very similar. For example, the City of Bandera is treating and discharging approximately 150,000 gallons of treated wastewater daily. Currently this discharge is going into an dry creek that feeds into the Medina River. Many of you know this practice is one that many would like to see stopped as the effluent accumulates and is washed into the river at the next rainfall. See Hill Country Alliance’s Myths and Truths on this topic.
The city of Bandera is currently trying to locate land to build a new more modern facility, but demand for and availability of suitable land is slowing the process. Meanwhile a new grassroots group, The Hill Country Resources Rescue, in Comal County was recently formed in response to an application for a proposed new wastewater treatment facility to serve over 700 new homes. The permit would allow up to 260,000 gallons of treated domestic wastewater to be deposited daily into Cypress Creek and then into the Guadalupe River, according to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality documents.
The above examples show how existing communities, including Gillespie County, are dealing with water shortages, waste water, aging infrastructure, and new rapidly growing developments. Meanwhile new grassroots organizations are being formed to address the water and waste water issues, which are not being adequately addressed by existing regulations and governmental institutions.
Source: Most of this post was taken from the Llano River Watershed Alliance newsletter article as their rep took better notes than I did. &:)