You might want to attend the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation Distr
ict meeting on Wednesday (tomorrow, 6 pm, Bastrop City Hall) if you live in Bastrop or Lee County.
Here’s what League Board Member, Michele Gangnes, says about this meeting:
Wednesday’s agenda has two subjects of interest, one involving the City of Bastrop and the other involving Forestar Real Estate Group. The Board will go into executive session with its lawyers to get advice on Forestar’s pending lawsuit. But they may also, according to the agenda, take official action on the outcome of that executive session. So…“Board watchers” are intrigued whether that could signal a potential settlement of the Forestar lawsuit that would require a formal vote of the Board. The District will also hold a public hearing on whether to give the City of Bastrop a permit to pump 2,000 acre-feet/year (about 650 million gallons per year) for municipal uses. Its well would be located on private property (the “XS Ranch” development) in Bastrop County. Due to some technicalities in how the City of Bastrop permit application was handled, the District has decided to hold what amounts to a second public hearing on the permit. This means the general public may sign up to speak for three minutes for or against the permit for the City of Bastrop. About the only thing we know about the Bastrop permit is that a landowner (McCall Ranch) next to XS Ranch has protested the permit because the pumping might damage its water supply. The City and McCall Ranch reached a tentative settlement of their differences but the Bastrop City Council, led by Joe Beal who at the time worked for End Op, rejected the settlement for undisclosed reasons. Both the McCall Ranch and Forestar Real Estate Group are expected to officially protest the Bastrop permit at the meeting. The District is not expected to take action on the permit itself. Speaking of Forestar Real Estate Group, they are protesting the City of Bastrop permit because they protest all permits Lost Pines might issue. They did not get as big a permit as they wanted from Lost Pines, so they believe Lost Pines should not be able to issue any more permits at all if Forestar can’t get its full 45,000 acre-feet/year permit. They have sued Lost Pines to get their permit. Please donate or become a member to support our efforts!