Poly-ticks in Bastrop County's Water: Stan Gerdes' misleading text, John Kirkland's veiled threats, weaken Bastrop's protections from Austin's Aquifer Storage!

We're not sure Davy actually said this, but it was too good not to use.

An article in Community Impact News about the decision on Monday by the Bastrop Commissioners Court to opt-out of negotiations with Austin Water about their controversial and widely opposed Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project (ASR). did not give us the real story.

Poly-ticks in Bastrop County's water entered the Bastrop Commissioners Court on Monday, October 27, with some naturally alarmed folks showing up after they received a misleading mass text from Rep. Stan Gerdes. What the hell. It's primary season, folks. Candidate filings open on November 15 and close on December 15.

The text confusingly inferred that the Court was going to support the project. No, the Court was going to discuss what could be done to further protect the aquifers now that Gerdes failed to pass the bill to protect us.

Gerdes, to his credit, introduced House Bill 1523 in the last legislative session to stop Austin’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project due to their unwillingness to be transparent. However, Gerdes failed to get the bill passed, though it failed by only two votes.

It's clear to us that the bill's near passage forced Austin Water to the table. They did become more publicly engaged with the City of Bastrop, Bastrop County, and other stakeholders to encourage collaborative negotiations and transparency.

But Bastropians are still suspicious of Austin -- for good reason -- as they witness Austin running up debt on projects to subsidize hyper-growth development. Austin's ASR project alone could cost well over $1 billion on the heels of a 20% property tax hike on the ballot if it passes on November 4th, and a $5.6 billion convention center demolition and re-do that petitioners recently filed for a public vote to challenge.

Fast forward to last Friday, when Gerdes pulled a politician’s trick with a last-minute short text (see below) sounding a misleading alarm without links or information. It was a setup for the Bastrop Commissioner's Court that would meet on Monday to discuss entering into a legally binding "Collaboration Agreement" with stakeholders in Bastrop County with Austin Water for aquifer protections, folks!

Gerdes mass text

This text had Bastrop County Commissioners defensively scrambling to answer 100 emails over the weekend, attempting to clear up Stan's dance with the truth.

Before you read this, trust us, Item 26 was about entering into negotiations with Austin Water, not expressing approval of the ASR Project.

Gerdes TEXT, “The City of Austin wants to store their treated water in Bastrop County’s aquifer, with zero benefit for us and putting our water at risk. Rep. Stan Gerdes has been leading the fight to stop this overreach, and he’s not backing down – but now, it’s our turn to stand with him. On Monday, Bastrop County Commissioners will vote on Austin’s proposed deal – and they need to hear us loud and clear: VOTE NO and protect Bastrop’s water. 📞 Contact your Commissioner TODAY.” (We love how he refers to himself as "he" in the text.)

(The remainder of the text had Commissioner’s contact info, but you can find their info on the County webpage HERE.)

Guess what. Stan was not at the meeting for anyone to stand with!

Guess who was.

Bastrop City Council Member and Mayor Pro-tem, John Kirkland

Bastrop City Councilman John Kirkland*. spoke to the Court with some 'friendly' advice to refrain from following their own County Attorney's advice, and to follow his -- to opt-out, otherwise it might "look like you're supporting this."

It was a thinly veiled political threat. Everyone in Bastrop politics knows the story of Kirkland's ruthless "fake recall" that drove former Mayor Lyle Nelson out of office. LIV has written extensively about it.

The threat worked, despite the steady advice of the Bastrop County Attorney, who advised the Commissioners that, with the failure of Gerdes’ bill, entering into negotiations is advised to protect the aquifer. Furthermore, without negotiating a settlement, the County and other affected parties had no legal means to stop it. (We're working on getting you the audio recording.)

Four County Commissioners voted no. Commissioner Glass recused himself for a conflict as President of Aqua Water Corporation that had already signed the agreement.

What Does This Mean For Aquifer Protection in Bastrop?

At this time, no one, including Austin Water, knows whether their bosses on the Austin City Council will give them the green light to engage with a group that does not have the participation of any elected body other than Aqua Water Supply Corporation.

Please note that all the politicians in this report are Republicans, so this is not a partisan dispute. The GOP is shooting itself in the foot on the top issue in House District 17, Stan's district.

In these retooled words of Davy Crockett, it's poly-ticks, water suckers all!

Disclosure: LIV’s Linda Curtis ran against Gerdes in 2022 as an independent. She buried the hatchet immediately following the election and refrained from calling him "Rick Perry's Poodle" ever again.

NOTES:

We are working to publish the audio so you can listen for yourselves. The County does not make its meeting recordings (audio or video) easily available to the public.

The next and bigger ASR threat is coming from the LCRA. Don't expect anything from LCRA. They'll just do it. The Bastrop Commissioner's Court was put on notice about this in this LIV message HERE.

*The City of Bastrop has been paying for full-page ads in Community Impact News with self-promotional claims of the City Manager's, Sylvia Carrillo, undying commitment to "Protecting Bastrop's Water." Somehow, Sylvia and her compliant City Council couldn't find a way to provide a public comment to the TCEQ (Texas Commission for Environmental Quality) about the wastewater project threatening water quality at Fisherman's Park in the city's downtown. Then her closest ally, John Kirkland shows up to stop the County from protecting us from Austin's ASR.