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Please attend a Special Meeting of Lost Pines Board on End Op Permit Where:   Giddings Public Library, 276 N. Orange Street When:  Thursday, February 1, 2018, 7:00 p.m. At their January 17 meeting, the Lost Pines Board sat on its hands and tabled action on Judge Carson Campbell’s January 4 ruling in favor of four local landowners. End Op took advantage of the vacuum Lost Pines created and filed their own appeal of the Judge’s ruling last week. Now the Lost Pines Board will huddle with their lawyers once again Thursday night and again consider taking action. You are encouraged to attend the meeting Thursday and show your support of the four landowners. Your message to the Board should be:  I expect the Board to respect the Judge’s ruling and tell him you will not join End Op’s appeal of his decision, because you accept your duty to protect the property rights of all landowners and will give the four landowners a hearing. Feel free to continue writing and calling the Board before Thursday evening, to let them know you are paying attention. We have received copies of many heartfelt letters to the Board, and we thank you. ( Follow the instructions in this message. ) REMEMBER!  Our Groundwater CONSERVATION District should always have an audience when they vote on important matters. Their lawyers can speak to them in private. You can – and should– watch your appointed officials from the audience. They are accountable to you! Read the front page of the Giddings Times today. Our own Michele Gangnes is quoted about this special meeting. #EndOp

End Op appeals to do an end-run around Lost Pines District and Judge Carson Campbell’s recent ruling for landowners! Will landowners get screwed again by End Op’s appeal? Don’t let this happen — take action — more below. Is Lost Pines going to allow landowners to get screwed again by End Op? Lost Pines made a decision to take no action. Did that leave the door open for End Op? We have no idea if Lost Pines intended to do that. The Lost Pines District will leave landowners in the cold, again.  Please take action immediately — call and email the Lost Pines District NOW!  See below for all you need. Please see item three below for what you can do, if you don’t live in Bastrop or Lee counties.  Background: State District  Judge Carson Campbell recently ruled in favor of four landowners. Judge Campbell said the landowners were entitled to be heard at a formal hearing the District needs to call on End Op’s permit. He revoked End Op’s permit, pending that hearing. The Judge put the ball squarely in the Lost Pines District’s hands. Citizens asked the District not to appeal the Judge’s ruling. The District “tabled” any action at all. Does that mean they are intentionally doing nothing for their constituents? Taking no action will let End Op take over.  End Op filed an appeal on the Judge’s ruling yesterday.  The Lost Pines District must act quickly and formally grant a hearing to the landowners. By taking no action, the District will be COMPLICIT with End Op’s intent to derail the Judge’s decision.  Bastrop and Lee counties — please immediately contact the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District — BE RESPECTFUL! Write a short email message to the District’s Board of Directors . Ask them to IMMEDIATELY GRANT A HEARING TO LANDOWNERS in the End OP dispute. Address your message to the Lost Pines Board of Directors. Subject line: DO NOT APPEAL and CALL A HEARING Board President Mike Talbot, email: mike.talbot.4@gmail.com, and District’s General Manager James Totten, email: jtotten@lostpineswater.org Copy the League:  info@independentleaguetx.org Call the District’s General Manager James Totten at (512) 360-5088.  Urge that the District IMMEDIATELY GRANT A HEARING TO LANDOWNERS (Plaintiffs) in the End OP dispute. Non residents of Lee or Bastrop counties:   End Op wants to move this water to the I-35 Corridor and continue hyper-growth affecting us all. Most of all, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties and the Edwards Aquifer and its recharge zones! Share this message.  Join LIV here . Contribute to to the Simsboro legal defense fund  here . Don’t let these water grabbers at End Op get away with it! #EndOp #JudgeCarsonCampbell

Last night in the Lost Pines, the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District tabled any decision to appeal Judge Carson Campbell’s ruling that granted four landowners the right to be parties at a hearing on the groundwater mega-permit granted to Recharge/End Op by the District. The Judge also revoked the permit, pending that hearing. The Lost Pines District has until February 3 to take the issue off the table and make a decision OR they can leave it on the table and let it die, in which case, the Judge’s ruling stands. That would be fine with us! Just remember, this 4-year battle  immediately affects those who live over the aquifer east of Austin, as well as residents of Hays, Travis and Williamson counties, to which the water could be exported. Here’s today’s article in the Bastrop Advertiser/Statesman. Wanna Help? Click here: to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund to help cover legal bills still pending on this case. Bring these issues to your officials and the candidates running in this election cycle. Here’s the LIV web page on water for your review. Join LIV (or renew your dues) and get involved with us this year! Your dues help fuel the all-volunteer League of Independent Voters. We are also now recruiting board members across the state. PS Did you catch how End Op changed their name to Recharge Water? Do you think they know that the water they seek comes from an aquifer that barely recharges? #EndOp #RechargeWater

In all likelihood, the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District meeting is still on tonight, Wednesday, January 17, at 7 pm at Bastrop City Hall (1131 Chestnut). There is a slight possibility it will be postponed due to weather. If you can get there safely, please do. Please note, we still hope you will tell them not to appeal the Judge’s decision. You might review our last update here. There has been clarification from the Lost Pines District that there will be no limitations on what you can talk about tonight. Of course, we expect we’ll all stay on point and be respectful. 🙂 Bundle up, and come on over because groundwater in central Texas is still HOT!

Water protectors are uniting in Bastrop on Wednesday night having scored a VERY important court victory last week. We hope this victory will extend to safeguard Landowners in District Judge Carson Campbell’s Courtroom, taken by Mary Huber, Bastrop Advertiser all Texas landowners’ property rights in the groundwater under their land. This coming Wednesday night, January 17, at 7 pm at Bastrop City Hall (1131 Chestnut), the Lost Pines GCD will review the court’s decision. Bastrop and Lee county residents: please be there to tell them what you want them to do. (Of course, any of y’all are invited!) Read this! Saturday’s Statesman/Bastrop Advertiser carried this commentary by our own Michele Gangnes , attorney and volunteer aquifer protector for the last 18 years:  One Landowner’s Perspective on Landmark Water Decision The Lost Pines Board will debate in private session, and may decide Wednesday night, whether they appeal our hometown judge’s decision. It might be the most important decision they have ever made.  Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District Agenda, January 2018 . Bottom line, we believe the District should fulfill its legal duty to protect property rights in groundwater and accept the Judge’s ruling. The District should not appeal. The alternative could be several more years of limbo for all concerned. What else you can do: Click here: to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund to help cover legal bills still pending on this case. Bring these issues to your officials and the candidates running in this election cycle. Here’s the LIV web page on water for your review. Join LIV and get involved with us this year! Your dues help fuel the all-volunteer League of Independent Voters. We are also now recruiting board members across the state. PS Happy MLK Day, y’all! #MicheleGangnes #Statesman

We are more than excited to share this long overdue news for Texas landowners and their rights to protect the aquifers beneath them — Happy New Year, Texas! (read the release below) Note: If you live in the Lost Pines District (Lee and Bastrop counties) please plan to be at the next Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District Meeting on Wednesday, January 17th, likely starting at 7 pm at Bastrop City Hall. (We will keep you informed). Also, this coming Monday, at 9 am, please attend the Bastrop County Commissioner’s Court Meeting (Bastrop County Courthouse) where the subject of a Waste Transfer Station planned for high-growth Cedar Creek will be on the agenda. For Immediate Release Thursday, January 4, 2018 SIMSBORO AQUIFER WATER DEFENSE FUND (SAWDF) P.O. Box 690 Elgin, Texas 78621-0690 www.simsborowaterdefensefund.org ~~Working for a legacy of aquifers that last forever~~ Contacts:  Michele Gangnes 512-461-3179 mggangnes@aol.com                    Travis Brown 512-560-0341  travisbrown983@gmail.com Judge Rules for Local Landowners In Groundwater Export Dispute   BASTROP – A state district judge in Bastrop has ruled in favor of four local landowners in a dispute over permits that allow massive amounts of groundwater to be pumped from Lee and Bastrop counties. Judge Carson Campbell’s January 4, 2018 order ( copy here ) ruled that the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District improperly excluded three individual landowners and conservation group Environmental Stewardship, also a landowner, from participating as parties in a 2014 hearing over permits issued by the district in 2016 to water marketing company End-Op LP, now known as Recharge Water. Those permits allow Recharge Water to pump and export up to 46,000 acre-feet of water annually (approximately 15 billion gallons per year) from 14 wells in the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, for export to Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The judge’s ruling also revokes the permits issued by the groundwater district to Recharge Water and orders the district to conduct new proceedings on the permits that allow the four landowners to participate as parties. “Judge Campbell’s ruling sets an important precedent for all of Texas,” said Michele Gangnes, a Lee County attorney and director of the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund. “It means groundwater districts must recognize the property rights of all landowners in their groundwater and give them a voice on pumping permits that likely will affect the groundwater under their land.” Gangnes said a new hearing before an administrative law judge over the Recharge Water permits would also allow the landowners to present evidence that the pumping allowed by those permits would permanently damage the viability of the Simsboro formation. “Pumping of that scale, especially when combined with other planned Simsboro projects, would cause huge drawdowns, affecting the wells and groundwater resources of thousands of landowners across Lee and Bastrop counties,” Gangnes said. In a new hearing, Environmental Stewardship also would present evidence that the pumping would have negative impacts on the rivers, streams and springs that depend on groundwater. “Our objective is to protect and sustainably manage the Colorado River, its tributaries and our aquifers, through monitoring and practices based on good science,” said Steve Box, Executive Director of Environmental Stewardship. ”While the district may side with End Op and appeal Judge Campbell’s ruling to a state court of appeals,” said Ernest Bogart of Elgin, one of the landowners’ attorneys, “we hope the district will accept this ruling that will allow the district’s constituents and all Texans to protect their property and water rights.” During a hearing before Judge Campbell on Oct. 18, attorneys for the groundwater district and Recharge Water argued that the landowners had no right to be parties because none of them had wells that were producing water from the Simsboro formation. “The judge’s ruling affirms our position that whether you have a well or not is irrelevant – your groundwater resources would be impacted by these pumping permits and you as a landowner have the right to be heard,” Gangnes said. SAWDF was formed in 2016 by veterans of several groups, including Neighbors for Neighbors, who have battled for almost two decades to protect the region’s groundwater. SAWDF, a 501(c)(3) organization, has focused its current fundraising campaign on supporting the landowners’ case.                                                       #### #MicheleGangnes #SimsboroAquiferWaterDefenseFund #BastropCounty #JudgeCarsonCampbell #EndOpLP #ErnieBogart #EnvironmentalStewardship

SIMSBORO AQUIFER WATER DEFENSE FUND (SAWDF) P.O. Box 690 Elgin, Texas 78621-0690 www.simsborowaterdefensefund.org ~~Working for a legacy of aquifers that last forever~~ October 20, 2017 For Immediate Release Contacts: Michele Gangnes 512-461-3179 mggangnes@aol.com Travis Brown 512-560-0341 travisbrown983@gmail.com Judge Hears Arguments on Landowners’ Right to Protest Groundwater Export, Ruling to Come BASTROP – A state district judge in Bastrop on Wednesday heard arguments for and against the contention that four local landowners were denied their rights when they were excluded by the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District from participating in a 2013 administrative hearing on a groundwater pumping permit. The 2013 hearing resulted in a permit to water marketer End-Op LP (now known as Recharge Water) that allows massive amounts of groundwater to be pumped and exported from Lee and Bastrop counties. The Oct. 18 hearing was part of a legal challenge to that permit. Judge Carson Campbell ruled in favor of the landowners from the bench Wednesday on the question of whether he has the authority to review the District’s decision to exclude them. A ruling on the landowners’ right to protest the permit is pending from Judge Campbell. Three individual landowners and landowner Environmental Stewardship, a non-profit conservation organization, are asking the court to allow them a new hearing so they can present evidence that the permit would harm them and their property, as well as the region’s aquifer. Environmental Stewardship also seeks to present evidence on negative impacts on the rivers, streams and springs that depend on groundwater. The permit allows Recharge Water to pump and export up to 46,000 acre-feet of water annually (approximately 15 billion gallons per year) from 14 wells in the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, for export to Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. A lawyer for the groundwater district joined the water marketer’s attorneys in arguing against the landowners (or “those folks” as he called them), primarily because none of the landowners are producing water from the Simsboro formation.  Landowner attorney Don Grissom, who has ties to Bastrop County, denounced the District’s and End Op’s “condescension” and “arrogance” in dealing with residents of the two counties, who he said are entitled to have the district protect their water supply, whether they have wells or not. Water marketers have bought rights to pump groundwater from thousands of acres in Lee, Bastrop, Milam and Burleson counties, with an eye on selling groundwater to San Antonio and other cities along the I-35 corridor. Representatives of a citizens group organized to protect groundwater in Central Texas say they are optimistic Judge Campbell will affirm the right of Texas landowners to protect the groundwater under their land from negative impacts of permits. “Landowners, conservationists and property rights groups across the state are watching this case closely,” said Michele Gangnes, a Lee County attorney and director of the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund. “This could set an important precedent for the protection of groundwater and property rights across Texas.” SAWDF was formed in 2016 by veterans of several groups, including Neighbors for Neighbors, who have battled for almost two decades to protect the region’s groundwater. The 501(c)(3) organization’s Fall 2017 fundraising campaign is focused on supporting the landowners’ case.       ### #Simsboro #EndOp #Recharge #SimsboroAquiferWaterDefenseFund #DonGrissom #ErnieBogart

Thanks to the good folks who showed up last night, including speakers, contributors and volunteers, for our Independent Pow Wow! We were Democrats, Republicans and independents — actually talking to one another. What about? Will the eastern counties of Central Texas have a future? Not if we allow the hogs to gorge themselves at our water trough. Tomorrow, the courts will finally have a look at OUR future water supply. What are your rights to the water underneath you? We soon shall see! SHOW UP TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 18, 1:30 PM! Bastrop County Courthouse Annex 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, Texas 21st District Court of The Honorable Judge Carson Campbell Wear a Blue Shirt for Water! Bring a check (it’s tax-deductible) to the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund! Can’t make it? Mail SAWDF a check to PO Box 690, Elgin, TX 78621 On the Water Front Materials to share from last night’s meeting: Two page summation flier here ! Slide Show on End Op L.P . (aka Recharge), by Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund. More soon on the Waste Transfer Station and Bastrop litigation news, including videos from this event. #CarsonCampbell

Wake up, Texas! Two mega-water deals are either about to swamp us or citizens will succeed in pulling the plug. Don’t get caught thinking you know who your friends and foes are — politics, like the weather, is increasingly unpredictable. If you can get to Bastrop on Monday night, please come on out — and bring folks to this VERY important event! It’s all about the water wars, waste transfer stations and your pocketbook. Austin — we hope to see you at this meeting on Friday, October 20 held by IndyAustin , a new pac for ballot measures started by Linda Curtis of Bastrop and David Jones of Austin. Linda’s residence has not gone unnoticed by those who seem to be trying to erect an imaginary partition between Bastrop and Travis counties. (Even Donald Trump won’t support that wall!) But the reality is that Bastrop is intimately tied to Austin, as Austin continues to lose it’s soul to those who want to turn it into a commodity — not a community. How? CodeNEXT . CodeNEXT is a massive overhaul of Austin’s land development code that, if handled badly (like it is now) could drive more unaffordability and more people to leave Austin. Just now, we witnessed the Austin City Council vote to give the San Francisco-based consultants making CodeNEXT into CodeWRECK, an additional $2 million. (Only Ora Houston, Allison Alter and Leslie Pool said no — thank you, ladies). More here from Community Not Commodity . IndyAustin’s petition for a public vote on CodeNEXT (the same petition carried by Let Us Vote Austin pac) has the earliest deadline — in January. So sign it now (Austin voters only) mail it or bring it to us on October 20. This week and next, no matter where you live in Texas, please reach Gov. Greg Abbott . The Governor is knee-deep in Harvey relief and the Texas Congressional delegation is not helping . Please respectfully reach the Governor with these three points: Tell Gov. Abbott that you are behind him on Harvey relief. Thank the Governor for his veto of HB 2378 (for automatic renewals of groundwater transfer permits), which made all the difference for stopping the Vista Ridge/San Antone Hose’s fast one last week at the Post Oak Groundwater Conservation District ( we wrote about this here with videos here ), and Ask Gov. Abbott to do all he can to stop the California Water Model — mass movement of groundwater — embodied in Vista Ridge and mega-permit End Op making its way to court next week ( more here from the Bastrop Advertiser ). On Tuesday, this message was delivered in person and in citizens comments to SAWS and especially to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg at a SAWS meeting on behalf of the “source communities” for Vista Ridge. Ready for an independent revolt? We are! Join the only voter association for non-aligned voters in Texas — and keep voting in your primary of choice!. We are the League of Independent Voters of Texas. Visit our membership page here — join us. Would you like to volunteer? Let us know how you’d like to help. Call us anytime between 8 am and 8 pm, Monday through Saturday. Yours in friendship and determination for future generations, LIV PS You can also thank Rep. John Cyrier, Rep. Leighton Schubert, Rep. Terry Wilson, and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst for simply asking Post Oak to hold a hearing…yet to happen, so stay tuned. #waterwars #TerryWilson #LoisKolkhorst #CodeNEXT #LeightonSchubert #PostOakSavannahGroundwaterConservationDistrict #VistaRidge #eminentdomain #RonNirenberg #JohnCyrier #SanAntoneHoseGovGregAbbott

#PostOakGroundwaterConservationDistrict

Bastrop, Texas, Thursday, October 5, 201 7:  Some would say only God and Mother Nature “own” the Simsboro — humanity only stewards it. Residents of Bastrop, Lee, Milam and Burleson counties are looking to enlist Governor Greg Abbott’s intervention in what they’re calling a manmade disaster in the making – the draining of the very slow to recharge Simsboro Aquifer by San Antonio’s Vista Ridge water project, aka “San Antone Hose”. The “Hose” is a “mega-permit” in the Simsboro just 30 miles east of the Governor’s residence, according to claims by the non-profit League of Independent Voters of Texas. LIV Board member and Simsboro landowner, Michele Gangnes said, “On Tuesday night, in the tiny rural town of Milano, Texas, we witnessed their typical arrogance when the purveyors of Vista Ridge forgot who runs Texas. They insisted that the groundwater district — Post Oak — ignore the three state representatives, one state senator and one county judge who weighed in — AND a veto by the Governor of Texas.” Linda Curtis of Independent Texans PAC and a new local Austin pac, IndyAustin, said, “In the post-Harvey world, anything could happen. Donald Trump himself just pulled the plug on public-private toll road deals! So who knows what Greg Abbott might do, if asked by his neighbors living in the Simsboro communities.” Details on the meeting in Milano are posted here, including videos. For more information call Linda Curtis at 512-657-2089 #PostOakGroundwaterConservationDistrict #SanAntoneHose #VistaRidge

Some would say only God and Mother Nature “own” the Simsboro — humanity only stewards it. Part 1: Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District Meeting 10-3-17 Is it possible that Governor Greg Abbott will intervene in this manmade disaster in the making – the draining of the oh so slow to recharge Simsboro Aquifer by the San Antone Hose – just 30 miles east of his residence?  After you read this (and watch the videos, if you really want to get into this), please call the Governor’s office at 512.463.2000—or better yet, write him a hand written letter to PO Box PO Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711 or fax 512-463-1849 – try the contact page on his website here too: https://gov.texas.gov/apps/contact/assistance.aspx. Ask for his intervention to Oppose the Part 2: Post Oak Savannah Groundwater District Board, 10/3/17 Hose, then pray for divine intervention, too. Last Tuesday night, Paul Terrill, the attorney for San Antonio’s for-profit partners in the “ Vista Ridge Project” (aka the “San Antone Hose”), pressed the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District to violate its own rules by doing Vista Ridge a little ole “non-substantial” favor. On September 28, Vista Ridge had already pressuredPost Oak to amend its already-published regular meeting agenda to accommodate Vista Ridge’s surprise request to extend the terms of the Vista Ridge groundwater transport permit (expiring in 2034) by 10-years. The “favor” was to rush through this extraordinary request as a non-substantial permit change the General Manager could handle on his own. The extended term is being sought to match the transport permit to Vista Ridge’s mega-permit (expiring in 2044) to pump 50,000 acre-feet per year from the Simsboro and Carrizo aquifers. The mismatched permit terms apparently have long been a problem for Vista Ridge, but the Post Oak District has no obligation to fix it 17 years in advance. At the meeting, Terrill wanted the Board to ignore Post Oak’s own rules, which require a formal application to amend a transport permit, a review by the District as extensive as any other permit application, and 10 business days public notice in advance of a formal public hearing. (Last night’s notice – Item 14 on the agenda — was less than 3 business days for a regular board meeting, with only informal public comment — but in fact, many members of the public turned out, and there was lively public comment and audience response in opposition to Vista Ridge’s end run!) Vista Ridge’s response to what they expected would be a slam dunk was flat out cocky. Terrill mocked a letter signed by three state representatives ( John Cyrier, Terry Wilson and Leighton Schubert ) and a letter from State Senator Lois Kolkhorst , and ignored an in-person statement by Lee County Judge Paul Fischer , who all urged that Post Oak deny the request in favor of transparency and a properly noticed, public hearing. As their basis for this request, the legislators referenced Governor Greg Abbott’s veto of HB 2378 , a 2017 bill by San Antonio’s Rep. Lyle Larson to make renewals of transport permits automatic (a welfare handout by Larson to water marketers in general, but clearly a handout primarily to Vista Ridge.) Terrill argued that the intervention of elected officials was “all political”, because the bill was passed unanimously by the Legislature before the Governor vetoed it. (Now, that’s a whole other discussion — when is a veto not a veto? NEVER! until it is legally overridden.) Anyway, Terrill’s message was: — ignore Judge Fischer, ignore the three reps – Cyrier, Wilson and Schubert – ignore a State Senator and, unbelievably, IGNORE the Governor of the State of Texas! What are these Vista Ridge guys smokin’? Hundred dollar bills, or just fumes from foreign lenders, and SAWS, who don’t want to risk having a 142-mile pipeline to nowhere in 2034? The bottom line is, there’s no emergency on the part of Post Oak to solve this latest desperate attempt to shore up a project that doesn’t make sense. [LINDA — this paragraph was catchy but just didn’t make sense.] Agenda Item 14 was pulled down for now, because the Board acted responsibly and told Vista Ridge to put in a formal application if it wants to proceed. Will the Vista Ridge handout come back with a proper application and a properly noticed public hearing for the 10-year extension? No one knows, but residents and landowners are preparing for the next step…with hope for a better future, regardless. When officials do the right thing – in this case, support transparency, open government, and the constituents who put them in office – they are to be sincerely applauded. Thank you, Paul, John, Terry, Leighton, Lois and yes, Governor Greg himself! Most of all thanks to the people of Burleson & Milam counties who continue to hang in there when those water grabbers are doing nothing but hanging us…out to dry. Stay tuned, ye people of mighty faith and contactl the Governor. Then reach your local officials too. Urge them to save the Simsboro from a manmade disaster. #TerryWilson #LoisKolkhorst #PaulFischer #LeightonSchubert #GregAbbott #PostOakSavannahGroundwaterConservationDistrict #SAWS #VistaRidge #JohnCyrier