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A national CBS News report last Tuesday exposed the faulty construction problems identified months ago by East Texas landowners with the Keystone XL pipeline. Keystone XL (owned by TransCanada) is slated to start any day now pushing diluted bitumen (aka tar sands) crude over hundreds of waterways and across the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer that serves 10-12 million people: Watch this CBS News report here .  An in-depth Special Report of the problem was released by Public Citizen here Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus were warned about the problems by a cross-partisan coalition ( in this letter from Debra Medina, Julia Trigg Crawford and Jim Hightower ) last June. They were asked to do an interim study and public hearings. The Lt. Governor’s office said he was “too busy” and Speaker Straus has been mute. This is why citizens are holding their own hearings in East Texas — starting on Tuesday! We hope to see you at one of these and at a meeting on January 10-11, location TBA. Citizen Hearings – Eminent Domain, Pipeline Safety and Protection of Waterways We recently held hearings in Cleveland, Big Sandy and Fairfield. Thank you for coming out!  Below are the last hearings before the end of the hear. Help get your friends out, then let’s come back for a very strong new year to defend land, water and political rights for all. Happy Holiday’s y’all! Tues., Dec. 3, 6:30-8:30 pm, Bryan-College Station TX, Best Western Premier Old Town Center, 1920 Austins Colony Pkwy, Bryan, TX, Speakers:  Smitty (Public Citizen), Harris (video or in person), Kathleen Hubbard (Brazos River Bottom Alliance), Linda Curtis, facilitator. Relevant pipeline & issues:  Seaway & railway classification yard in Brazos Valley — see more here . Wed., Dec. 4, 6:30-8:30 pm, Tyler, TX Rose Garden Center, 420 Rose Park Drive, Tyler, TX.  Speakers:   Calvin Tilman on property rights, Smitty (Public Citizen), Harris, Curtis, facilitator.  Relevant pipelines:  Keystone XL, Pegasus. Thurs., Dec. 5, 6:30-8:30 pm, Beaumont, TX, Knights of Columbus Hall, 9505 College, Beaumont, TX.  Speakers:  Jim Williams (Public Citizen), Isom Ramsey (local resident), Linda Curtis, facilitator. Relevant pipelines: Pegasus, Seaway, CrossTex (eminent domain abuse). Learn more about the dangers associated with three pipelines in Texas carrying toxic substances (tar sands!) here:   www.TexasPipelineWatch.org Sponsored by the League of Independent Voters of Texas PO Box 651 * Bastrop, TX 78602 * 512-213-4511

Now it’s your petition rights, as they raid your water and your wallets. House Bill 2595 , the anti-petition bill, passed the Texas House on May 8th with no discussion after the author, Rep. Jim Keffer, called Texans’ right to petition “mob mentality”. If passed by the Senate, HB 2595 would shatter Texans’ the right to petition for a public vote, the most fundamental form of local control. ( See how they voted here .) These FACTS on HB 2595 make plain that this bill is a power grab by these Texas lobbies who are piling on to stop citizens from reigning in their city government on most any issue, going far beyond stopping frack bans” already passed (House Bill 40). Texans, we must not let the Texas Legislature erase 103-years of petition rights passed by Texas voters via a constitutional amendment for home rule in 1912. A hearing on HB 2595 MIGHT happen next Tuesday at 9 am. Please pencil that in and we’ll be back asap with more. We’ll talk about it on Saturday’s 9 am conference call – call us for details at 512-213-4511 or send us an email at: info@independentleaguetx.org Meanwhile, call your Senator to ask her or him to say no way to HB 2595 — and, if you haven’t yet — to “Gridzilla”, House Bill 3298/Senate Bill 1907 ( more here on the status of Gridzilla ). News coming on the water front real soon. #frackbans #homerule #petitionrights

Gridzilla ( House Bill 3298/Senate Bill 1907) is coming back to the Senate, having passed the House — with significant opposition, thanks to your calls. HB 3298/SB 1907 is a $2 million study to assis massive water transfers to developers who want to keep building in dry areas. This fits the California water model to a tee, and Texans are getting the message that it’s a disaster. We have a real shot to stop Gridzilla in the Senate but we need your help~! Step 1:  Donate here to help us reach 100,000 Texas voters by phone to ask them to call their State Senator. Step 2 : Get yourself and your friends and family on the phone to urge your State Senator to “just say no to Gridzilla, House Bill 3298/ Senate Bill 1907”. Find your Senator here or call the Capitol Switchboard at 512-463-4630 and ask to be transferred to your Senator’s office. To send an email, your Senator’s email goes like this: senator’s first name dot last name @ senate.state.tx.us . Our latest fact sheet is here . Back soon on what happened to our petition rights under HB 2595.

Join us on the conference call tomorrow (Saturday) at 9 am to discuss the contents of this message. Reply for conference call instructions . Yesterday, 36 Texas House Members — from rural and urban Texas — voted NO to “Gridzilla” (House Bill 3298), the Calfornia water model for Texas. Though it passed the House, the map to the right shows you opposition to Gridzilla (in orange) came from all regions of the state, with E. Texas leading the way. These are the legislators who voted NO to Gridzilla — thank them! Rafael Anchia, Brent Ashby, Dennis Bonnen, Greg Bonnen, DeWayne Burns, Travis Clardy, John Cyrier, Pat Fallon, Dan Flynn, Bryan Hughes, Susan King, Tracy King, Matt Krause, Andrew Murr, Elliot Naishtat, Dade Phelan, Larry Phillips, John Raney, Matt Rinaldi, Eddie Rodriguez, Leighton Schubert, David Simpson, Jonathan Stickland, Stuart Springer, Tony Tinderholt, Scott Turner, James White and Bill Zedler. These legislators, we believe, changed their vote to YES to Gridzilla (though we would ask that you confirm this with your member on this list) :  Stephanie Klick, Brooks Landgraf, Jeff Leach, Will Metcalf, Morgan Meyer, Chris Paddie, Gary VanDeaver, Armando White and Molly White. Anyone not mentioned in the lists above, voted for Gridzilla except Dawnna Dukes, who has been ill. If you hear differently, we’re happy to be corrected as sometimes there are corrections after the vote is recorded. So, don’t accuse…but DO ask. On an infuriating note, the anti-citizen’s petition bill — HB 2595 ( see our fact sheet here ) –the dream of the corporate interest lobbies in Texas, just now passed out of the House. To be honest, this bill slipped by us and, to be fair, most legislators. The good news is that they must now hold a hearing in the Senate. The true salt of a politician is one that is willing to stand up for the people’s “check and balance” — that is what the right to petition is all about. Today, Rep. Keffer called it “mob rule.” We are not a mob, we ARE voters. We are going to need all hands on deck to put a stop to this monkey business in the Senate as both bills are on their way there next week. Step up to the plate and volunteer NOW! “We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Benjamin Franklin #Californiawatermodel #petitionrights

Gridzilla (House Bill 3298/Senate Bill 1907), coming from California, hits the Texas House this Thursday March 7), after having hit the skids in the Texas Senate last week — thanks to thousands of ordinary citizens’ phone calls from rural and urban Texas. Make 1 phone call to your Texas House member before Thursday, May 7th. (Click on Gridzilla’s picture for a flier you can forward or use the share buttons at the end of this page.) HB 3298/SB 1907 is a $2 million study for the development of a market and conveyance network for water in the Texas. The California water crisis has already shown water conveyance before water conservation is a disaster. CALL YOUR TEXAS HOUSE MEMBER BEFORE THURSDAY~! Find your legislators here — make sure you call your Texas State Representative . Ask him or her to vote NO on HB 3298. Fact Sheet on HB 3298/ SB 1907. If you didn’t call your Texas State Senator last week, go ahead and do that too. Tell him or her you oppose Senate Bill 1907 — the Senate version of Gridzilla. You can share all of this from our website here or on Facebook here. What’s the alternative? Sign this petition letter, Conserve First! Get after it y’all — Gridzilla can’t wait to get to Texas, forcing rural Texas to pay with our water and urban Texas to pay with our wallets for the costs of growth. Thank you, Texas, keep up the great work!

Gridzilla (SB 1907 — the water grid bill) has hit another road block in the Senate, at least, for the moment. We’re pretty sure that’s because of your calls! Share this message (or click on the picture of Gridzilla and you’ll see a full flier) to keep sounding the alarm to your fellow Texans. Please now reach your Texas House member before Thursday, when the House version (HB 3298) is expected to reach the House floor. (You can also reach back to your Senator again with our coalition’s new fact sheet click here .) Find your legislators here. Your volunteerism is now critical.Join us for the conference call tomorrow! (Reply for details.) Too busy to be active? Donate some dough to help us warn 1,000s of Texans for pennies on the dollar. $10 will help reach 1000 people on Facebook or 1000 people with our phone calls. Donate here. (You can also mail us a check to PO Box 651, Bastrop, TX 78602.) We love you, Texans. Thanks for whatever efforts you’ve been able to make. #Gridzilla

The good news is that Senate Bill 1907, the water grid bill (aka “Gridzilla) was taken off today’s Senate calendar and tomorrow’s, as well. It is likely being amended, but we don’t know if that’s good or bad. What we DO know is that we have at least 24 more hours for phone calls to State Senators AND you can now start on your State Representatives, too. Find your Senator and State Rep here . It’s a very simple super quick phone call! Just tell your State Senator’s office that you oppose Senate Bill 1907. Then tell your State Rep’s office you oppose House Bill 3298. There’s lots of background on “Gridzilla” on our home page . Send this out to folks and ask them to call in too. If you can donate or become a dues paying member, please do here! Gridzilla needs to find another life, like scaring off those water marketers and an entire lobby pushing to move water to attract real estate development in areas without enough water on their own. Have you signed our Conserve First, Convey petition/letter yet? Please do and pass this all on from this link right here. #Californiawatermodel #WaterGrid

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. Click here for the agenda . 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! #ForestarRealEstate

Thank you, if you made your call today to your State Senator to vote NO on the water grid bill — SB 1907 tomorrow. It’s not too late to do so tonight or tomorrow before 11 am. Find their number here . In our press release today, Ken Kramer called the grid “gridzilla “. Many of the legislators, because of your calls, are also starting to get a bad taste in their mouths about gridzilla. Tomorrow, you can watch the Senate deliberations online starting at 11 am from here: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/bin/live.php We will see what shakes out tomorrow. Then start reaching State Representatives to ask them to vote NO on the House Bill, HB 3298, the companion to SB 1907. The only other important thing we must ask you is for your financial help. This is how this all volunteer outfit does what we do. Become a dues paying member or donate! #WaterGridzilla

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** 6:00 am, April 27, 2015 CONTACT : Linda Curtis, (512) 657-2089, ljcurtis@indytexans.org HEAD :  California Water Model Comes to Texas Senate (Bastrop, April 27, 2015) An urban-rural legislative coalition of farmers, ranchers, rural landowners, wildlife advocates, environmentalists and political reformers is urging the defeat of a little-noticed water bill that will likely come to the floor of the Senate on Tuesday. HB 3298/SB 1907 directs the Texas Water Development Board to conduct a study for the development of a market and conveyance network for water in the Texas. “SB 1907 assumes that a statewide water market is the best plan for Texas, but we can’t solve our water problems by selling it and moving it around,” objected Judith McGeary, Executive Director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes common-sense policies for local agricultural and food production.  “What we really need is a statewide water plan that prioritizes conservation and preservation of our water resources for generations to come for both rural and urban communities.” Respected water conservation leader, Ken Kramer (Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club) wrote, “The future of water in Texas probably will include some additional movement of water within the state, the establishment of regional water markets, and exchanges of water rights, but those can be accomplished as needed without setting up a statewide water ‘gridzilla’ that could well trample on many of the values that Texans hold dear – including landowner rights, abundant fish and wildlife, rural values, and fiscal responsibility.” Michele Gangnes, a rural landowner who helped lead the battle to stop San Antonio’s “water grab” in Lee County 15 years ago, said, “The $3.4 billion Vista Ridge project to pipe groundwater 142 miles from Burleson County to San Antonio is the backdrop for the planned water grid. The gold rush mentality fueling this project threatens not only our aquifer but our rural areas’ economic future. As the number two water user behind California, Texas should avoid that state’s failed policy of moving water to semi-arid regions to attract growth.” Senate Bill 1907 is sponsored by Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock).  The House companion bill, HB 3298, is sponsored by Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio).  The study is estimated to cost $2 million. Organizations currently opposed to this legislation are: Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Texas Certified Farmers Market Association, Food Policy Council of San Antonio, Food and Farm Coalition (East Texas Community Food Coalition), National Wildlife Federation, Neighbors for Neighbors, Environmental Stewardship, Lone Star Chapter – Sierra Club, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, and the League of Independent Voters of Texas. For more background: SB 1907/HB 3298 Fact Sheet Ken Kramer Op-Ed Brief Videos of testimony before the Senate Agriculture, Water, and Rural Affairs Committee: · Judith McGeary, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Michele Gangnes, League of Independent Voters and Steve Box, Environmental Stewardship · Ken Kramer, Lone Star Chapter – Sierra Club and Myron Hess, National Wildlife Federation Those quoted can be reached at : Judith McGeary: judith@farmandranchfreedom.org , 512-484-8821 or 254- 697-2661 Ken Kramer: kenkramer@aol.com Michele Gangnes: mmgangnes@aol.com , 512-461-3179 For more information: Linda Curtis League of Independent Voters of Texas PO Box 651 * Bastrop, TX 78602 512-213-4511* 512-535-0989 home office * 512-657-2089 cell #farmandranchfreedomalliance #KenKramer #LoneStarChapterSierraClub

Remember back in 2010 some of us warned you about the “Trans-Texas Water Highway”? Make one phone call to defeat Senate Bill 1907 — before Tuesday — when it is expected to reach the full Senate for a vote. SB 1907 is a $2 million study for the development of a market and conveyance network for water in the Texas. The California water crisis has already shown water conveyance before water conservation is a disastrous policy. Here’s where you can find your Senator . You can also just call the Capitol Switchboard at 512-463-4630 and ask for your State Senator. Tell your Senator’s office that you oppose SB 1907 (you can tell them why, but that is not necessary) and ask your Senator to vote no on the bill. Calls are best during the day, but if you cannot do so, call and leave a message. Use this fact sheet for more information or visit the News section of our website. Our future generations depend on what we do today to protect our most precious resource. Pay it forward, y’all. #TransTexasWaterHighway

The Texas Water Grid Bill, HB 3298 needs to be stopped. Do you really want to see masses of water moved from East Texas to San Antonio, DFW or Austin, to fuel unbridled and unaffordable in-migration population growth or bottling plants that ship our water out across the US for profit? Then ignore this message. Rep. Lyle Larson’s Water Grid Bill — HB 3298 (and it’s companion in the Senate, SB 1907) is still in the House Calendars Committee. Remember, Calendars decides when the bill is released to the House floor for a full vote. If passed, it then goes to the Senate. We still need your help to stop HB 3298. Read this Fact Sheet on HB 3298 . Note the groups working together to stop it. Then call the Calendars Committee members. Simply tell them you oppose HB 3298 and want to see Texas focus on maximizing water conservation first — and pursuing a longterm solution to our water problems — desalination. Click here for the House Calendars Committee Note : On the Calendars Committee pages we set up for you, if you click on each member’s city, it will open into a map their district. We have provided this for you to see if you know folks who live in those districts. If so, please call them and ask them to call their representative. Hearing from their own constituents is ten times as valuable as hearing from someone outside their district. We also have lists of folks you can call in those districts . Be on Saturday’s 9 am conference call if you want to volunteer or just call us. Reply for conference call instructions if you don’t have them already. You might read this excellent op-ed on HB 3298 by Ken Kramer , Sierra Club’s well-respected water expert. Let’s keep t he special interest hogs out of our water troughs, please dear Texans. #CalendarsCommittee #inmigrationgrowth #KenKramer #HouseBill3298 #SierraClub #RepLyleLarson