Jump to content

2023 Rain Thread

South Austin

By South Austin
in Daily Texan

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.6k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

UnivTex34
UnivTex34

Got some after action shots from 400 ft AGL in 78748  

Hate
Hate

The people who can park their cars in their garage?

HenryJames
HenryJames

Your demographics are way off.

Posted Images

crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

Posted
Posted (edited)

Didn't know where to put this.

Fuck rich assholes reason eleventy billion. If hotwheels directs his cronies to grant this asswipe the dam...

 

 

https://www.kxan.com/texas-water/houston-oil-executive-wants-to-build-private-dam-for-recreation-on-south-llano-river/

JUNCTION, Texas (KXAN) — A private dam proposed on the South Llano River, a major tributary to the Highland Lakes, is the center of a debate in the Hill Country this week as a public hearing set for Thursday evening approaches.

It all started in 2018 when then-CEO of Phillips 66, Gregory Garland, filed an application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, to dam up the river and create a private pool.

---

Landowners along the South Llano River said their biggest concern, if TCEQ approves this private dam, is that more homeowners along the Highland Lakes tributary will follow suit, further straining a river that is already running low.

“It could have serious impacts on flow,” said Marisa Bruno, Water Program Manager with the Hill Country Alliance. “As of [Tuesday] morning, the LCRA is measuring that all of the tributaries besides the Llano are contributing zero flow, which means that all of the water right now going into the Highland Lakes is coming from the Llano River.”

“If the state grants this permit and allows his private lake to be built up there and impound twelve acre-feet of water, it sets a precedent,” Llano Mayor Marion Bishop told KXAN over the phone.

The TCEQ grants permits for private dams like the one Garland proposes. The three TCEQ commissioners are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Since filing his application in 2018, Garland has donated at least $10,000 to Gov. Abbott’s campaign as an individual, according to Texas Ethics Commission filings.

Phillips 66, where Garland still serves as Executive Chairman of the Board, has a political action committee that has donated more than $50,000 to Abbott in that time.

Edited by crash_davis
  • Rage+1 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
AUS-97HORN

AUS-97HORN 11765

Posted
Posted (edited)

you mean, posting the same story on a new page when it was already posted on the previous page and is already the reason this thread (which hasnt had rain in 50 years) was originally bumped from 10 pages back to the front page?

Edited by AUS-97HORN
  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45690

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Didn't know where to put this.

Fuck rich assholes reason eleventy billion. If hotwheels directs his cronies to grant this asswipe the dam...

 

 

https://www.kxan.com/texas-water/houston-oil-executive-wants-to-build-private-dam-for-recreation-on-south-llano-river/

JUNCTION, Texas (KXAN) — A private dam proposed on the South Llano River, a major tributary to the Highland Lakes, is the center of a debate in the Hill Country this week as a public hearing set for Thursday evening approaches.

It all started in 2018 when then-CEO of Phillips 66, Gregory Garland, filed an application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, to dam up the river and create a private pool.

---

Landowners along the South Llano River said their biggest concern, if TCEQ approves this private dam, is that more homeowners along the Highland Lakes tributary will follow suit, further straining a river that is already running low.

“It could have serious impacts on flow,” said Marisa Bruno, Water Program Manager with the Hill Country Alliance. “As of [Tuesday] morning, the LCRA is measuring that all of the tributaries besides the Llano are contributing zero flow, which means that all of the water right now going into the Highland Lakes is coming from the Llano River.”

“If the state grants this permit and allows his private lake to be built up there and impound twelve acre-feet of water, it sets a precedent,” Llano Mayor Marion Bishop told KXAN over the phone.

The TCEQ grants permits for private dams like the one Garland proposes. The three TCEQ commissioners are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Since filing his application in 2018, Garland has donated at least $10,000 to Gov. Abbott’s campaign as an individual, according to Texas Ethics Commission filings.

Phillips 66, where Garland still serves as Executive Chairman of the Board, has a political action committee that has donated more than $50,000 to Abbott in that time.

This could totally fuck Lake Travis, and therefore Austin, which means Abbott will most definitely push for it. 

Seriously, how can this be allowed when you have the 10th biggest city in the country depending on it for water?

  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
texasdago

texasdago 7573

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

This could totally fuck Lake Travis, and therefore Austin, which means Abbott will most definitely push for it. 

Seriously, how can this be allowed when you have the 10th biggest city in the country depending on it for water?

You know... this reminds me... has Abbott really come out and talked about the drought, the heat, the issues we're facing lately?  Is he treating it like the natural disaster it is or just spending his time protecting us from scary books?  Is he making any plans to mitigate these issues or am I right in thinking it has been total silence?

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Orange&White

Orange&White 5528

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

This could totally fuck Lake Travis, and therefore Austin, which means Abbott will most definitely push for it. 

Seriously, how can this be allowed when you have the 10th biggest city in the country depending on it for water?

I mean it is a shitty thing to do and it would hurt the immediate neighbor, but to say that this would affect Lake Travis in any noticeable way is a stretch.

This proposed dam will hold TWELVE acre feet of water. Lake Travis, when full, holds 1,115,076 acre feet of water.

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45690

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Orange&White said:

I mean it is a shitty thing to do and it would hurt the immediate neighbor, but to say that this would affect Lake Travis in any noticeable way is a stretch.

This proposed dam will hold TWELVE acre feet of water. Lake Travis, when full, holds 1,115,076 acre feet of water.

oh.  Well...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89675

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Orange&White said:

I mean it is a shitty thing to do and it would hurt the immediate neighbor, but to say that this would affect Lake Travis in any noticeable way is a stretch.

This proposed dam will hold TWELVE acre feet of water. Lake Travis, when full, holds 1,115,076 acre feet of water.

The problem is that if one exception is made for a donor, then more exceptions will be made, until the fucking thing is reduced to nothing year-round.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89675

Posted
Posted

More on the dam from KXAN:

Quote

TCEQ’s draft permit for the project states the landowner cannot store water during low-flow conditions, as it may prevent water from reaching downstream senior water right holders.

A hydrologist told KXAN when a reservoir is full, the landowner would allow excess water to spill over and travel downstream. But if the reservoir is not full during prolonged drought conditions, any water that flows in is stored in the reservoir even though the water legally belongs to someone downstream with senior rights.

Quote

County Commissioners from Llano, Mason and Kimble counties passed resolutions in 2022 urging the TCEQ to deny the dam permit, citing drought conditions and concerns about river flow.

Landowners along the South Llano River said their biggest concern, if TCEQ approves this private dam, is that more homeowners along the Highland Lakes tributary will follow suit, further straining a river that is already running low.

Quote

“It could have serious impacts on flow,” said Marisa Bruno, Water Program Manager with the Hill Country Alliance. “As of [Tuesday] morning, the LCRA is measuring that all of the tributaries besides the Llano are contributing zero flow, which means that all of the water right now going into the Highland Lakes is coming from the Llano River.”

“If the state grants this permit and allows his private lake to be built up there and impound twelve acre-feet of water, it sets a precedent,” Llano Mayor Marion Bishop told KXAN over the phone.

In theory, given that it could fuck with senior rights, and given that so many of the affected counties and small towns are against it, and because when the waterflow is low, he would be keeping water that legally belongs to other entities, I would assume that the TCEQ will deny it since senior rights are one of the most important parts of surface water law (and not a lawyer, but I've had to deal with it as a co-owner of an affected property in the past). There appears to be no mechanism for him to empty the reservoir to send the water downstream when there's little/none flowing into his would-be reservoir, so he would be tramping on the senior rights holders.

But that's in a normal world.  If he gets it, he's got enough money to tell the senior rights' holders and the state to get fucked and he'll see them in court, and will drag this out in court until the day he dies. And he's probably got the security needed to keep people away from the dam/river if anybody tries to fuck with the reservoir when no water is flowing.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45690

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

Oh, we're only permitted to pump this much? Ok, we'll pump double that. 

https://www.msn.com/en-US/news/us/texas-utility-company-ignored-pumping-limits-endangering-jacobs-well/ar-AA1flSSp?ocid=sapphireappshare

Fined over $400k.  I assume Abbott will find a way to charge the citizens to make this company "whole".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13585

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Fined over $400k.  I assume Abbott will find a way to charge the citizens to make this company "whole".

Quote

Flatten said the problem is the district can’t do anything to limit overconsumption; it can only administer fines.

“Some permittees are really very good and they take it very seriously,” he said. “They recognize that this is really a finite resource.”

But others, Flatten said, aren’t motivated to conserve.

“We’ve got a whole list of permittees and then there is one ill-fitting shoe that can’t seem to communicate with its customers and racks up these big fines," he said. "Guess who that is?”

Flatten said he’s spoken with groundwater managers in different districts, and they have all shared similar experiences managing Aqua Texas.

“This is a pattern, this is a business model,” he said. “They are in the business not to conserve water for the future, but to sell water to their customers because they’ve gotta fulfill payouts to their shareholders.”

https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2023-08-15/utility-company-aqua-texas-ignored-pumping-limits-in-2022-threatening-jacobs-well

  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gatorubet

Gatorubet 30241

Posted
Posted
On 8/9/2023 at 3:42 PM, Biff Tannen said:

This could totally fuck Lake Travis, and therefore Austin, which means Abbott will most definitely push for it. 

Seriously, how can this be allowed when you have the 10th biggest city in the country depending on it for water?

Sometimes dams fail.  Natural minerals and organic sediment can combine to naturally form gunpowder type compounds. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
  • Drool 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13585

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, bolverk said:

https://www.essential.co/corporate-governance/leadership-team

image.png.470cbcc04b311362498cb91e5435cdbb.png

image.png.4c357330cbe660c0cb20071e47aec692.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivet_Nazarene_University#Controversies

What? The guy's not from Texas? With a religious conservative background? And his company uniquely ignores permitted pumping allowances for the benefit of his company's shareholders? Shocking.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Texzilla58

Texzilla58 4737

Posted
Posted
More on the dam from KXAN:
TCEQ’s draft permit for the project states the landowner cannot store water during low-flow conditions, as it may prevent water from reaching downstream senior water right holders.
A hydrologist told KXAN when a reservoir is full, the landowner would allow excess water to spill over and travel downstream. But if the reservoir is not full during prolonged drought conditions, any water that flows in is stored in the reservoir even though the water legally belongs to someone downstream with senior rights.
County Commissioners from Llano, Mason and Kimble counties passed resolutions in 2022 urging the TCEQ to deny the dam permit, citing drought conditions and concerns about river flow.
Landowners along the South Llano River said their biggest concern, if TCEQ approves this private dam, is that more homeowners along the Highland Lakes tributary will follow suit, further straining a river that is already running low.
“It could have serious impacts on flow,” said Marisa Bruno, Water Program Manager with the Hill Country Alliance. “As of [Tuesday] morning, the LCRA is measuring that all of the tributaries besides the Llano are contributing zero flow, which means that all of the water right now going into the Highland Lakes is coming from the Llano River.”
“If the state grants this permit and allows his private lake to be built up there and impound twelve acre-feet of water, it sets a precedent,” Llano Mayor Marion Bishop told KXAN over the phone.
In theory, given that it could fuck with senior rights, and given that so many of the affected counties and small towns are against it, and because when the waterflow is low, he would be keeping water that legally belongs to other entities, I would assume that the TCEQ will deny it since senior rights are one of the most important parts of surface water law (and not a lawyer, but I've had to deal with it as a co-owner of an affected property in the past). There appears to be no mechanism for him to empty the reservoir to send the water downstream when there's little/none flowing into his would-be reservoir, so he would be tramping on the senior rights holders.
But that's in a normal world.  If he gets it, he's got enough money to tell the senior rights' holders and the state to get fucked and he'll see them in court, and will drag this out in court until the day he dies. And he's probably got the security needed to keep people away from the dam/river if anybody tries to fuck with the reservoir when no water is flowing.

On general principle the solution is simple. Three Texas Guard A10’s using this dude and his ranch for target practice, solves this problem.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Orange&White

Orange&White 5528

Posted
Posted
52 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

In theory, given that it could fuck with senior rights, and given that so many of the affected counties and small towns are against it, and because when the waterflow is low, he would be keeping water that legally belongs to other entities, 

Just find any thread that discusses rice farmers in Wharton County and you will see that no one on Surly gives a shit about senior water rights, and firmly believe that the people trying to protect their senior rights are all assholes and should be put out of business with no legal or financial recourse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13585

Posted
Posted
Quote

Last week, he tried to help one woman find a water truck to fill her home cistern. But all the hauling companies had suspended service amid a deepening shortage in Central Texas.

“She’s got to go find somewhere else to live,” said Flatten, general manager of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District in Dripping Springs. “This is extremely serious.”

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/texas-drought-heat-aquifers-groundwater-stress/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45690

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/texas-drought-heat-aquifers-groundwater-stress/

Quote

Meanwhile, he said, a private company called Aqua Texas, which provides water utilities to more than 50 Texas counties, continues pumping millions more gallons than it is authorized to take. And there isn’t much he can do about it.

“Their business model does not benefit from conservation,” Flatten said of Aqua Texas, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities, an investor-owned utility with a $10.4 billion market capitalization. “Their business model benefits from selling water, and their shareholders expect them to turn a profit every quarter.”

Flatten sent Aqua Texas a $450,000 fine for pumping almost twice as much as its permit allowed last year, but the company hasn’t paid. Settlement negotiations continue, along with excessive pumping, Flatten said.

 

  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BabaYaga

BabaYaga 15299

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

an investor-owned utility with a $10.4 billion market capitalization.

 

16 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

a $450,000 fine

 

16 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

but the company hasn’t paid

Gee, I wonder why.....they'll string this out, then if they have to pay, it's pennies on the dollar for what they make in the long run.  

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5294

Posted
Posted

For the first time in ages, the sky is not clear blue and it's actually what one would call completely overcast in Houston. Normally, I would see this outside my office window and presume that it's about to start dumping, but not this year.  The next time water actually begins falling from the sky, and does so for at least 10 minutes, will be the next time I'm convinced it's going to rain. 

  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...