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The Sunset Advisory Commission met on December 6 to hear Sunset staff recommendations and public testimony for a number of river authorities and agencies. This report covers discussions concerning the following:

  • Lavaca-Navidad River Authority;
  • Upper Guadalupe River Authority;
  • San Jacinto River Authority; and the
  • Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District.

An archive of this hearing can be found here.

 

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

Sunset Documents

River Authorities

Robert Romig, River Authority Project Manager LBB

  • Staff found each river authority is unique in the blend of programs they choose to pursue
  • All would benefit from common good-government practices
  • Have several across the board recommendations

 

Lavaca-Navidad River Authority

  • Grant programs would benefit from adopting safeguards to ensure impartiality
  • Recommend LRNA adopt policies to govern the growth and depletion of its sizable reserve funds

 

Upper Guadalupe River Authority

  • Recommends UGRA adopt a reserve fund balance policy
  • Recommends they adopt standard practices regarding contracting for consistency/transparency

 

San Jacinto River Authority

  • SJRA is undergoing a re-review by the LBB and Sunset Commission as directed by the legislature
  • As previously, found SJRAs protracted/contentious legal disputes continue to strain the relationship between them and the community
    • SJRA has taken several steps to improve these relationships
  • Underlying substantive issues and legal disputes are outside the scope of the LBB’s review
  • Limited recommendation to operational improvements identified in the previous review
    • Including requiring a formal public engagement policy

 

Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District

  • Offered a unique and challenging review due to actions by the legislature as it has become a defunct legal entity
  • Recommend formally removing this entity from the Sunset’s review process

 

Commission Questions

  • Perry – URGA’s reserves have not been used; what prohibited them from getting it done?
    • Where they were going to get it done were not feasible because of their water right
  • Canales – Recommend LNRA make policies about conflicted members of the grant review committee and recusations; evidence that has already occurred?
    • Did not find evidence awards were made improperly; were instances where members’ institutions were awarded
  • Canales – Grants for economic development under their purview?
    • Yes; unique statutory provision gives them this authority
  • Johnson – River authorities can function distinctly?
    • Constitutional and statutory sections give them many choices in programs they can offer

 

Patrick Brzozowski, General Manager Lavaca-Navidad River Authority

  • Agree with the recommendation with standard across the board changes to LNRA governing law
    • Particularly about public members
  • In general agreement with the recommendations
  • Are a couple areas existing policy/bylaws address these issues; including the grant program
  • Have an existing policy in place that will be amended to create a ceiling for the reserves program
  • Johnson – How is the board chosen?
    • Appointed by the governor and presiding officer is elected by the board
  • Johnson – Agree each river authority is unique and believe board members are correct in picking their own presiding officer? Have concerns in not having that power?
    • Yes; think it would undermine the trust of the board
    • Understand that there are issues with other boards
  • Johnson – What benefit would the governor appointing the presiding officer be?
    • Not sure, current system has worked for over 40 years
  • Chair Schwertner – Is a discrepancy between the governor appointing a PO and the board electing their own; sunset recommendation is to have the governor appoint the PO?
    • Romig – Was an across-the-board recommendation for all agencies; did not divert from that despite river authorities being a quasi-agency
  • Johnson – Recommend we allow river authorities the ability to appoint their own PO
  • Canales – How much does LRNA give out in grants?
    • Chris Keslar, LBB – FY 2021 gave out $103k in partnership grants, $12k in service grants

 

Tara Bushnoe, General Manager Upper Guadalupe River Authority

  • Agree with a majority of the management and statutory recommendations
  • UGRA would like to continue to elect their own presiding officer
  • Have already begun implementing recommendations
  • Intend to go beyond recommendations of the report
  • Perry – What are you going to do with your building reserves?
    • Are building a low impact flood pollution water reduction cost share program as we do not currently have regulatory requirements on how stormwater needs to be handled
  • Perry – Have any reservoirs for water supply?
    • No; speaking to permitting question earlier, restrictions on water permit made them not feasible
  • Canales – What is the solution for better contract transparency; is important
    • Will adopt common procedures with contracting including a more defined vendor list
  • Member Austin – See a theme in changing appointments from 6 years to 4 years? Why?
    • Romig – Governor appointments are 6 years, but found provision in the constitution that conservation district appointments should last 4 years
  • Member Austin – Water is local and need consistency in leadership and recommend going back to 6 years; would that require a constitutional amendment?
    • Correct
  • Member Austin – Would be consistency if the governor were to appoint the PO
  • Member Austin – Was previous legislation on inter-basin transfers, issue solved?
    • Question not answered

 

Ronnie Anderson, Board President San Jacinto River Authority

  • Overviews their expertise and career at the SJRA
  • Board and staff are committed to continuous improvement
  • Staff has implemented all recommendations in the final report from the 2021 legislative session
  • Look forward to continuing communications efforts recommended by the report
  • Board and staff have respect for water resource management especially in light of growing demand; requires making water supply investments sometimes 40 years before the need

 

Jace Houston, General Manager San Jacinto River Authority

  • Member Austin – What are your long-term water needs? How working with other basins?
    • We need more water; is a cooperative effort
  • Member Austin – Hope you continue training and open records requirements in the report
    • Are in complete agreement with Sunset’s recommendations; look forward to implementing the communications and across-the-board recommendations
  • Chair Schwertner – SJRA had a lot of controversy during the hurricane a couple years ago with Lake Conroe; discharge and release decisions made by the Core of Engineers?
    • No, the SJRA; are the owner, builder, operator of Lake Conroe
  • Chair Schwertner – Discuss the decision I am speaking about during the hurricane
    • Have an operating protocol at the rate at which the reservoir rises; peak release needs to be lower than the peak flow coming in
  • Chair Schwertner – Were proactive steps taken by the SJRA to lower the lake level?
    • No; TCEQ recommends not releasing before weather events
    • Would not want to release into the river and cause a flooding event
  • Chair Schwertner – You also control that river?
    • No, another consideration that has to be taken is another reservoir owned by the City of Houston releases into the same river
  • Chair Schwertner – Have to entities managing reservoirs that empty into the same river?
    • Yes
    • Chair Schwertner – Seems like a problem to me
  • Canales – What prevents this body from setting a uniform set of governance for river authorities?
    • Nothing prevents you from doing that

 

Don Sloan, President Bandera County River Authority

  • Perry – Will have a modification that would pull them out of the Sunset process to fix them statutorily this upcoming session

 

David Mauk, General Manager Bandera County River Authority

  • Appreciate Sunset staff and will work with them to implement their recommendations

 

Public Testimony

Douglass Miller, HMW

  • SJRA board should be elected
  • SJRA is not transparent on their pumping fees; including GRP and surface water
  • No new bond issue should be authorized without voter approval
  • Chair Schwertner – One of the 150 utility providers that have a contractual relationship
    • Participant in the groundwater mitigation plan

 

Robert Lux, President Montgomery County MUD and WWA

  • Is a partnership between WWA and SJRA
  • SJRA is a dedicated and competent organization that transparently fulfils the needs of its long-term customers
  • Member Austin – SJRA’s plan to reduce groundwater pumping by 30% – what impact does this have on you and your constituents?
    • Reduction of pumping has a significant financial cost to members, but are still able to meet needs and growth potential

 

Simon Sequeira, Quadvest

  • Regional water providers; one of the litigants in the various lawsuits against SJRA
  • Believe ultimately lawsuits will end up in our favor
  • SJRA forced providers to sign contracts reduced groundwater pumping contracts

 

Anthony Lamson, Self

  • A customer of Quadvest; SJRA now charging $2.99 per 1000 gallons even though they do not provide any service or water to Quadvest
  • Chair Schwertner – Is active litigation in place so Sunset does not necessarily comment on this; notes there are issues that Sunset does address

 

Margo Denke, Friends of Hondo Canyon

  • Bandera Water operates responsibly and transparently; hope you look favorably on them during this process

 

Additional Comments

  • Perry – Water has been too cheap for too long and water bills are going to go up if we are going to get new water supplies; will not be cheap
  • Perry – Need to discuss this as a state to lessen this cost