1995

February

February 24, 1995 – U.S. District Judge Lucius Bunton orders the court-appointed monitor to revise and update his August 1994 emergency withdrawal reduction plan, setting up trigger levels for regional rationing, by March 31. He also grants a motion from the Sierra Club to dismiss the Texas Department of Agriculture as a party to the lawsuit (See note on December 20, 1994.)

March

March 6, 1995 – U.S. District Judge Lucius Bunton rules on the Sierra Clubs second motion for additional relief (see note on December 20, 1994). He orders the court-appointed monitor prepare an updated and revised emergency withdrawal reduction plan by March 31 including a specific, enforceable concept of discretionary use and proposed irrigation use trigger levels. He also strongly urged SAWS, GBRA, and the Lower Colorado River Authority to enter into an agreement by March 31 to get at least 150,000 acre-feet of treated water from other sources flowing in Bexar County. His order also admonishes the state for not having a plan in place, expresses frustration with the waste of time and money on springflow augmentation studies, and directs the Secretary of the Interior and the USFWS to report on the extent to which federal taxpayer dollars are subsidizing pumping in the aquifer region by April 3, 1995.

March 31, 1995 – Joe 0. Moore, the court-appointed monitor, submits his revised emergency withdrawal reduction plan to the court. He uses springflow rates from Comal Springs as trigger conditions and imposes the largest reductions in water use from municipalities, industries and irrigators. An evidentiary hearing on implementation of the plan will be held in Judge Buntons court on May 19, 1995.

April

April 10, 1995 – The Sierra Club files a motion in U.S. District Court requesting the TNRCC implement the Monitors revised emergency withdrawal reduction plan. The motion sites the Endangered Species Act and points out the State of Texas still had no adequate plan in effect. The Sierra Club also requests the TNRCC be ordered to develop and implement a permanent plan to regulate withdrawals from the aquifer sufficient to prevent jeopardy.

May

May 8, 1995 – Federal Court Judge Lucius Bunton grants the Sierra Clubs motion for leave to file second amended and supplemental complaint (see note on April 10, 1995).

May 19, 1995 – Federal Judge Lucius Bunton holds a daylong hearing to give parties a chance to present arguments regarding his authority to impose an emergency withdrawal reduction plan that will take effect during the summer if the springflow level at Comal Spring drops significantly (see note on March 31, 1995). The judge then appoints a panel of five attorneys and gives them until June 1 to come up with a compromise alternative to court-appointed monitor Joe Moores plan. The attorneys represent SAWS, irrigators, Atascosa Rural Supply and Green Valley Special Utility District, EUWD, and the City of New Braunfels.

June

June 1, 1995 – Governor George W. Bush signs HB 3189 into law that revamped the governance portion of SB 1477. A 15-member temporary board will begin managing the aquifer under the state law passed in 1993, giving the agency authority to license wells, broker water and oversee pumping limits. The new law is subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Justice. The temporary board will be in place until November, 1996 when elections will be held and an elected board begins serving on December 1, 1996. The permanent board will be comprised of: 7 members from Bexar County elected from single member districts; 2 members elected from Uvalde County single member districts; 1 member elected from a Medina County; 1 member elected from a district composed of parts of Medina and Atascosa Counties; 1 member elected from Coma! County; 1 member elected from a district composed of parts of Comal and Guadalupe County; 1 member elected from Hays County; 1 member elected from a district composed of parts of Hays and Caldwell Counties; and 2 nonvoting members, 1 appointed jointly by the Medina and Uvalde County Commissioners Courts, and 1 appointed by the South Central Texas Advisory Committee representing downstream interests.

June 14, 1995 – Judge Bunton issues his ruling on the summer 1995 compromise emergency withdrawal reduction plan, as proposed by a panel of five attorneys appointed by the court (see note on May 19, 1995). The judge strongly urges all parties in the lawsuit to cooperate in implementing the panels report of reduction measures. The EUWD and San Antonio Water System will implement the plan tied to various water levels at the Bexar County Index Well (J-17).

June 19, 1995 – The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals grants a writ of mandamus filed by the state attorney general and the attorneys for the pumpers. The Court rules the Sierra Club cannot amend its complaint in the Sierra Club vs. Bruce Babbitt lawsuit since the final judgment had been entered. This overturns the order on May 8, 1995.

August

August 8, 1995 – The U.S. Department of Justice approves state legislation, effectively clearing the way for the Authority to begin operation. The approval addresses HB 3189 which replaces the governance portion of SB 1477 (see note on June 1, 1995).

August 22, 1995 – A judge in state district court grants a temporary restraining order to prevent members of the Authority from taking office on the laws (HB 3189) effective date (August 28, 1995). The petition is filed by the Medina County Underground Water Conservation District that contends the new law is unconstitutional. The judge sets a hearing for September 1, 1995.

September

September 1, 1995 – State District Judge Mickey Pennington lifts his order, which kept members of the Authority from taking office (see note on August 22, 1995). However, he issues a temporary injunction forbidding the board from conducting any business other than hiring attorneys to represent it in the lawsuit. The judge sets a trial date of October 11 to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the law creating the Authority.

October

October 6, 1995 – Judge Bunton, saying he had grown weary of a four-year suit in which nothing had been done, issues an order stating the court will implement a plan by January 1, 1996 to regulate the aquifer. He summons all parties in the lawsuit to his court for a status conference on October 20, 1995.

October 18, 1995 – The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocks any further action by U.S. District Judge Bunton in taking control of the Edwards Aquifer and moving forward with aquifer regulation. The appeals court ruling is in response to a motion filed by Attorney General Dan Morales. The justices tell Judge Bunton he may only consider whether his court should wait until the state court has acted. They also order the court appointed monitor to cease his activities.

October 27, 1995 – State District Judge Mickey Pennington rules the law creating the Authority is unconstitutional (see note on September 1, 1995). The ruling states that the legislation to regulate pumping violates landowners property rights, impaires their ability to honor contracts, is not applied equally, and the law is illegally retroactive. The judge also rules that the section of the law which validated the creating of the Uvalde Groundwater District is constitutional. He orders that the EUWD will remain in existence and pay the attorneys fees, of the winning side. Attorneys for the Authority and state request an expedited appeal directly to the Texas Supreme Court.