KCGCD gets three new directors, one incumbent wins

The way it should be. This is view of a rejuvenated Las Moras Springs pond and pool, complete with people, on Sept. 15, 2024. Photo by Carolea Hassard

My apologies for not getting this out sooner. As an election results story, it should have been out by Wednesday afternoon.

But the results troubled me so much I needed a day or two to sort things out. The springs could be doomed, folks, and our aquifers in peril, and will most certainly not be helped by one of the newest additions to our water board.

Wes Robinson, who will spend the next four years as county-at-large director of the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District, thinks a drought plan is redundant and that a DFC (Desired Future Condition) is not required - the DFC of Las Moras Springs being a measure of the health of our entire aquifer system.

During the campaign, Robinson’s latest pronouncement was that of course people use more water in a drought.

“Actually groundwater use increases during a drought, it has to because plants need more water when its (sic) dry. This is why many districts in the state increase use during a drought not decrease it,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Of course.

This is a permit holder whose right to pump a large quantity of water from the aquifer is protected by our taxpayer dollars. Robinson now has much more responsiblity to the rest of us 3,000 or so taxpayers who protect his rights. Yet he dismisses our right to healthy aquifers and to see Las Moras Springs continue to spring all year long. A drought plan is imperative to save the spring.

A baffler is the number of people who voted for him, 722, over the 330 votes against his contender, write-in Troy Hibbitts (running as write-in has its perils because voters can be confused by having to actually write in a candidate’s name. But still). Could they be so bamboozled into believing that the aquifers in Kinney County are endless and can never be drained in a drought?

Maybe these voters don’t know that their tax dollars are used to protect the property rights of fewer than 50 people while the rest of us watch the springs dry up.

As for other candidates, board member Matt Bland won over Save Our Springs contender Richard Gonzalez, 597 to 595, for city-at-large director. Bland is the only incumbent who, as far as I saw in videos of water board meetings, showed active interest in developing a drought plan or saving the spring.

As board president, Bland has allowed a certain amount of interaction during meetings between citizens and the board, which I respect a great deal. He’s restricted it more lately, mainly because the lawyer has told the board it doesn’t have to respond to citizens’ comments. But that doesn’t mean it can’t. Same thing with executive session. The board doesn’t have to go into secret session. Ever. It’s just something lawyers came up with to help politicians keep certain discussions secret from citizens. Personally, I don’t like executive session, except for staff matters. Certainly not for “potential” litigation. If you’re in actual litigation that’s one thing. What’s this with “potential?”

Save Our Springs candidate Dave Palmer won over incumbent Barbara “B.J.” Eckenrod, 640 to 565, for Fort Clark MUD-at-large.

Palmer said he ran for office because “the springs and creeks in Kinney County are vital to its identity. I plan to do all I can to keep them flowing for our local community members, for our town’s agriculture, for the ranchers, and for my favorite bird, the kingfisher.

“With creative solutions and compromises, and a balanced approach that fairly considers the needs of all, I know it can be done,” he said.

Save Our Springs candidate Perry Menley beat out incumbent Richard Barthels, 215 to 116, for Precinct 4 director.

Menley said he ran because “without water we do not have anything. Nobody does. I am not doing this just for Precinct 4, I am doing it for the whole county.

“Sixty people’s wells are already dry in Quemado, and Las Moras Creek flows into the Rio Grande there,” he said. “But it has not been flowing. Back when all this water was allotted, a lot of these wells were not being pumped, now increasingly are being pumped….if that spring goes dry…we are pretty much gonna be screwed all around.”

Vote totals are unofficial until they are canvassed.