We start off the new year with a post from a new (to us) author Helen Marshall but not until we take the opportunity to wish you a healthy and prosperous new year and to thank all of you for your involvement.
What, us worry?
The Times has recently printed a series of articles that described various aspects of the drought facing the region and questions of how to continue supplying adequate water to the city. El Paso Water Utilities has also embarked on a campaign to convince us that, while water supply is not a simple matter any longer, “purified water” – i.e., recycled sewage – along with water piped from Hudspeth County, will ensure “Water Forever” as the EPWU slogan has it.
UTEP Economics professor Tom Fullerton ran a three-pronged offense over the weekend of December 27-18, to reassure everyone that “EPWU has met the challenge of providing quality water services in El Paso’s desert environment while operating efficient, reliable facilities that keep pace with the city’s growth. . [P]rudent management, continued planning, and innovative technologies will yield long-term solutions that benefit the local economy, environment, and quality of life.”
All three local papers printed his column, a first as far as this writer knows. Readers presumably are reassured that El Paso can continue growing, and water will be provided (at a reasonable price, yet!).
While the EPWU has indeed led the way on conservation in Texas and the region, we have yet to hear how much growth we can continue to shove into the Paso del Norte (where the neighboring city uses the same aquifer), regardless of the projected continuing drought. (Fullerton does not address the river that is missing for much of the year as its waters largely disappear into the pecan farms and cotton fields.) How much water is being removed from the aquifers and not returned now? How much worse will this be when we are drinking our “recycled water” rather than using it for recharge? As we carpet the desert with impermeable parking lots and structures, how much worse does the flooding problem become? Perhaps we must just learn to live next to the Big Ditch and not worry about that part of our quality of life. And the good news is that there will be an ever-larger supply of attendees for the Ballpark!
If we buy this story, do we deserve better?
http://www.elpasotimes.com/water
http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/article_a436c3ca-8f76-11e4-aa76-c3ace90cf2e0.html
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_27217287/el-paso-water-utilities-is-planning-leader
http://diario.mx/Opinion_El_Paso/2014-12-27_521b96a7/epwu-la-eficiencia-en-el-desierto/
elpasospeak 
Good questions. Can you suggest any answers?
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Yes, and what are possible solutions to the agriculture/residential issue?
Brutus
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Tom Fullerton has always been a credible person to me. As for EPWU, it seems they have done well so far, but the game played with the PSB is always about land, not water. The builders are kind of like parasites on the land who need it to keep building, but who are slowly killing their host. Both have to survive so the question becomes one of conservation, never popular here.
Agriculture is the largest user of water here and traditionally considers conservation as something for California hippies, not for west Texas bubbas. There is a whole developing discipline of permaculture that focuses on intensive cultivation of high value crops consumed locally. This is an area where the universities can lead because, in the long run, Nature wins, not the bubbas.
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Nature bats last.
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Amen.
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El Paso Water Utilities contracted to sell our fresh water to Fort Bliss at wholesale rates so that Fort Bliss could save their own water for future use. The contract violated sixteen EPWU rules and regulations. According to Representative Beto O’Rourke, “that’s the deal El Paso cut with the feds at the beginning of the last decade to get the expansion at Ft. Bliss.”
EPWU does not have any fresh water to spare so El Paso Citizens will have to pay to replace the water sold to Fort Bliss. The cost will be around $1 Billion.* The first replacement project is an $82 million plant to recycle our toilet water and inject it into our fresh water system. EPWU could save $82 Million if they would simply obey their own rules and regulations, stop wholesaling water to Fort Bliss and return that water to their customers.
Over the years The Public Service Board has adopted rules and regulations to protect the average water customer from politicians and lobbyist. The current EPWU management was hired to enforce those rules but they betrayed the average water customer, sold our water to Fort Bliss and left us to drink recycled toilet water. The President/CEO was rewarded with compensation of over $500,000** per year.
The average water customer doesn’t have money to make large political contributions or to form a lobby group to oppose the Chamber of Commerce and the Paso Del Norte Group. The average water customer has to rely on the government to follow its own rules and regulations. An appeal*** was filed to force EPWU management to obey their rules and to stop the sale of water to Fort Bliss. EPWU management rejected the appeal, hired an attorney and cut off all further communications.
Let’s get EPWU completely out of the reach of politicians and lobbyist. The Texas Water Code provides that “The governing body of a municipality by ordinance may elect to have the commission (State of Texas) exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over the utility rates, operation, and services of utilities, within the incorporated limits of the Municipality.” The City Council could simply pass an ordinance to turn regulation of EPWU rates and operations over to the State of Texas.
Then the EPWU monopoly would be regulated like any other monopoly and El Paso Citizens would have the same protection from politicians and lobbyist that is enjoyed by every other citizen of this State. It will cost nothing and it could save $1 Billion.
Jimmy Janacek, Retired CPA
*http://www.citizensmakethecall.com/restricted/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/exhibit_a_the_scam.pdf
**http://www.citizensmakethecall.com/ceo_employment_contract.htm
***http://www.citizensmakethecall.com/psb_appeal.htm
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State government serves the same campaign donors as city government. So that’s no solution.
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Especially in our “pay to play” Texas culture.
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A question folks should be asking is who funds Fullerton’s “research.” (Currently and over the years). The answer may not surprise us. The company you keep….
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In the past ten years, EPWU has recorded Income of $100 Million* after deducting payments to the City of El Paso totaling $90 Million*. EPWU is owned by the City of El Paso. Therefore the city has realized a $190 Million profit on revenues of $1,572 Million*.
The City is making a profit equal to 12% of revenues whereas Exxon Mobil made only 11% of revenues** in the past three years. Why is the City more profitable than Exxon Mobil?
*http://www.epwu.org/public_information/reports/2013/annual_report_2013.pdf p.26
**http://nasdaqomx.mobular.net/nasdaqomx/7/3395/4843/ p. 41
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Jerry K — I support your view on Fullerton and the builders. The builders who want to build cheap houses, block after block, are to blame for at least some of our water problems. EPWU is forced to build out the infrastructure so the builders can profit. And who are the big contributors to our City Council? Those same builders, of course. They also want EPWU to sell them land cheap, in itty bitty parcels so they would not be required to set aside land for parks or do any master planning. I shudder at the thought of City Council gaining control of the PSB land.
It seems that our entire valley has been turned into a pecan grove. Eventually, water will have to be allotted to farmers. I do, however, sympathize with them. Originally, many tried food crops such as tomatoes and lettuce but couldn’t make any money. So they turned to pecans in order to be able to continue to farm. If they cannot farm, they will sell their land for development. Which is worse? Pecan trees or uncontrolled development in the valley? And we should not forget that it was the farmers who paid for Elephant Butte, not the city. So, as Brutus says, what is the solution?
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I drive along Hy 128 on a 100 degree day and see a foot of standing water in the groves breeding mosquitoes. Maybe they could try drip irrigation or visit Israel, a major agricultural exporter that knows how to farm in a desert. They might learn something.
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