Caldwell voters choose pumping restrictions

The water-rich area of eastern Caldwell County, prized as a future water source for a broad swath of Central Texas, will be annexed by the Gonzales County water district.

The water-rich area of eastern Caldwell County, prized as a future water source for a broad swath of Central Texas, will have pumping restrictions for the first time, according to unofficial returns Saturday.

Voters, by a count of 177 to 34, authorized the annexation of eastern Caldwell County by the Gonzales County Underground Water District. Fewer than 900 people were eligible to vote.

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"This should show everyone this is what the land owners want to happen with their water rights," said Pamela Hohman, a Delhi rancher who spearheaded the push for pumping restrictions. "Hopefully, people can get on with their lives."

Despite Saturday's results, the election is unlikely to put to rest the issue of how much water can be pumped from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer towards San Antonio, San Marcos and the future development that the new Texas 130 tollway is expected to bring south of Austin towards Lockhart.

The Legislature has twice tried to impose water regulation on the area, but the efforts were snarled in politics: Who would profit from the water sales, which cities would benefit and should the local regulators be elected or appointed?

The controversy attracted some big names.

During the 2007 legislative session, Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, whose district includes Caldwell County, refused to exempt friends of his political mentor, former comptroller John Sharp, from his legislation to provide water regulation to eastern Caldwell County.

Such an exemption would have allowed Tony Spears, whose ranch straddles the Gonzales-Caldwell county line, to advance his plan to pump 40,000 acre-feet of water annually — about one fourth of what the city of Austin uses in a year.

With Rose's bill dying in the Senate, Hohman and her friend Cindy Woolley led a petition drive to call Saturday's annexation vote.

In November, Gonzales County water officials agreed to hold an election on the issue.

Spears and eight other Caldwell County property owners tried to one-up the vote by voluntarily joining Caldwell County's Plum Creek Conservation District in March. Gonzales County water officials, however, argue that those property owners cannot circumvent the results of Saturday's election.

That dispute is likely to land either in the courts or the Legislature, unless the Plum Creek and Gonzales water districts negotiate an agreement.

lcopelin@statesman.com; 445-3617