The Honorable Carson Campbell of the 21st Judicial District Court of Bastrop County will hold a hearing on End Op, LP’s “request for declaratory judgment on lack of jurisdiction.” (See background below). The hearing will be held on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, at the Bastrop County Court House, 804, Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602. The public is invited to attend. Landowner attorneys will argue before the judge for dismissal of the request.
That’s a lot of legalese. Basically, End Op is attempting to throw a stick in our spokes and derail our appeal in state court to gain “party status”. This is End Op’s ongoing attempt to deny local landowners their due process rights to oppose End Op’s permit application to export 46,000 ac-ft/yr (almost 15 billion gallons) of groundwater from Bastrop and Lee counties to feed the thirst of the I-35/TX-130 growth corridor. End Op has yet to find customers for that water after years of hustling.
Local Water Marketer Beal flies under the radar
Meanwhile, Bastrop’s own Joe Beal, now an End Op manager who has been hired to handling the marketing of its requested 46,000 ac-ft/yr of Bastrop and Lee county’s groundwater, has been busy selling their story to the Austin City Council. Here is a recent article by Asher Price of the Austin-American Statesman “Joe Beal, politically connected engineer, back in the water game“. And another one by Debbie Moore “Bastrop: Beal’s comments to Austin continue to stir waters“.
Debbie Moore’s February 21 article in the Bastrop Advertiser is an accurate account of Joe Beal’s February 9 comments before the Austin City Council. The official transcript reveals Beal closed his public comment to the Council by urging Austin to tap the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer under Bastrop and Lee counties as a future water source for Austin:
“We’re fortunate there is an abundant supply of water under Bastrop and Lee counties that is available to us. I’ve done the numbers. It can be brought in here pretty cheaply, but we have to act quickly. I would say to you that we need a call to action today and let’s figure out what we’re going to do for these additional supplies that I believe are needed. Thank you very much for your time.”
Beal identified himself to the Council as a past official of LCRA and a current member of the Bastrop City Council. He made no mention that he was appearing as a private individual, as he later claimed. He also risked questionable ethical behavior as an elected official by failing to disclose his financial self-interest in Austin’s future water supply. Beal is a water marketer with a product to sell, not a disinterested party.
Beal is also a manager for “Recharge”, an offshoot of private water marketer End Op, L.P. Recharge describes itself as “a Central Texas-Based real estate and natural resources company dedicated to tapping into the region’s vast water supply” to meet growing regional demand. See www.rechargetx.com. End Op has been seeking a municipal customer, like the City of Austin, to support a permit from Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District to export up to 46,000 ac-ft/yr of groundwater from the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Bastrop and Lee counties.