GO SIMON
No pumping permits issued, yet, for Pickens’ water deal
Country World, Thursday, April 25, 2002
WHITE DEER, Texas (AP) – Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and other Panhandle landowners seeking to mine water from the Ogallala Aquifer came away from an April 11 water district meeting still without pumping permits.
The board of directors of the Panhandle Groundwater conservation District in White Deer told Pickens and the others, known collectively as Mesa Water Inc., that a decision on the consortium’s high-impact permits will come May 15.
"Sure I’m disappointed," Pickens said, "But I can understand exactly what the chairman was saying, and I agree with it, too. But I still thought they’d rule today."
The district board learned from the district’s staff on April 11 details of the well field configuration and impact of Mesa’s plan to pump water from beneath 150,000 acres, which are on noncontiguous land parcels.
Board chairman Charles Bowers said the board needed time to go through the large volume of information received April 11.
"I don’t think it would be prudent on our part to move quickly on something that will have an impact on generations to come," Bowers said. "I want to go carefully on this. It’s very important."
The board almost didn’t get a chance to even consider ruling. As the April 11 meeting began, Mesa and the water authority still had not finalized an agreement to end the water authority’s June 2001 protest of the permits.
In August 2001, Mesa sued the water authority, claiming its new wells in Roberts County would infringe on Mesa’s property rights.
On April 11, it was a chicken vs. egg issue: Mesa wouldn’t be able to get its permits if the water authority didn’t drop its protest and Mesa wouldn’t drop its lawsuit until the permits were issued.
The two sides agreed on April 11 to do all the procedures simultaneously.
"This is a big day," water authority general manager Kent Satterwhite said. "The lawsuit is dismissed and we have a settlement on the agreed-to permits. Now it’s just up to the groundwater district to do what they feel is necessary."
If Mesa gets permits, it still needs buyers. Pickens has talked to several cities, including San Antonio and Dallas, and he recently mentioned parts of West Texas and New Mexico as potential buyers.
One plan that would keep Mesa water in the Panhandle is in the early stages, said Salem Abraham, a Canadian resident who would act as a broker for the deal.
The plan would allow Abraham, who has an option on water rights owned by the city of Amarillo for about 100,000 acres in Hartley County, to sell those rights to as many as 12 communities in the western Panhandle.
The proposal would also allow eastern New Mexico to benefit, building a pipeline that would be used jointly by Panhandle and New Mexico communities.
Abraham would then act as a broker for Mesa to sell some of its Roberts County water to Amarillo. The deal could save hundreds of millions of dollars in pipeline construction costs for all the communities involved, Abraham said.
Before pumping, Mesa also would have to address environmental concerns due to lower water levels during low-flow periods on the Canadian River. Several endangered or threatened species, including the Arkansas River shiner, are within Roberts County, according to the Panhandle Audubon Society.