Will the Edwards Aquifer still be ours to control?

The Edwards Underground Water District, a local government entity, is in jeopardy of being closed down if they can't make a decision about how much water can be used during times of severe drought.  You may be thinking, great, I didn't like the Edwards Authority anyway. But, if the district disappears then either the Texas state legislature or the Feds will take over water policy for the aquifer that supplies water to Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Medina and Uvalde counties.
Personally, I would rather decisions about the aquifer be made by the people who use it.

The members represent an array of competing interests — city water systems, farmers, industries, environmentalists and others. So far, they've gotten along, but Friday their track record of consensus started to fray and some balked at what changes might have to occur to solve the problem.

The debate surrounds how much water needs to continue to flow into the springs in order for endangered species, protected by federal law, to survive.  Biologists hired by the authority estimate that there needs to be a 30 cubic foot flow of water through the Comal Springs for the animals to survive, but environmentalists aren't buying this and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, a large wholesale water supplier, doesn't agree with that figure either.  They don't think 30 cubic feet is enough to meet their customers water demands.

Right now the district is between a rock and a hard place.  Compromise is imperative to keep local control.  Perhaps no one will be happy, but at least we get to continue to have a say in how our water is used.

Where do Your Property Taxes Go? Enviromental Policy--SA

A Recap of City of San Antonio revenues and spending. So $1,074.42 of your property taxes goes to the City of San Antonio.

The City of San Antonio receives revenues from several sources: Property taxes (25%), Charges and fees (20%), Revenues from Utilities (17%), Grants (usually federal) (15%), Sales Tax (14%), Hotel/Motel Tax (4%), Other Taxes (Short Term Rental Tax, Bingo Tax, etc) (2%), Fines (Library Fines, Traffic Tickets) (1%), Miscellaneous (1%), Intergovernment (0.6%), Permits/Licenses (0.4%)

The 2010 Budget for the City divides general fund expenditures in the following ways: Police (36%), Fire/EMS (26%), other services (Aviation, Community Initiatives, Historic Preservation, Solid Waste Management, Military Affairs, etc) (11%), Convention, Tourism and Culture (9%), Streets and Infrastructure (7%), Environmental (5%), Parks & Recreation (6%), Agencies (4%), Library (3%), Health (1%), Municipal Courts (1%), Neighborhood Services (1%), Economic Development (0.5%), Animal Care (0.5%). I will take you through each of these items in separate posts. If you feel that you have a better way to spend the money you can post your suggestions on the online Budget suggestion box for the 2011 budget.
(For links to all items in the CSA budget, see past posts.)

The Office of Environmental Policy which receives 5% of the city's budget is involved in several initiatives to make San Antonio a greener city:

• Casa Verde SA  is a partnership with CPS Energy to assist low income households with weatherizing their homes.  
• The Mission Verde sustainability plan, which sets several goals for the city to be part of the future green economy and to reduce carbon use by industry, transportation and city facilities.
• The Green Contractor Rebate program which provides incentives for builders to renovate homes through the Build San Antonio Green retrofit program.
• The Mission Verde Center, a multipurpose education, training and research center for renewable and energy efficient technologies.
• The Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan  that provides financial incentives and assistance to residential and commercial customers to install energy saving practices and fixtures to reduce the customer's energy use permanently. 
• Solar America Cities to promote and facilitate the use of solar energy in San Antonio.
• The Hike and Bike program

The city is also planning to change their fleet of cars over to electric vehicles, plug in and hybrid.

Pushing for Green in San Antonio

San Antonio is gearing up to be a Green Leader in the 21st Century. There have been several articles in the Express-News lately about green initiatives the city is implementing. It is all part of the 11-point Mission Verde Plan. Plans range from bringing more green jobs to the city to green building codes, a green housing and building retrofitting program, a more desirable multi-modal mass transit system, sustainable real estate development, a green venture capital fund, and maximazation of sustainability all city facilities.

The lastest effort is putting bicycle lanes on the forefront of city road building and planning. In the past cyclists had no sway but now that the city is greening up, bicycle transportation is getting a big boost. The city already has plans to stripe up lanes on several existing roadways that have plenty of space for a bike lane. This intiative kills two birds with one stone, the obesity epidemic and lowering carbon dioxide emissions. Hopefully soon there will be north-south and east-west corridors linking SA's linear parks and street level bike lanes to make it possible for commuters to bike to work.