The Wise Report
Henry M. Wise, P.G.
July 19, 2009
Several members of the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG) and Texas Association of Professional Geoscintists (TAPG) met with the Governor's office this week to discuss help with the PG board's financing. In a nutshell, we came away with nothing. The Governor's office wants the board to keep track of both it's shortfall and the number of members who leave, this despite the projected loss of 30-50% of PGs in Texas. The Governor's office did suggest that the board meet with the Financing Committee to see if we can implement only some of the increase and perform only some of the approved tasks, rather than all or nothing. While this is a possibility, it won't come in time for the required budget numbers. It appears to me that the board has no choise but to implement all of the increase. If some of the expenses don't come to fruition, then they and implement a reduction later on. The biggest cost savings would be from Col. Hess not coming back as Executive Director. The board has to hold his place open for him until he's back from military duty, which means they have to have his salary in the budget. He was due back last year, but his tour was extended. He was due back this month, but his tour's been extended again. If he keeps getting extened, that's money we have to budget for, but won't spend. This makes budgeting very difficult.
In the meantime, the Board is still interested in your input in this or any other Board matter. I certainly hope we don't loose 30-50% of the PGs in this state. If you loose it and have to re-up after 3 years, you'll lose your grandfathered PG status and have to take the ASBOG test.
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The drought in Texas continues to get worse. The Guadalupe River is down by 85-90 percent from normal levels over all and is dry in some segments. As a result, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has reduced the surface water diversion in Kerrville to 1 million gallons per day from a normal rate of 6.4 million.
Flows on area rivers are dropping quickly due to the exceptional drought, says Al Segovia, the TCEQ's South Texas watermaster. These extreme conditions are forcing the TCEQ to cut off or restrict junior rights to surface water diversions in order to supply water for critical functions.
The City of Kerrville has chosen to implement Stage II of their drought contingency plan. The TCEQ requires water suppliers to develop drought contingency plans to manage water usage, reduce peak demand, and extend supplies. Local water suppliers issue notices about water restrictions when the situation warrants action.
Kerrville's Stage II restrictions involve limiting lawn watering to specific days of the week, with reduced hours, and prohibits other non-essential water use to reduce the demand on the system by a certain percentage. People with odd numbered addresses can water on Tuesday and Saturday, even addresses can water on Wednesdays and Sundays, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. If these efforts fail to sufficiently reduce usage, additional restrictions may be imposed.
Henry M. Wise, P.G.
The Wise Report
7/19/2009