Water Wars: Billionaires vs. East Texans
Two billionaires as seeking to drain a local aquifer in East Texas. The people are fighting back.
The other day, a friend called me to tell me, “You have to come to Palestine [Texas]. Some billionaires are trying to steal our groundwater.”
So I packed a bag and went. It was a town hall with 200 folks. Standing room only. You had farmers, business folk, elected local officials, and just about everyone else you can imagine. It was a diverse group in every which way, but all were united on this issue:
Billionaires cannot irresponsibly take all of their water.
The good folks of Anderson, Henderson, Cherokee, and Houston counties rely on the Cherrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, which runs from Texarkana to Laredo.
They can safely take about 16.1 billion gallons of water per year from the aquifer. They probably should really take less, as the aquifer has dropped by 20 or so feet in the last few decades.
Thankfully, the locals only use 9.2 billion gallons per year. This includes both farmers, city folks, businesses, and everyone in between in their 4-county area.
Then there’s Red Town Ranch LLC, founded by Kyle Bass and Kerry Anderson. How much do they want to take?
15+ billion gallons a year, or 98.9% of their total water supply.
This will destroy the local water supply within just a few years. Well, it would run dry, farms will go out of business, sinkholes will open up, housing prices could crash as people are forced to move all at once, and the local economy would crash & burn.
Why are the billionaires trying to do this? Well, no one really knows. They’re not really communicating with anyone. They didn’t even notify locals! Maybe they’re trying to sell it to a major metro, maybe they want to just sell it back to the locals at marked-up prices (i.e., price gouging), or something.
What are the people doing & what can I do the help?
The people are fighting back on both sides of the aisle. Local Dems and local Republicans are *checks notes* largely working together to stop this. The Texas Farmers Union is getting involved too.
We need locals of Anderson, Henderson, Cherokee, and/or Houston Counties in Texas to step up. We only have a few days to act.
On Thursday, June 19th, the Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District is meeting to grant or deny the billionaire’s groundwater permits. This is our best option.
If you live in the aforementioned counties, we need you to file an official protest. Only locals can do this. You can read about how to do that and find all the necessary forms here. THIS MUST HAPPEN BY 11AM CDT ON THURSDAY, JUNE 19TH.
If you know anyone from Anderson, Henderson, Cherokee, and/or Houston counties, please send them this Substack and/or this link (which also includes when/where they’re meeting to discuss the billionaire well permits):
https://www.farmandfoodaction.org/neches_trinity_valleys_groundwater