Irrigation Leader June 2013

Volume 4 Issue 6

June 2013

Bringing Business to Meet Farmers’ Needs: An Interview with Wayne Halbert

Serious and Visionary Leadership in Texas

By Kris Polly

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n May 23, the Texas House of Representatives passed S.J.R. 1 to create the State Water Implementation Fund and the Water Implementation Revenue Fund for Texas. With voter approval in November, these funds will provide $2 billion to help implement the 2012 Texas State Water Plan, which recommends 562 water supply projects. According to the Texas Water Conservation Association (TWCA), “These projects would result in an additional 9 million acre-feet per year by 2060 to meet the anticipated 8.3 million acre-feet shortfall” in Texas.

Ms. Luana Buckner, president of the TWCA, said the passage of the legislation demonstrates that “the legislature is serious about protecting jobs and the health and welfare of all Texans.”

“Thanks to the visionary efforts of Representative Allan Ritter and Senator Troy Fraser, water supply issues have received significant attention during the 83rd Texas legislative session,” said Leroy Goodson, TWCA’s general manager.

“Serious” and “visionary” are certainly appropriate words to describe the Texas legislators. Those words also describe the leadership and members of the TWCA and how they address water problems. The individuals profiled in this Texas-focused issue of Irrigation Leader all subscribe to the same philosophy: Water problems must be addressed for the long term.

Wayne Halbert, general manager of the Harlingen Irrigation District, shares his “farmer-centered approach,” which has guided his district’s efforts to upgrade and Volume 4 Issue 1

improve its facilities. Bruce Wasinger is remembered for his extraordinary character and his professional attributes.

Congressman Rubén Hinojosa discusses his legislation, H.R. 832, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act. The Guadalupe–Blanco River Authority shares its efforts to help educate elementary students and to create an “environmental leaning center.” Stacey Steinbach talks about the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts and its efforts to address emerging issues. Sonny Hinojosa, general manager of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District, discusses his district’s impressive infrastructure improvements. Joe Barerra shares his experiences as an irrigation district manager of many years, and Mark Treviño shows the dedication and assertiveness for which he so well known.

Finally, Gary Stokes gives us an idea of the kind of “serious” and “visionary” individual it takes to run a national pipe company.

We applaud the efforts of the Texas legislature to develop long-term water supply solutions, as well as everyone who supported such legislation. We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Irrigation Leader as much as we enjoyed working with the people it features.

January 2013

Reaching the Crossroads: A Convers ation with Luana Buckner about Water in Texas

Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies, LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com.

The Water and Power Report www.WaterAndPowerReport.com The Water and Power Report is the one-stop aggregate site for news on water and power issues in the 17 western states. Sign up for the free Daily service to receive a notice of the top headlines and press releases posted each business day.

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Irrigation Leader

June 2013

C O N T E N T S 2 Serious and Visionary Leadership in Texas

Volume 4

Issue 6

Irrigation Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for November/December and July/August by: Water Strategies, LLC P.O. Box 100576 Arlington, VA 22210 Staff: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Crotty, Senior Writer Robin Pursley, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting, LLC, Copyeditor SUBMISSIONS: Irrigation Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request.

ADVERTISING: Irrigation Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com.

CIRCULATION: Irrigation Leader is distributed to irrigation district managers and boards of directors in the 17 western states, Bureau of Reclamation officials, members of Congress and committee staff, and advertising sponsors. For address corrections or additions, please contact our office at Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com.

Copyright © 2013 Water Strategies, LLC. Irrigation Leader relies upon the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Irrigation Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies, LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Irrigation Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies, LLC, or Irrigation Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

COVER PHOTO: Wayne Halbert, general manager of the Harlingen Irrigation District.

Photo by WaterPR. Irrigation Leader

By Kris Polly

4 Bringing Business to Meet Farmers’

Needs: An Interview with Wayne Halbert 8 Honoring Bruce Edward Wasinger 10 Conserving and Improving Water Resources in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

By Congressman Rubén Hinojosa 2 1 GBRA: Educating the Next Generation of Water Providers and Users 14 Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts

By Stacey Steinbach

District Focus: 16 Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2

By Sonny Hinojosa

RECLAMATION PROFILE: 18 Mark Treviño, Manager of Oklahoma– Texas Area

MANAGER PROFILE: 22 Joe Barrera Irrigated Crops: 26 Sugarcane in South Texas Business Leader: 28 Doing What We Say We Are Going to Do: An Interview with Northwest Pipe’s Gary Stokes

Water Law: 34 Taxation of Improvements on Indian Land by Utilities

By John Crotty

39 CLASSIFIEDS 3

Bringing Business to Meet Farmers’ Needs:

An Interview with Wayne Halbert

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ayne Halbert brings a farmer-centered approach to irrigation district management.

Wayne has been the general manager of the Harlingen Irrigation District (HID) and the Adams Gardens Irrigation District in south Texas since 1989. Prior to his work as general manager, he farmed 3,000 acres of sugarcane, grains, and cotton. He continues to farm a couple hundred acres in Cameron County.

Wayne has embraced leadership roles in a variety of capacities, including serving as past president of the Texas Water Conservation Association, legislative director of the Texas Irrigation Council, governor’s appointee on the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority, and chairman of the Rio Grande Watermaster Advisory Committee. As the current president of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Manager’s Association, Wayne oversees the association’s efforts to track Texas legislation on behalf of the valley districts.

HID encompasses 56,114 acres within Cameron County, Texas. The district has 57 miles of main canal, over 200 miles of irrigation pipeline, 44 re-lift pumping stations, and 3 storage reservoirs totaling a volume of 1,380 acre-feet. Constructed in the 1920s, the main pumping plant diverts water from the Rio Grande and has a current operating capacity of 470 cubic feet per second. Farmers in the district grow sugarcane, citrus, cotton, corn, sorghum, vegetables, and alfalfa.

Irrigation Leader magazine’s editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, talked with Wayne about HID, district efforts to become as efficient as possible, and the Valley Water District Manager’s Association.

Map of the Harlingen Irrigation district conveyances system. Developed

by HID and WaterPR.

Kris Polly: How long is your growing season?

Wayne Halbert: We grow year-round. For cotton, grain sorghum, and corn, the planting season is from February or March and harvest season from June to August. Fall crops are planted in late August or September. Vegetable crops are usually planted in the fall. Sugarcane is a yearround crop. Generally planted in late summer, it grows on a five-year cycle—meaning that farmers harvest it every year, but it comes back and they don’t have to replant for five years. Citrus is a permanent crop.

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Kris Polly: What types of irrigation systems do your farmers use?

Wayne Halbert: Most irrigation in the Rio Grande Valley is furrow with polypipe directing water to each row.

There’s some drip irrigation, especially for vegetable and citrus crops, and very little center pivot—in the northwest part of the valley there is some center pivot in potato operations. Generally speaking, the Valley is not laid out well for center pivot–type operations.

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All of our irrigation is surface water irrigation from the Rio Grande. In the early 1900s, private land and water companies developed huge 40,000-acre to 60,000-acre plots and cut them up into 20- or 40-acre tracts. Most of those land and water companies went bankrupt by 1910 or 1915. Districts were formed, took over those operations, and maintained them through the years.

Kris Polly: How much water does your district divert?

Wayne Halbert: Most of the water in the valley comes from the Rio Grande; there is very little groundwater or well water. We divert anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 acre-feet for agriculture, depending on conditions and availability of water. We also divert about 20,000 acrefeet a year for the City of Harlingen to treat. This year has been very dry, and we are short of water. The Harlingen district is going to divert about 50,000 acre-feet for agriculture.

15 inches. We still have about 30 miles of open main canal. We also have 10 or 15 miles of concrete-lined canal left to replace.

This district is very efficient. The district has also installed automated gates to maintain the system at its maximum capacity. . . . That has really saved more water than anything else. It is easy to find things to do to save water when your efficiency is running in the 50 percent range. . . . Some districts run as low as 40 percent. When you get up into the 90 percent range, it is harder to find affordable projects that actually impact efficiency.

Our board was aggressive well before I managed the district. Water efficiency improves farm efficiency and enables farmers to make more money. It is a matter of good business practice.

Kris Polly: What are the top issues for your district?

Wayne Halbert: The biggest issue for valley districts in general is infrastructure. Our district is very aggressive. Over the years, we have undertaken substantial infrastructure improvements. The question for agriculture is whether Automated canal gates, custom designed and installed by the Harlingen Irrigation District. enterprises can afford surface Photo by WaterPR. water conservation projects; Kris Polly: How has your district been able to finance whether they can find ways to fund projects on 100-yearconservation and maintenance projects? old districts, bringing them up to standard, and ensuring that they don't take so much water to deliver allotments Wayne Halbert: This district chose many years ago to farmers. The farmers themselves are efficient; it is the to expand beyond its designated purpose into areas that delivery systems that are lacking. were being developed within district boundaries. We got involved with doing drainage work and received payment Kris Polly: What water conservation projects are being for that work from cities and the county. We do all the done in the valley to create more efficiency? drainage work for the international airport, as well as all the open drainage work for the City of Harlingen. We Wayne Halbert: In our district, we’ve put about manage a smaller irrigation district and get funding from 200 miles of open canals into pipeline. We actually charge that district. Those revenues enable the district to have those pipelines with re-lift pumps to deliver water. Most more equipment and more personnel and keep the price of of the pipe put in today is PVC or a plastic derivative water to its farmers down. because it is cheaper and easier to handle and install.

I’m not saying that it was smart, because there are We’ve used high-density poly pipe up to 42 inches in headaches involved with what we are doing, but it has diameter. Generally, we don’t put anything in less than Irrigation Leader

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worked out really well for us up to this point. Agriculture is up and down with weather conditions and commodity prices. It makes it difficult to operate on an even keel when that is all you have to depend on. So our farmers benefit from our work on non-ag-related projects.

Kris Polly: You are the president of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Manager’s Association.

Please tell us about the association and its work.

Wayne Halbert: The districts are the delivery source for all the cities in the Rio Grande Valley, except for Brownsville. Because of persistent flooding, the cities in the valley were built on the canal systems, not on the river.

It is important for the districts to be efficient in order for those cities to get their water. It is important for the districts to conserve water because we are getting less water than we have ever had before, and we have to go further with it. Congress needs to realize that these are not just agricultural districts. The entire economy of the Rio Grande Valley depends on the ability of the districts to maintain the water delivery systems.

We are in a unique situation in that we depend on Mexico, which is giving us less water than it has ever given us simply because it has overdeveloped its need for water.

Instead of water flowing to us because it was not being used, now Mexico is keeping it and using it.

Wayne Halbert: District managers set up the association many years ago to address annual concerns about legislation and other issues that may affect irrigation districts. We meet monthly to try to find solutions to the issues districts, as a group, are facing. As to legislation or legal concerns, the group addresses issues at the state and federal level in consolidated efforts.

Irrigation districts in Texas are all under various parts of the state water code.

Legislation usually does not target irrigation districts. For years, certain pieces of legislation would create problems for districts unintentionally— in the way we operate or do business. So district managers organized themselves to address such legislation.

On the federal side, the association works to enable funding for water conservation projects.

Federal legislation is often driven by drought Original HID pump house, built in the 1920s, is still in operation today. Photo by WaterPR. or flooding events. Most of the projects in the Rio Kris Polly: What is the most important thing you have Grande Valley started after the drought of record in the learned as a manager that helps you do your job?

1950s. Following those works, the association was very active in getting Bureau of Reclamation loan programs Wayne Halbert: Recognizing the needs and concerns through that enabled districts to get low-interest loans. of the farmers out there. We operate the district as an Because the Rio Grande is an international stream, the assistant to the farmers, instead of as a business. We bring association is also active in working with the International the business aspect to the farmers’ needs, not the other Boundary and Water Commission on issues between way around. Being a farmer was the best thing that I the United States and Mexico. In 2000, when we went had to bring to the table. We’re here to keep the farmer through the Mexico issue, the association was prominently healthy. If we lose that vision for the district, then we hurt working on getting funding for water conservation our farmers. projects to address the fact that Mexico was not delivering its [treaty-obligated] water to the United States. That is still the case today.

Kris Polly: What should Congress know about the valley districts?

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Honoring Bruce Edward Wasinger

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n May 15, 2013, the Guadalupe–Blanco River Authority (GBRA) board of directors officially commended the life of GBRA General Counsel Bruce Wasinger. One of the finest water attorneys in the state of Texas, Bruce was a man of great faith, upstanding character, strength, and compassion. He was loved and admired by his family, friends, and colleagues.

Bruce Edward Wasinger, affectionately called “Wasso,” earned his juris doctor from Washburn Law School in Kansas. He successfully honed his skills as an attorney in both the public and private sectors, earning the respect and praise of his peers. Bruce’s trusted opinion extended beyond legal matters; as a friend, he provided sage advice for those who needed counsel.

Bruce had served the citizens of the Guadalupe River Basin as GBRA’s general counsel since 2008. During his tenure, he saw GBRA celebrate 75 years of service to the citizens of Texas; helped formulate a contractual relationship for GBRA to provide 75,000 acre-feet of water to Exelon Generation Company, LLC, for a proposed nuclear facility in Victoria County, Texas, that would bring much-needed power to Texas’s electrical grid; and assisted in GBRA’s participation in the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program, which concluded successfully with a stakeholder- and U.S. Fish and Wildlife–approved Habitat Conservation Plan.

Bruce led efforts for GBRA to intervene as a defendant in a landmark U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) case, The Aransas Project v. Shaw, in which the plantiff accused the State of Texas of causing a “take” of the endangered whooping crane in violation of section 9 of the ESA. His tireless efforts in the litigation defended the water rights of the State of Texas and the constituents of the Guadalupe River Basin.

Bruce always represented the best interests of GBRA constituents. He worked to make GBRA’s Mid-Basin

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Bruce Wasinger Project become a reality in order to serve rapid growth and development along the Interstate Highway 35 and Texas Highway 130 corridors. Bruce helped to steward GBRA’s Hydroelectric Lakes following the flood of June 2010. He also assisted his colleagues in the proposal and financing stages of a feasibility study for an integrated desalinated seawater and power plant.

Bruce will be missed.

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Conserving and Improving Water Resources in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

By Congressman Rubén Hinojosa

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veryone knows the old axiom, “Everything is bigger in Texas.” If you talk to someone who lives in the North, they will ask you what town you are from. In Texas, we ask you what county. We are the only mainland state that was once its own country. We are a big state, and we are only getting bigger. We have the fastest-growing population in the country. According to the U.S. Census, in less than 50 years, the total population in Texas is expected to reach 46 million. Eight of the 15 fastest-growing large U.S. cities and towns last year were in Texas. And there is one thing that we all rely on and need in order to survive, grow, and prosper.

Water.

We do not just need water for drinking. We need water because it is one of the foundations of our growing economy. Cities and businesses, both small and large; agriculture; and oil and gas development—they all need water, and without it, Texas cannot grow.

In south Texas, you cannot talk about water without talking about the Rio Grande River.

As someone who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, I know firsthand how important the Rio Grande is for south Texas.

I remember very vividly as a young man of only 27, after just graduating college, working with my brothers packing sandbags on the levees with the Army Corps of Engineers as Hurricane Beulah was beating down on south Texas.

I also have seen my fair share of droughts. Sadly, the one we are suffering through now is one of the worst I can remember. As of April 23, the U.S. Drought Monitor listed 92 percent of Texas as being in a state of drought in one form or another—moderate, severe, extreme, or exceptional—with the Rio Grande Valley, which I represent, the hardest hit. Texas cattle ranchers are culling herds at historic rates because of dry pastures and rising hay prices, and more and more farmers are on the verge of bankruptcy because of record-breaking losses caused by the drought.

The most appalling part of this drought is that a number of the problems we are facing, we can fix ourselves. Many parts of Texas are operating with outdated, structurally obsolete, and failing water infrastructure. We have old open-ditch canals with thousands of gallons of water leaking into the ground or evaporating into the air every year. There are pumping stations that are decades old. Just recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a report saying that Texas needs $34 billion to fix or replace aging pipelines, treatment plants, and other water infrastructure over the next two decades. Most tellingly, the report cites that “the nation’s water systems have entered a rehabilitation and replacement era in which much of the existing infrastructure has reached or is approaching the end of its useful life.” Nowhere is that more true than in Texas.

That is why I have introduced H.R. 832, the Lower Rio 10

Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act. This bill builds on the success of the original law I authored in 2000 that passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin. The bill would authorize 17 projects that will allow Texas border water districts to continue upgrading and modernizing their antiquated water delivery systems through the installation of water pipes and canal linings. It will enable the secretary of the Interior, acting through the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct projects that include: • the replacement of irrigation canals and lateral canals with buried pipelines • the impervious lining of irrigation canals and lateral canals • the installation of water level, flow measurement, pump control, and telemetry systems • the renovation and replacement of pumping plants • other activities that will result in water conservation or an improved water supply When the original legislation was passed, I spoke on the floor of the House and said that it was desperately needed because of the combination of drought conditions in Texas and Mexico’s failure to fulfill its commitments from the 1944 Rio Grande Water Treaty to deliver 1 million acre-feet of water to the Rio Grande.

Looking at where we are today, it is amazing how little has changed. We are facing one of the worst droughts we have seen in a generation, and once again, Mexico owes the United States over 400,000 acre-feet of water according to the treaty. I am continuing to work with other members of the Texas delegation and the Obama State Department to put pressure on Mexico to live up to its treaty obligations. However, just implementing my legislation in the Rio Grande Valley would save more water than is currently owed by Mexico. The water savings that have been realized by the projects completed has been on the order of 30 to 40 percent.

I have been working with the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee and am confident that the legislation will receive a hearing later this year and then quickly come to the floor.

With the Texas state climatologist saying that the drought could be only the beginning of a dry spell that could last until 2020, we must move quickly; we have no time to lose. With that, I hope that this bill passes with bipartisan support so that the great state of Texas will be poised for a plentiful and profitable future.

Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) represents the 15th congressional district of Texas. Elected in 1996, he is serving his 9th term as a U.S. Representative for the 15th dongressional district. Congressman Hinojosa serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Financial Services.

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GBRA: Educating the Next Generation of Water Providers and Users

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or water entities, an informed public is essential for support of investments in agriculture, infrastructure, and conservation. There are a variety of collegiate and professional water programs instructing individuals in hydrology, irrigation, engineering, and environmental science. But those programs cater to a set of people already

Cinde Thomas-Jimenez teaching a group of Lockhart, Texas, middle-school students about water quality.

educator Cinde Thomas-Jimenez described it, “The more you educate people about conservation, the more you stretch the resource for that area.”

The Curriculum Back in 1989, GBRA contracted with teachers and artists to develop a fourth-grade curriculum, “Journey Through the Guadalupe River Basin.”

The interdisciplinary program guides teachers and students down the Guadalupe River through the eyes of an armadillo and turtle, introducing them to the watershed, the history and geography of the river basin, aquifers, dams and hydroelectric generation, how water is used, water quality, and the importance of water conservation. GBRA ships the kit to Guadalupe River Basin schools each fall, providing teachers’ guides, workbooks, CDs, and maps. Over the years, the GBRA education department has revised the program, adding a substantial amount of science content.

The elementary-school curriculum reflects the relative freedom elementary-school teachers have in what they teach. Often, those teachers are in selfcontained classrooms where they teach every subject. They can pull in a lot of activities from different content areas,

interested in the subject area. To inform a broader swath of people about water issues, educators have to start early and provide multidisciplinary content. For over 25 years, the Guadalupe–Blanco River Authority (GBRA) has dedicated part of its operations to cultivating water awareness and education in the Guadalupe River Basin in south-central Texas.

The GBRA education department works with customers, teachers, students, and the general public to increase awareness of water and natural resources in the Guadalupe River Basin. The department uses a variety of materials and formats, including free education programs that meet state standards, such as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STARR™); special focus publications; tours; and guest speakers. GBRA currently has program components geared to second grade, fourth grade, and middle school.

GBRA kiosk located inside of the Patrick Heath Public Library in The goal is simple: Teach the children of the Boerne, Texas. The two women working the kiosk are (left) Debbie Guadalupe River Basin about water quality and water Magin, GBRA's director of water quality, and Cinde ThomasJimenez, GBRA's environmental education administrator. conservation. The impact is long term. As GBRA 12

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not just one topic. According to Ms. Thomas-Jimenez, “When you get into middle school and high school, the curricula are far more structured. It is more challenging to integrate content from outside curriculum supplements.”

With that in mind, GBRA has worked with Hamline University to develop a middle-school curriculum called “Water to the Sea—Guadalupe Basin.” It modernizes water quality and conservation education with an Internet-based, interactive program with videos and learning modules designed like computer games.

According to GBRA’s Chief Strategic Communications and Public Affairs Officer LaMarriol Smith, students can go online and maneuver through different components of the program. Launching this fall, the comprehensive program will provide hours of learning content as students virtually travel down the Guadalupe River.

Teacher training is an essential component of the program. Ms. Thomas-Jimenez instructs teachers on the use of the curriculum, how to cultivate interaction between the students and the curriculum, and how to monitor the water quality of streams and rivers. The teachers then incorporate that information into their science curriculum.

GBRA is not only working with school districts, but it is also integrating curriculum components into touchscreen kiosks throughout Guadalupe River Basin districts and counties. For example, there may be a kiosk located at a public library, where it provides information about the specific watershed in which the kiosk is located.

The kiosk program also utilizes historical figures to tell the story of the area. For example, areas settled by Germans use German characters to talk about the culture and heritage of the area.

Success is easy to measure. Year after year, teachers request GBRA education programs and materials.

Ms. Smith noted that “[the program] works for those educators and meets their educational standards.”

The Environmental learning center Looking ahead, GBRA’s education department wants to focus on more interactive and hands-on learning opportunities. Many state river authorities and district entities run learning centers or nature centers. Those centers are important venues to engage both students and the general public in environmental learning. So GBRA is working to develop an environmental learning center in its upper basin area, situated adjacent to the Canyon Lake Gorge in Comal County, Texas.

Canyon Lake Gorge is an impressive natural feature formed by floodwaters in 2002. Those waters carved a gorge into the landscape below the Canyon Lake Spillway, revealing fossils and geological formations.

Scientific and commercial entities use the gorge for research on the movement of water through soil and rock.

GBRA has acquired a piece of property near the gorge and created a nonprofit organization—the Guadalupe River Foundation—to fund education, activities, and programs for GBRA, including the development of the environmental learning center.

To view "Water to the Sea—Guadalupe Basin," go to http://cgee.hamline.edu/WTTS-Guadalupe/.

Rendering of the proposed environmental learning center.

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Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts

By Stacey Steinbach

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n May 12, 1988, representatives from 11 Texas groundwater conservation districts (GCDs) met in Lubbock, Texas, to form the Texas Groundwater Conservation Districts Association. At that time, the state had fewer than two dozen GCDs, and the founding members saw the association as a way to share information—both among members and between the organization and the outside world—about groundwater management by GCDs. Original dues were $10 per county managed, with the hopes that the funds would pay for regular meetings where information exchange could occur.

In 1992, members changed the organization’s name to the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts (TAGD) to avoid confusion with the similar-sounding association of well drillers called the Texas Ground Water Association.

That year, TAGD also organized as a 501(c)(3) educational association.

Since 1997, when Senate Bill 1 confirmed GCDs as “the state’s preferred method of groundwater management,” the number of GCDs in the state has nearly tripled. As new GCDs are created, TAGD serves as both a resource and fast track for getting them in touch with established, experienced groundwater managers across the state.

Today, TAGD has 82 GCD members and more than two dozen associate members working to promote and support sound management of groundwater based on local conditions and good science. An executive committee made up of elected representatives from nine TAGD areas governs TAGD’s everyday business, and the membership still meets on a quarterly basis in the same familial way it did 25 years ago, just in a much larger room.

Our Work TAGD’s mission is to support Texas GCDs and their efforts to conserve, preserve, and protect Texas groundwater. In furtherance of this mission, we serve as

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a state-wide resource on groundwater issues and facilitate the provision of administrative, technical, and legal support to member GCDs. We also provide an efficient means for communication among GCDs, the Texas legislature, state agencies, and the public.

During the legislative session, our greatest role is to track legislation and provide up-to-date summaries on bills that may impact water policy or local government entities. A volunteer committee of GCD general managers and board members governs our legislative activities.

We occasionally participate in stakeholder groups on water issues or provide testimony and specific bills. Our overall goal is to act as a resource and support policies that provide GCDs with the continued ability to balance groundwater use, ownership, and conservation.

Our outreach efforts include a comprehensive “GCD Database” of specific GCD characteristics that is available for download on our website. The database is updated annually and provides the only electronic summary of GCDs across the state, with information ranging from population to production limitations.

Important Issues in 2013 By far, the largest water issue during the 83rd legislative session was providing a mechanism for funding the State Water Plan. Through the passage of two bills and one resolution, Texas legislators took an important and revolutionary step toward meeting the long-term water needs of the state. And though presession rumors suggested that this year would not be a “water session” outside of the funding issue, TAGD tracked dozens of bills that would have directly affected groundwater management in this state. Many of these bills fell into one of three categories: groundwater use related to hydraulic fracturing, long-term permitting, and utilization of brackish groundwater/aquifer storage. Ultimately, none of those bills passed, but we hope to continue working with stakeholders on these issues in the legislative interim in an effort to address the needs of all parties.

Like many states, gas exploration and development

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has increased dramatically in Texas in the last 10 years.

Of TAGD-member GCDs with hydraulic fracturing, half are experiencing significant activity and nearly threefourths have experienced impacts to groundwater as a result of fracturing activities. But recently, a debate has emerged over a GCD’s ability to require a permit for groundwater withdrawals related to hydraulic fracturing, despite the fact that the exemption language cited in such arguments was not intended to encompass that process.

Furthermore, such an interpretation creates a situation in which certain significant users of groundwater in a GCD, namely hydraulic fracturing operators, are exempted from regulatory requirements that all other significant users of groundwater must follow. This places a greater regulatory burden on the shoulders of some significant users—agriculture, municipal, industry—and not others.

Unfortunately, legislative efforts to clarify language in the statute were unsuccessful.

Another issue that has come up in recurrent sessions is long-term groundwater permitting. In Texas, groundwater is private property, and GCDs must balance private-property rights, the highest practicable level of groundwater production, and conservation of the aquifer.

Some flexibility is necessary in managing this subsurface resource, and GCDs use a myriad of permitting tools to respond to different aquifer conditions and uses. Although all parties agree that no GCD can guarantee a certain level of groundwater availability for 30 years into the future, finding acceptable language that satisfies the needs of long-term groundwater investors and users and that adequately addresses all GCDs’ needs to manage their aquifers in accordance with statutory requirements has been challenging.

The third issue that received a great deal of attention during session was brackish groundwater utilization, including desalination and aquifer storage and recovery.

Early versions of bills would have essentially deregulated groundwater with a total-dissolved-solids (TDS) level of 1,000 parts per million or more to promote its treatment and use. Texas GCDs had serious concerns with such a management strategy for numerous reasons, the most significant being that brackish groundwater is often hydrologically connected to other sources of water.

Production of such water may cause freshwater levels to drop or actually affect the quality of freshwater as the hydraulic pressure regimes change. Another important concern was that in some areas of the state, groundwater now being used without advanced desalination treatment and being managed by GCDs would be considered “brackish” under such a definition and therefore

Irrigation Leader

unregulated.

Stakeholders and legislators worked hard on this issue during session, and though no legislation passed, all agreed that hydrological connection to currently used sources of groundwater is a more important demarcation than an arbitrary TDS level that has different significance in different parts of the state. TAGD supports incentivizing desalination of groundwater and aquifer storage to reduce the burdens on fresh groundwater, but any legislation must allow for consideration of local aquifer conditions and ensure that currently utilized sources of groundwater are protected.

2013 Texas Groundwater Summit One of TAGD’s newest and most exciting initiatives is our annual Texas Groundwater Summit. It is a threeday event in which we highlight the work of our member GCDs and provide legislative and legal updates as well as current research and technology highlights. The summit is also a vehicle for discussing emerging issues in groundwater. This year, we have included sessions on energy and groundwater and desalination/aquifer storage and recovery.

The summit provides numerous networking opportunities and also acts as a trade show, with nearly two dozen exhibitors on site last year. We are expecting more than 350 attendees and will hold the conference at the San Marcos Conference Center & Embassy Suites, just south of Austin. Additional information can be found at www.texasgroundwatersummit.com.

Stacey A. Steinbach is executive director of TAGD. She previously worked as an attorney at the Texas General Land Office and in private practice representing water providers on issues ranging from water quality and water supply to government administration. Stacey holds a bachelor of science in biology and ecology from Baylor University, a master of science in wildlife and fisheries sciences from Texas A&M University, and a juris doctor from the University of Montana School of Law. You can learn more about TAGD at www.texasgroundwater.org and contact Stacey at stacey@texasgroundwater.org or (512) 522‑8243.

15

District Focus

Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2

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By Sonny Hinojosa

H

History

idalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 In 1920, the Commissioners’ Court of Hidalgo (HCID2) is a political subdivision of the County initially created HCID2 as a water state of Texas that supplies a reliable source improvement district and acquired the assets of the of surface water from the Rio Grande to agricultural, Louisiana–Rio Grande Canal Company for the municipal, industrial, domestic, and mining users in district. In 1925, qualified landowners requested Hidalgo County, south Texas. HCID2’s water right that the district be changed to a conservation and was adjudicated the same as the rest of the irrigation reclamation district, and the board of directors voted districts in the Rio Grande Valley—2.5 acre-feet in favor. Ten years later, the district converted to a (30 inches) per acre. On annual average, HCID2 water control and improvement district under Texas diverts 75,000 acre-feet: 50,000 acre-feet for irrigation law. It remained that way until 1980, when the district and 25,000 acre-feet for municipal use. Our farmers became an irrigation district. grow crops year-round. These crops include grain sorghum, cotton, corn, vegetables, citrus, sugarcane, and hay.

The Rio Grande Valley is not a valley. It is a delta.

Once water is pumped out of the Rio Grande, it flows away from the river in a northeast direction. Our main canal exists on the western boundary of our district, with lateral canals and pipelines stemming from it. The land is subdivided into 40‑acre tracts, Mid-1930s Hildalgo County Water Improvement District sign. HCID2 used to and we maintain an irrigation manufacture its own concrete pipe, irrigation gates, and valves at its foundry. HCID2 delivery point for every tract. no longer manufactures pipe, but it still operates the foundry.

Most of the district’s acreage is laser leveled. The most common type of irrigation Impacts of Urbanization method is furrow irrigation, although drip irrigation is becoming more popular, especially with vegetable Originally 70,000 acres, HCID2 now serves crops. The district’s gravity flow system consists of 35,000 irrigable acres. We’ve lost a lot of acreage to 294 miles of waterways: 46 miles of earthen canals, development, and it is a shame because the delta soil 21 miles of lined canals, and 227 miles of concrete here is so fertile and productive. Because we are in pipelines. There are also 74 miles of open drainage the middle of urban sprawl, our canal riders not only ditches and 80 miles of underground drainage deliver water to our users, they must also patrol our pipeline. Our existing works include a river pumping rights-of-way to ensure there is no encroachment of plant from which water is transported 7 miles in an development impeding our ability to deliver water. earthen canal to a re-lift pumping station.

HCID2 has a good relationship with its municipal The cities in our district are located away from the water suppliers: the cities of Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, Rio Grande along the U.S. 83 corridor. Since the turn McAllen, Edinburg, and the North Alamo Water of the last century, they have relied upon the irrigation Supply Corporation. They provide us an opportunity district to deliver raw water to them. Deliveries to to review, comment, and sign off on proposed municipal water suppliers provide a steady revenue development plats. This enables us to protect our stream to HCID2. Municipal water rights were easements, rights-of-way, and infrastructure. granted to the irrigation district for specific use by the In addition, my predecessor had all of the district’s municipality. property deeds researched. We are able to prove Irrigation Leader

ownership of rights-of-way and easements. That has helped tremendously—as opposed to just asserting a right, we have the deed to back it up.

one lateral under TCC, and we’re halfway through another one. HCID2 continues to apply for grant funding from the Bureau of Reclamation in hopes of obtaining more federal funding to continue installation of the Rubicon Water Conservation through Information gates and Huesker canal liner.

These gates have saved HCID2 water, but there are also and Channel Control savings associated with personnel. Our canal riders do not have to go out in the middle of the night or in the middle Our biggest issue is maintenance. During the late of a storm event to manipulate canal check gates. They can 1970s and early 1980s, any canal that could be placed monitor the canal system and make adjustments through into pipe was put into pipeline. My predecessor and the the use of a smartphone, tablet, or computer, thus saving HCID2 board undertook a $20.6 million rehabilitation time, fuel, and vehicle wear and project. My task was to take tear and minimizing liability or care of the work that was done. injury.

But with time comes new Any project we accomplish technology. We have installed must save the district water. a comprehensive GIS system We are fortunate to have and continued to replace implemented so many mortar-joint concrete pipelines conservation projects throughout with rubber-gasket concrete the years. I’ve had the pleasure pipe or PVC, and we are lining of serving an excellent board of our open canals with Huesker directors that has never failed impermeable geotextile to support an improvement membranes and installing project. They are all farmers and Rubicon automated gates. they know conservation of our There’s always something to The replacement of a mortar-joint concrete pipe natural resources is a must. As a do. This district has always with a rubber-gasket concrete pipe. result, HCID2 has been able to been very progressive. maintain a water supply even when the U.S. share of stored Twelve or 13 years ago, Texas A&M Extension offered water at our international reservoirs has been at record lows. a GIS course to help get district GIS programs off the The district delivers water on a first come, first served basis. ground. We sent a technician for training. He mapped our The only time the district allocates water to its flat-rate entire district. Not only can we map facilities by latitude acreage is in times of shortage. and longitude, we can attach landowner records, deeds, and pictures.

Sonny Hinojosa of Edinburg has been We are also the first district in the Rio Grande Valley general manager of Hidalgo County and in Texas that is using Rubicon’s total channel control Irrigation District No. 2 for 18 years.

(TCC). We took that next step with TCC, in which the Prior to working with the district, gates are self-leveling; you don’t have to manipulate them. he was the assistant Rio Grande As you open a lateral and the canal pool drops, it sends watermaster. He is president of the a radio signal to the next upstream gate to release more Lower Rio Grande Water Committee; water—it is a chain reaction that works all the way back a board member and vice president of to the source. When you are through watering and turn the Texas Irrigation Council; a board that lateral off, it works in the opposite direction. We have member of the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority, the Rio Grande Regional Water Planning Group, the Texas Water Conservation Association (TWCA), the TWCA Risk Management Fund, and Security First Federal Credit Union; and past president of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Manager’s Association. He is also a past board member of the Rotary Club of Edinburg and the Javelina Alumni Association. Hinojosa received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Texas A&I University, now Texas A&M University at Kingsville. He can be reached by phone at (956) 787-1422 or by e-mail at sh_haid2@sbcglobal.net.

Huesker lined canal.

Irrigation Leader

17

RE C L A M A T I O N

P R O F I LE:

Mark Treviño, Manager of Oklahoma–Texas Area Mark Treviño has been the Bureau of Reclamation’s Oklahoma–Texas Area manager since 2005. He is responsible for managing 10 dams and reservoirs in the two states as well as one facility in Kansas. Reclamation’s Oklahoma–Texas Area facilities primarily provide municipal drinking water, but do store some water for irrigation.

Prior to his work as area manager, Mark was special projects director in the Austin office. He started his career with Reclamation in 1980 as a civil engineer on the Nueces River Project in Three Rivers, Texas. He held engineering positions in Texas and Oklahoma for the next 9 years, and then spent 11 years as a hydraulic engineer in the Denver office.

He also spent 3 years managing the Alamosa Field Division in Alamosa, Colorado. Mark received a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the University of Texas in 1980 and a master’s degree in civil engineering in May 2000 from University of Colorado–Denver.

Kris Polly: Describe Reclamation’s presence in the Oklahoma–Texas Area.

Mark Treviño: The geographic area of the Oklahoma–Texas Area is the largest for an area office in Reclamation, with the area office in Austin and a field office in Oklahoma City. There are 11 Reclamation facilities in our area: 3 in Texas, 7 in Oklahoma, and 1 in southern Kansas.

Our office is different from other area offices in that all of our projects are considered transferred works. This means that we have contract partners that operate and maintain the projects, but Reclamation retains oversight responsibility for the project facilities and lands. This includes conducting facility reviews and providing technical oversight for any modifications to the projects as needed. We work closely with state and local partners to provide technical assistance and financial assistance through Reclamation programs such as the Lower Rio Grande Valley Program, WaterSMART, Title XVI, Water Efficiency and Energy Grants, and the Science and Technology Program. Reclamation’s presence in our area has steadily grown over the past few years as more people have become aware of Reclamation and the type of assistance that we can provide. Through participation in state-wide water conferences, we are able to keep up with the water issues that are most important.

We bring Reclamation expertise from our Technical Service Center when necessary to aid the state and local agencies that may need assistance with emerging technologies.

Kris Polly: What are some of your biggest challenges and what has been your strategy for accomplishing Reclamation’s mission within the Oklahoma–Texas Area?

Mark Treviño: With a geographic area larger than some of Reclamation’s other regions, the issues that we deal with are never quite the same from day to day.

With a staff of around 25 people, as more folks learn about what Reclamation can provide, coupled with maintenance or operational issues related to our projects, it can be quite challenging to resolve all of the issues that on occasion require an answer at the same time.

The challenge is being both responsive and effective.

There is a saying, “You can have it right, or you can have it right now,” and since many of our decisions could conceivably impact other parts of Reclamation, some of

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Irrigation Leader

them are too important to not give them adequate consideration.

As you might expect, our staff members have the opportunity to learn about all issues related to a problem through direct involvement in many of the issues we are trying to resolve. I truly believe that through this exposure, our staff are better prepared to look at an issue and formulate solutions, which in my view is critical to developing the next generation of Reclamation professionals. It is through this exposure that our staff have the opportunity to build their professional reputation and integrity, both within Reclamation as well as with state and local entities that Reclamation partners with.

Kris Polly: How large of a role does partnering have in the accomplishment of your programs?

Mark Treviño: Partnerships play a major role in the operation and maintenance of our projects. Each of our Reclamation projects is approaching 50 years since construction and requires increased vigilance on the part of our operating partners. Our partnerships are definitely a shared responsibility: While Reclamation is responsible for ensuring that the project is maintained and operated in accordance with the design, our partners take care of the daily activities involved in delivering water to their customers. Both roles are interdependent, as either activity taken alone does not meet the intent of the project. We have built a trust between our project partners as well as with our state and local entities by gaining a true appreciation of issues, and we bring Reclamation resources from other parts of Reclamation to bear when appropriate.

Kris Polly: The drought has persisted in your area going on three years now. What efforts have you made to help alleviate the effects?

Mark Treviño: As the drought has persisted, we have seen an increase in inquiries about the types of assistance Reclamation might be able to provide. We have also been working with the Texas Water Development Board and our Technical Resources Center in Denver to develop a drought management tool. In an extended drought like the one we are going through now in our area, it is critical to be able to obtain the necessary information. Permitting, alternative sources of water, along with treatment considerations, emergency supply options, and emerging technologies, are all possibilities. The challenge is how to sort through this information in a systematic manner such that solutions can be evaluated and we can provide information on resources to help mitigate the issues that come with a persistent Irrigation Leader

drought. The drought tool under development strives to organize the data and make it accessible through a menu interface. This menu structure allows us to segregate the various types of water supply to help the user find information that is pertinent to his situation. While this tool was initially to include information and supplies that were pertinent to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas have also expressed interest in developing a version for their respective states, and New Mexico is working directly with our Technical Service Center in Denver to develop its own version.

Kris Polly: How would you describe your management style?

Mark Treviño: I have always maintained an open-door policy for all of my staff. My main responsibility to staff is to ensure that they have the resources to accomplish the tasks at hand in a safe and timely manner. When I was appointed as area manager, I told folks that I would never ask them to do anything that I was not willing to do myself. Given the geographic area we are responsible for, we really can’t afford to have some folks only work on specific types of work and continue to provide the type of customer service that our partners have come to expect. Having said that, I recognize how fortunate I am to work with the folks in the Oklahoma–Texas Area office. They truly make customer service look effortless, and it reflects well on them as professionals and on Reclamation as a whole.

The management team and I try to provide an environment conducive to empowering employees to develop solutions and discuss those solutions with their colleagues or supervisor. In over 30 years with Reclamation, I have gained exposure to a myriad of water management issues, and I often will provide specific consideration to ensure that we are prepared for any questions that we may get regarding a particular decision.

When we have developed a solution or response to an inquiry, I have found that how you say something is equally as important as what you meant to say. Often, making the slightest of changes to a statement can change its meaning or its perceived intent. I encourage staff to share their correspondence with a fresh pair of eyes, just to make sure their message is less likely to be misunderstood.

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Manager Profile

Joe Barerra

J

oe Barrera has been in the water business in south Texas for the last 20 years. As the former general manager of the Brownsville Irrigation District (BID) and the current executive director of the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority (RGRWA), Joe has brought a balance of transparency, smart management, and ingenuity to face the challenges of delivering water to the farms along the Rio Grande River. Irrigation Leader magazine’s senior writer, John Crotty, spoke with Joe about his career, his management philosophy, and dealing with drought in Texas.

John Crotty: How did you get your start with BID? Joe Barrera: BID hired me back in 1994.

Mr. Jim Webb, my predecessor, and BID had put their system underground in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Although my background was in construction, Jimmy felt that since the system was 30-plus years old, the district needed someone there who understood construction and could work with crews to get things done. I could learn the water business as I went along.

I started in the housing business back in 1975 when Houston was booming. When interest rates skyrocketed in the late 1970s, I flew down to the [Rio Grande] Valley with a distributor of building supplies. I had the opportunity to get back into the building business soon after, and that is how I met Jimmy Webb. Some of the subdivision work we were doing was in his district.

When Jimmy decided to retire, he called me and asked if I would apply for his position. I did, and I was hired in September 1994. I was surprised because I didn’t know a whole lot about water. But Jimmy told me that he though my strengths were in handling money and construction work, which would take me far with district work.

December 27, 2012, was my final day in the office.

John Crotty: What brought you to your current position as executive director of RGRWA? Joe Barrera: When I was general manager at BID, my position on the [RGRWA] board was a gubernatorial appointment. Governor Perry chose me and several others to be board members. When I handed in my resignation letter [to RGRWA upon retiring from BID], the authority board went to the executive committee, asked me to leave the room, and later called me back in to offer me the

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position here. So I am still in the water business, although with a little bit more responsibility.

John Crotty: RGRWA is a relatively new entity. How is it different from an irrigation district?

Joe Barrera: This authority is very different because of the way the water rights are distributed in the Rio Grande Valley. It was all settled by lawsuit. Water rights are not owned by the authority. The strength of any water authority is its ability to dole out water rights for money.

So that is what we are trying to do here to generate revenues for projects. Right now, the water-rights holders fund the authority. We are limited by legislation to 5 cents per acre-foot, which doesn’t give us a lot of money to work with at the moment. We don’t spend a lot of money either, so we have been able to fund some projects with some cooperation from the Bureau [of Reclamation].

With the new State Water Plan—it has passed the House and we hope it passes the Senate—we are looking to regionalize some projects and plans that are already on the shelf. That will give us a better shot at uniting our front to conserve water as a region.

John Crotty: Describe what it takes to have a successful relationship with a board of directors.

Joe Barrera: First off, it helps to have a board that is willing to take chances. Of course, the BID board did not give me free rein by any stretch of the imagination. I had to do my homework. I had to say to the board, “We need to do these improvements; it will cost this much money, and this is what we get out of it.” We were able to move quickly on projects, but that was because we were able to conserve enough water to sell the excess.

The authority board is a large board, but it is of a similar mindset that the authority has to move forward.

That is why the board hired me. The drought is giving us the opportunity to do some things we wouldn’t have been able to do when there is plenty of water around. It is forcing us to stop crawling, get off our knees, and start walking. So the authority board is very supportive of all new projects.

Of course, most of our board members have been, or are, on other water boards. So it is not as if I really have to educate anyone. They already know.

John Crotty: What impact has your experience in construction and development had on your work as a manager?

Joe Barrera: One of the things that I am really good at, and my wife will probably tell you the same, is stirring Irrigation Leader

the pot and then walking away to let someone else throw in the ingredients. In construction, I spent a lot of time thinking about different ways of getting things done.

When you are in the construction business, things don’t always go as planned, so you have to be able to improvise.

The same is true with irrigation.

In the construction business, money management is very important. Money management was one of the important things we did well at BID. We were able to spend our money in the right places and make the right investments. That money was used to make district improvements.

Another construction business skill that works well in irrigation is the ability to work on multiple things at one time. You are not shotgunning, but you have to be able to juggle a lot of balls: improving the district, buying equipment, maintenance, all of that. My background in construction helped a lot with that.

John Crotty: What have been your biggest challenges as a manager?

Joe Barrera: The drought in the late 1990s, much like the one we have now. The difference from then to now was the hurricane season that followed the last drought.

The drought didn’t last as long. Right now, we are three months from that season with no real chance for rain on the horizon.

You learn a lot about managing a district during a drought. . . . The normal travel time for delivering water from Falcon Lake to where we pump is 7 days, and during the drought sometimes it took as long as 21 days. Try managing that and keeping your farmers happy.

That was a really trying time for us. BID stores water in some of the cities’ resacas (ox bows), so you had conflicts with residential users who said, “Don’t tell me my water comes from the river or from Falcon Lake.” I would say, “No, you’re right. It comes from from the Good Lord, and He hasn’t let it rain for eight months now. Until He does, we are just going to have do what we can with what water comes down the river.”

Another challenge came from making a lot of improvements at the same time. You end up getting irritated at contractors because they are still on someone else’s job while they are on your job. But that was my background, so I knew how to handle that a little better.

We didn’t suffer as much as some others.

John Crotty: Did the 1944 treaty with Mexico pose any unique challenges?

Joe Barrera: You have to remember that until the mid-1970s, Mexico met its treaty obligations purely by 23

John Crotty: What are you most proud of as a manager?

Joe Barrera: The guys who worked for me. I have lots of examples where you would say, “They did what?” For example, one of our main lines ran under a drainage ditch.

The city hit that line, and as a result, the drainage ditch was full of water. That line—a 36-inch line—was filled with dead fish. When we opened that line up, the stench was unbelievable. My guys were working at the bottom of a drainage ditch that was 15-feet deep. These guys gagged and belched, and I figured if they could be down there, I could be down there. They never said they wouldn’t do it.

They got the repair done.

My employees were the greatest guys. I think that is because I had confidence in them. They had confidence in me knowing that I wouldn’t let them do anything I wouldn’t do. They never refused weekends, storms, or whatever came our way. BID made millions of dollars worth of improvements, and they were the guys who did it.

My theory has always been, let’s find out the best way to do a project, and then find the least expensive way to do it the best way. Once you get people thinking in that direction, you don’t have to fix things twice.

John Crotty: What advice would you give to other district managers?

Furrow irrigation with polypipe.

accident. Mexico has always been bailed out of actively meeting its obligations by a storm event. When Mexico started putting dams on the rivers feeding the Rio Grande, we started having problems with water coming down to the Rio Grande River.

Under the treaty, Mexico is supposed to deliver 325,000 acre-feet of water annually in a five-year cycle. At any given time, if one of the U.S. lakes fills up, the debt goes away. As it happened, rain events would fill a lake, so Mexico would not have to fulfill its obligation to provide the water. Dealing with not knowing whether you are going to get that allotment under the treaty is a real issue.

That is what a lot of current irrigation districts are dealing with right now. They are going to run out of water.

As those districts upstream run out of water, they don’t order it. It is hard to order 50 to 100 cubic feet per second, and it is going to take 400 cubic feet per second to get it where it needs to go. We would try to piggyback off other districts upstream, but that could take weeks. It is more difficult when you don’t know what is going to happen.

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Joe Barrera: The guy who took over my position at BID asked me a similar question. I said to get the minute books from the last three or four years and read through the minutes. You’ll catch up faster by reading the books rather than listening to others. I did it the opposite way and started with the oldest minute books from back in 1909 and moved forward, marking items that I thought were important along the way.

Having informed employees is a real plus. I don’t like uninformed employees. I didn’t want someone to walk up to one my guys and say, “I heard at the coffee shop the district is blowing up such and such,” and not having them be able to respond and explain whether it was happening and why. I probably told them more than I should have, but that makes them part of the team.

Make sure your guys are paid well and that they are loyal to you and you are loyal to them. If your guys have happy wives and happy families, are making a good living, and are not worrying about paying their bills on time, then you will have a better operation for it. They’ll work for you. And those who don’t, you can weed out.

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Sugarcane in South Texas Irrigated Crops

S

ugarcane is a unique crop for the United States—grown in the tropical and semitropical areas of Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, and south Texas, it is a perennial with a five-year life cycle. South Texas growers like Billie Mack Simpson have been in the sugarcane business for a long time. “My daddy farms, I farm, and my son farms,” Mr. Simpson said.

In addition to 800 acres of cane, Mr. Simpson raises cattle and grows cotton and grain on his Rio Hondo farm. On average, his fields yield 4 tons of sugar an acre. He also serves on the board of directors of the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc. (RGVSG).

RGVSG, a member-owned cooperative that

Four generations of the Simpson family standing in front of a sugarcane field.

owns and runs a mill in Santa Rosa, comprises 126 growers in a three-county area. RGVSG members produce more than 1.5 million tons of sugarcane each year, yielding nearly 160,000 tons of raw sugar and 60,000 tons of molasses. RGVSG employs 190 fulltime employees and 300 seasonal workers.

Mr. Simpson and other RGVSG members plant from August to the first of December. Growers plant cane stalk in straight rows and harvest a new plant within a year to 18 months. Cane is a “ratoon” plant,

regenerating each year after it is harvested. A single sugarcane plant regenerates for five years. As Mr. Simpson described it, “After [the initial planting], we usually grow it four more ratoons, then we dry it up and start all over.”

The stalks are mechanically harvested, taken to the mill, and ground into sugar. At the mill, the cane is washed and milled in large rollers, which extracts juice from the cane’s fiber. RGVSG boils the byproduct of the cane, called bagasse, to generate electricity to run the mill.

The extracted juice is then heated, filtered, and evaporated into dark syrup. The syrup is cooked at medium heat and low pressure, facilitating the formation of sugar crystals. A centrifuge separates the resulting crystals and blackstrap molasses. RGVSG sells the molasses as feed for cattle and the raw sugar to a sugar refinery in Louisiana.

South Texas farmers like Mr. Simpson flood irrigate their cane fields from the Lower Rio Grande watershed. Plants may require up to 50 inches of water a year. That can pose problems in low water supply years. This year, according to Mr. Simpson, “We’re looking at trying times because of our water situation.

Our irrigation water is almost down to nothing, and we’re probably looking at a short crop next year.” It has been a real challenge for cane farmers. What water is available contains high salinity levels—1,300 parts per million—nearly twice the typical amount.

Despite the challenges, south Texas farmers have expanded the acreage dedicated to sugarcane over the last 15 years. In 2011, Texas farmers grew cane on 47,000 acres. Their dedication and diligence has placed RGVSG as one of the top 10 producers of raw sugar in the United States.

Sugarcane in South Texas County

Acreage harvested (acres)

Yield per harvested acre (tons)

Production of cane (tons)

2010

2011

2010

2011

2010

2011

Cameron

15,600

15,900

27.3

33.5

426,000

533,000

Hidalgo

23,400

24,100

32.4

33.5

757,000

807,000

Other counties

6,800

7,000

31.3

33.6

213,000

235,000

State total

45,800

47,000

30.5

33.5

1,396,000

1,575,000

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service 26

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B U S I NE S S

LE A D ER

Doing What We Say We Are Going to Do:

An Interview with Northwest Pipe’s Gary Stokes

A

s senior vice president of sales and marketing for Northwest Pipe Company (NWP), Gary Stokes is responsible for leading all sales efforts across the company’s Water Transmission Group. Gary joined NWP in 1987 as the vice president of sales for the California Division. He was appointed senior vice president of sales and marketing in January 2002. Gary has been involved with hundreds of projects on high-profile water systems and proved instrumental in positioning NWP as the leading manufacturer in the welded steel pipe industry. Prior to joining NWP, Gary was a senior manager at L.B. Foster, managing West Coast sales. Kris Polly, Irrigation Leader magazine’s editor-in-chief, spoke with Gary about NWP, the durability of steel pipe, and the state of water infrastructure in the United States.

Kris Polly: I understand that NWP goes back to 1878.

Can you expand on that history?

Gary Stokes: We acquired Thompson Pipe & Steel in 1996. That company was founded in 1878 in Denver.

It got its start manufacturing riveted steel pipe for the mining industry and agricultural applications. Today, our Denver operation manufactures product for mostly municipal customers.

Kris Polly: In how many locations is NWP

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manufacturing pipe today, and how many people do you employ?

Gary Stokes: Kris, currently we are operating nine plants, which includes six that manufacture water transmission products and three that manufacture energyrelated products, such as line pipe, tubing, and casing that goes into oil and gas exploration. We currently have approximately 1,100 hourly and salaried employees. That number fluctuates by a couple hundred at any one time, depending on the workload of the plants.

Kris Polly: How long have you been in the steel pipe industry, and what changes have you seen?

Gary Stokes: Thirty-seven-plus years—I started in the steel business in 1976. I’ve been with Northwest Pipe since 1987.

The most significant change that I’ve observed is that business has become much more sophisticated in terms of the types of linings, coatings, and joints. Today, steel pipe is much more highly engineered to deal with seismic conditions and other environmental concerns than it was when I entered the business. Engineers today are actually designing the specific metallurgy they want in the pipe.

Irrigation Leader

Kris Polly: Can you describe the manufacturing process used for large-diameter steel pipe today?

Gary Stokes: It is really a basic manufacturing technology in terms of forming and welding. We start with a band of hot-rolled coil, in widths of 48 to 72 inches, with a specific metallurgy, width, and thickness depending on the needs of the job. The steel is helically formed into cylinders and machine welded on the inside and out, so that when it comes off the mill, it is a fully welded pipe. Next, the cylinders get hydrostatically tested, we make the type of joint specified, and then we line and coat it.

Part of our service is to provide a fully engineered pipeline. We fabricate all the fittings required for the pipeline to provide a product that the contractor can install like an erector set. All of the pieces are engineered to fit in a specific location in the pipeline system.

Currently, we are making pipe from 10¾ inches in diameter up to 156 inches in diameter. Thickness typically ranges from 1/8 inch to 1½ inches. When we get over 1‑inch thickness, we form the cylinders from steel plates rather than coil. Our facilities are set up to handle individual pieces as heavy as 15 tons. From a manufacturing standpoint, we have made pipe up to 2 inches thick for high-pressure penstock applications.

Kris Polly: Can you describe how the large-diameter pipe is connected?

Gary Stokes: We offer a full menu of alternatives for joints. It could be as simple as a butt-welded joint, which is two pieces butted together with beveled ends and then welded.

For water pipe, our most common connection is the welded bell and spigot joint. We expand one end of the pipe so that it is just slightly larger than the diameter of the spigot end, so that you just slide the bell end over the spigot, and then field weld it either inside or outside as required. Our second-most-common joint is the rubber gasket joint. That is a push-on nonwelded joint that we offer for a range of pipe diameters—from 10 to 72 inches.

The rubber gasket joint is limited to about 3/8 inch steel thickness.

Kris Polly: What is the general life of a steel pipe, and how is it protected from corrosion?

Gary Stokes: That is a great question, Kris, because in today’s market, almost all the engineers we talk to are designing for a minimum of 50 to 75 years with the hope that the pipe will last 100 years. It becomes a little more challenging to offer those types of solutions since steel is a ferrous material, like ductile iron pipe, and subject to Irrigation Leader

108-inch diameter polyurethane lined and coated penstock pipe for a project in the Pacific Northwest.

atmospheric and environmental corrosion. We believe that if you apply coatings, such as polyurethane paint, epoxy paints, or even something as simple as coal-tar enamel, they have to be bonded to the substrate of the pipe itself.

If there is a cathodic protection system incorporated into the design of the pipeline, and it is equipped with a monitoring system, then you can tell whether there is any corrosion taking place at any time in the future. Then you can take measures to mitigate or eliminate it. That will ensure optimal service life from the pipe.

We’re very comfortable telling people that with today’s available metallurgy, coatings, and linings, designing pipe for a 100‑year lifespan is practical. We talk about those kinds of applications routinely today.

Kris Polly: How does NWP add value to a pipeline project?

Gary Stokes: We believe we are in a unique position, as the pipe manufacturer, to look at a variety of engineering solutions for the design of the pipeline. We always look for ways that add value while being sensitive to the costs. We have seen almost every design scenario imaginable for steel water pipe, and we try to use these experiences for the advantage to the owner. Each different coating or lining has its own advantages, depending on 29

the situation. The lengths of the pipe sections can have a major impact on transportation and welding costs. The type of joint selected can impact installation costs. We frequently see steel pipe that is overdesigned from a steelwall-thickness perspective. This approach adds significant cost with little or no value. Our engineering team is very capable of evaluating a pipeline system to identify these factors and offer a performance-based solution. The savings can be significant without compromising the design.

Kris Polly: NWP recently supplied pipe to the Provo River Water Users Association (PRWUA) to enclose an irrigation canal that had become urbanized. What can you tell us about that project?

Gary Stokes: It was a very interesting project with lots of history associated with the canal. That project was

biking, and equestrian trails stretching more than 20 miles.

What was a public safety liability turned into an asset for all of the communities along the right-of-way.

There were challenges, but the project was very successful. The pipeline has been up and operating for over a year. The owner and the community are very pleased with the outcome of the project and the products we supplied.

Kris Polly: What should every irrigation district or water agency know when considering a large-diameter pipeline?

Gary Stokes: I would recommend that they evaluate the project and the materials specified from a life cycle cost perspective. When you evaluate operating costs over time, it may be worth spending a little more money up front for a product that will provide decades of service and allow you the flexibility to increase the flow or pressure to meet future system needs.

Kris Polly: What is your business philosophy?

Gary Stokes: Kris, it is really simple: Let’s do what we say we are going to do. That means meeting all the expectations of the owner or engineer. If you have a history of being honest and a history of performing, you’ll get the opportunity for repeat business from those same customers. That is our ultimate goal. We want customers to come back and look to us for solutions.

Kris Polly: What are your thoughts regarding water infrastructure in this country?

108-inch and 36-inch engineered steel transmission pipe with 96-inch green-painted penstock pipe.

originally called the Murdock Canal and was built in the early 1900s using horse-drawn carts. In more recent times, as the Provo–Pleasant Grove area urbanized, the communities began to focus on the hazards associated with the canal. The canal was deep, had a high-velocity flow, and was not very secure. Several children had fallen into the canal and drowned. In response, PRWUA decided to enclose the canal. The project entailed roughly 21 miles of 126‑inch polyurethane-lined and -coated steel pipe.

Not only did the association enclose the canal into a pressurized pipeline for operational advantages and greatly reduced evaporation losses, but it also converted the entire pipeline right-of-way into a public park with walking, 30

Gary Stokes: I hold a perspective common in our industry. We have a tendency to ignore water infrastructure because it is underground and out of sight. As long as you can turn on the tap at home and water comes out, people think that everything is fine. But a lot of infrastructure is outdated in terms of capacity and performance. Twenty to 25 percent of the water distributed in this country is lost through leaking and antiquated infrastructure. When you consider the consequences of wasting this precious resource, it begs for action.

The problem, however, is that no local politician wants to be the person that promotes raising the rates to pay for the upgrades. Water infrastructure tends to be a local issue, and, like transportation infrastructure, it requires maintenance and replacement to perform as the needs evolve. We need to take a long-term perspective to ensure that our water infrastructure is functional and sustainable.

Our civilization depends on this resource.

Irrigation Leader

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Water Law

Taxation of Improvements on Indian Land by Utilities

34

By John Crotty

E

ven the best-intended and carefully written regulations can have unintended consequences.

A recent rule developed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) enables Indian tribes to lease their own lands with fewer federal impediments and less oversight. The regulations give tribes more control of their property. However, provisions of the rule involving the taxation of leased land have seemingly unforeseen negative consequences: the prohibition of assessments and taxes levied by a public utility on improvements on Indian land. The end result is that water utilities that currently serve customers on Indian lands will suffer a substantial loss in tax revenues essential to meeting contractual obligations to the State.

Five months ago, the U.S. Department of the Interior published a final rule, Residential, Business, and Wind and Solar Resource Leases on Indian Land, 77 Fed. Reg. 72,439 (December 5, 2012) (codified at 25 C.F.R. § 162), modifying the BIA process for approving tribal leases in order to accelerate the leasing process and remove uncertainties associated with entering into leases with tribes. The rule sets forth new regulations to address residential, business, wind energy evaluation, and wind and solar development leases on Indian land and removes the existing regulations for nonagricultural leases. The rule became effective on January 4, 2013.

Of greatest impact to water providers are the new regulations addressing taxation of improvements on leased Indian land. The regulations prohibit state and local governments from imposing taxes on improvements, services, and other value generated by non-Indian lessees located on Indian lands. The regulations apply the federal prohibition of state and municipal taxation to: • permanent improvements on the leased land,

without regard to ownership of those

improvements (25 C.F.R. § 162.017(a)); • activities under a lease conducted on the leased

premises, including any charge or tax on “business

use, privilege, public utility, excise, gross revenue

taxes” (25 C.F.R. § 162.017(b)); or • the leasehold or possessory interest

(25 C.F.R. § 162.017(c)).

The ultimate impact is the prohibition of the levy of property taxes, business license taxes, utility user taxes, and sales taxes on non-Indian residences or business operating on tribal land.

Negative Impact on Water Providers— Desert Water Agency The Desert Water Agency (DWA) of Palm Springs, California, levies taxes on properties within district boundaries to pay its contractual obligations to the California State Water Project (SWP). DWA’s governing act (chapter 100 of the California Water Code Appendix) enables DWA to tax property within district boundaries to meet those obligations. DWA currently collects about half of its SWP contract charges from assessed valuations—these collections are used only to pay fixed capital charges from the State.

The regulations have the potential to impact DWA’s groundwater replenishment assessment (charged to pumpers to replenish the aquifer), property tax (used to repay SWP debt), and water service charge (used for water service). DWA serves thousands of parcels on Indian land within DWA boundaries. Under the new regulations, DWA projects a loss of $1.575 million per year of assessments for SWP collections—more than 10 percent of its total collections. This is a substantial loss that impacts DWA’s ability to effectively provide water service and maintenance to all of its customers.

Nothing prohibits an agency and tribe from entering into an agreement in which the tribe will pay for services.

According to BIA, “[n]othing in these regulations is intended to preclude tribes, States, and local governments from entering into cooperative agreements to address these taxation issues, and in fact, the Department strongly encourages such agreements” (77 Fed. Reg. 72,448). However, without authority to charge taxes or fees, DWA, or any agency seeking to continue to implement current assessments and taxes, is in a poor negotiating position.

If DWA cannot charge for services on tribal lands, it will have to impose higher, disproportionate charges against other users. Proposition 218, as reflected in the California Constitution, prohibits such disproportionate charges.

Legal Framework The legal framework for looking at issues of state taxation on Indian land is set forth in several cases, but best summarized in White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 U.S. 136 (1980) [hereinafter White Mountain]. In White Mountain, the United States Supreme Court employed a balancing test to determine whether state laws apply on Indian reservations. In White Mountain, the State of Arizona sought to apply motor carrier license and use fuel taxes to a non-Indian enterprise authorized to do business in Arizona and Irrigation Leader

operating solely on a reservation. The enterprise and the White Mountain Apache Tribe argued that the taxes are preempted by federal law or that they represent an unlawful infringement on tribal self-government. Id. at 136.

The Court employed a balancing test of three factors analyze the nature of the tax: • Whether the tax is applied to Indians or non-Indians; • If the primary purpose of the tax is for general

government purpose or to compensate for a specific service, id. at 150 (determining whether the State

“assess[ed] taxes in return for governmental functions

[the State] performs for those on whom the taxes fall”); and • Whether the tax interferes with a comprehensive

congressional scheme regulating Indian tribes and reservations, id. at 148–49 (determining whether there

was “any room for . . . taxes in [a] comprehensive federal

regulatory scheme” and assessing whether “state taxes

would obstruct federal policies”).

The test is a “particularized inquiry into the nature of the state, federal, and tribal interests at stake . . . designed to determine whether, in the specific context, the exercise of state authority would violate federal law.” Id. at 145.

Ultimately in White Mountain, the Supreme Court determined that federal law preempted the State’s ability to tax the enterprise. The Court found that the economic burden of the taxes would fall on the Indian tribe, the federal government had undertaken comprehensive regulation of the harvesting and sale of tribal timber, and the activity that would be subject to tax was conducted solely on federal and tribal roads within the reservation. Id. at 151.

But viewing DWA’s particular situation through the lens of the White Mountain balancing test, it would appear that the groundwater replenishment assessment, property tax, and water service charge neither preempt federal law nor represent an unlawful infringement of tribal self-government. In fact, they differ greatly from motor carrier license and use fuel taxes in White Mountain.

First and foremost, DWA’s replenishment assessment applies to all pumpers equally, regardless of whether they are on Indian land. In addition, the purpose of the assessment is to compensate DWA for the service of obtaining water supplies for its customers. The purpose of the taxes at issue in White Mountain was a general desire to raise revenues. Id. at 150.

The DWA assessment is not for general purposes. Similarly, although DWA’s property tax is imposed upon improvements on tribal lands, it functions much like a compensatory charge. It is used to cover DWA’s fixed costs for the SWP. The tax is narrowly tailored to repay the State of California for infrastructure investments that enable residents of Palm Springs, as well as neighboring Indian lands and surrounding areas, to receive water.

Finally, there is state guidance supporting the taxation of leases of tribal lands to non-Indians. The California Board Irrigation Leader

of Equalization (Board) sets forth summaries of its chief counsel’s conclusions on specific tax application inquiries.

Regarding the assessment of leases of tribal lands to non-Indians, the Board supports their assessment “[u]ntil there is an appellate level decision holding that leases of tribal lands to non-Indians are governed by federal law only or that assessments of possessory interests to non-Indian lessees infringe upon the tribal right of selfgovernment.” California Board of Equalization, Property Tax Annotation, 525.0016.

The Board bases its opinion on two Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions involving possessory interests: The Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians v. Riverside County, 442 F.2d 1184 (9th Cir. 1971) [hereinafter Agua Caliente], and The Fort Mojave Tribe v. San Bernardino County, 543 F.2d 1253 (9th Cir. 1976) [hereinafter Fort Mojave]. The court, in Agua Caliente, 442 F.2d 1184, 1186, ruled that in cases in which there is no federal legislation expressing congressional prohibition, California could apply a possessory interest tax against non-Indian lessees of Indian trust lands on Indian reservations. In Fort Mojave, 543 F.2d 1253, 1257-58, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Agua Caliente holding and held that possessory interest taxes could be imposed on non-Indian lessees of lands held in trust by the federal government and that state legislation directed at non-Indian lessees of Indian land are neither automatically preempted by federal authority, nor an interference with a tribe’s right of self-governance.

Together, these cases affirm the State’s power to tax possessory interests of non-Indian lessees of Indian land where there is no federal preemption or infringement upon a tribe’s self-governance.

Finding a Solution Despite possessing legal authority to impose assessments and taxes on non-Indian lessees of Indian lands, and in the absence of existing taxation agreement with a tribe, utilities are facing a situation where they must either (1) turn off the water to existing customers to make ends meet or (2) place a disproportionate tax burden on the shoulders of customers whose improvements are not on Indian land. Neither option is optimal or fair. Only a prompt and proper review of the rule by the Department of the Interior, or by a court, in light of existing legal authority, can help public utilities continue to generate revenues for services provided and ensure that customers receive their water.

John Crotty is counsel to Water Strategies, LLC, and senior writer for Irrigation Leader magazine. John may be contacted at (202) 740‑3142 or john.crotty@waterstrategies.com.

35

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CLASSIFIED LISTINGS MANAGER/SECRETARY/ TREASURER Roza Irrigation District is accepting resume's for the position of Manger/ Secretary/Treasurer. The Manager has the bottom line responsibility for operating all facets of the district operations in accordance with State Law, Federal Las, District contracts and the Rules and Regulation as set forth by the Board of Directors. However, since this requires the coordinated effort of several people to accomplish, the Manager must be able to hire, train, and delegate authority to other capable people.

Since agriculture is an ever changing industry and water rights and water supply an ever more challenged resource, District operation must continually evolve if it is to effectively provide efficient service and meet the needs of its water users. The Manager should be well read and informed, and be able to pass sufficient information on to the Board, so that together they can approach District operations with both short and long term goals and objectives.

The interests of the district are best served by a Manger who can work effectively in the political arena, and provide leadership in the many organizations that serve the interests of irrigated agriculture.

In summary, to effectively manage an irrigation district ne should have a goo working knowledge in the following areas: law, personnel, union and other contract negotiations, accounting, engineering, hydrology, politics, construction, irrigation facilities maintenance, equipment operation and maintenance, and agriculture in general.

Job Requirements: Education/Experience: • Four year college degree • Minimum 5 years management experience Compensation: Wage: Dependent on qualifications Benefits: • Medical/dental insurance, including vision • Basic life insurance • Annual and sick leave • Eleven paid holidays • WA Public Employee Retirement System • Voluntary Washington Deferred Compensation Program This is a full time position located is Sunnyside, WA. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. Travel outside the District may be required to attend conferences, meeting and/or trainings. (Expenses reimbursed for District travel.)

Please submit resume to: Roza Irrigation District PO Box 810 Sunnyside, WA 98944 Attn: Ric Valicoff, Board President Or you may submit resume electronically to tmonroe@roza.org Resumes will be accepted until June 30, 2013.

Join Lindsay Corporation in our mission to be the leader in providing worldwide, differentiated water management solutions! We are growing and looking for top talent for the following roles: Regional Sales Manager, Mississippi Delta regionCandidate should have a demonstrated track record of attracting and retaining customers for life and a passion for the irrigation business. Requirements include: 4 year college degree, and 5+ years of direct sales experience in agricultural or equipment sales through a captive dealer organization. Position will be territory based, in or around the Memphis, TN area.

Product Service Technician, bilingual SpanishCandidate should have a strong customer orientation with a willingness to go the extra mile to resolve customer issues. Requirements include: AA degree and 3+ years experience in the irrigation equipment or other agriculture industry, and experience with electrical troubleshooting.

Strong phone and email communication skills. Position will be based at our manufacturing facility in Lindsay, NE or our corporate office in Omaha, NE. Manager, Sprinklers & Applications EngineeringCandidate should demonstrate a passion for the irrigation business with strong work ethic and commitment to excellence. Requirements include: 2 or 4 year degree and 5+ years experience in irrigation or agricultural equipment industry. Irrigation Association CID designation or 5+ years experience in all aspects of irrigation design.

Technical competence in sprinkler, VRI and complete system design. Position will be based our worldwide corporate office in Omaha, NE. All positions include a strong base + bonus package, and relocation assistance is available. We offer an excellent benefits package, including a comprehensive health insurance, 401K match and tuition reimbursement.

Qualified candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to humanresources@lindsay.com. Lindsay Corporation is an EOE.

For information on posting to the Classified Listings, please e-mail Irrigation.Leader@ waterstrategies.com

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2013 CALENDAR June 2–4 June 4–5

June 10–11 June 17–19

June 19–21 July 8–12 July 11 July 11-12 July 29–31 August 14 August 21–23 August 27–29

Groundwater Management District Assn., Summer Session, Colorado Springs, CO Nevada Water Resources Assn., Well Design, Construction & Rehab Workshop, Reno, NV Nebraska Assn. of Resources Districts, NRD Basin Tour, Valentine, NE Idaho Water Users Association, Summer Water Law & Resource Issues Seminar, Sun Valley, ID Texas Water Conservation Assn., 2013 Mid–Year Conference, Galveston, TX ESRI, International Users Conference, San Diego, CA Wyoming Water Assn., Annual Summer Tour, Evanston, WY Irrigation Leader Summer Workshop, Denver, CO National Water Resources Assn., Western Water Seminar, Stevenson, WA Assn. of California Water Agencies, Regulatory Summit, Oxnard, CA Colorado Water Congress, Summer Conference, Steamboat Springs, CO Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts, Texas Groundwater Summit, San Marcos, TX

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