Bottled Water War - Critical issue faces Nation and Frio Canyon

Citizens urged to rally, Save the Frio River

PENNY MAGUIRE EDITOR

Across the country and in Texas bottled water marketers are targeting hundreds of rural communities in search of their most precious resource, pristine spring water. While the companies and landowners with whom they contract reap the profits, local communities and the environment are paying the price. The Frio Canyon could soon become one of those communities.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has.” Citizen action groups across the nation dedicated to protecting water and their communities have organized and bottled water wars have haunted groundwater districts created to protect our most precious commodity.

In Real County, the Save the Frio Foundation was formed almost two years ago by a group of concerned Frio Canyon citizens following a bottled water permit application by Leo Pavlas. Real County Judge W. B. Sansom, Jr. has led the fight; their mission: to protect the Frio River.

The Real Edwards Conservation Reclamation District granted the permit allowing Pavlas, owner of the 3500 acre Riding River Ranch, to pump 65,000 gallons of water per day from Kent Creek, a creek Save the Frio leaders allege will negatively impact the Frio River flow, local wells, and the tourism and ranching economy. They fear other bottled water permits will follow. A vast Texas drought during the two year battle caused further alarm when local citizens were hauling water last year after their wells went dry.

The RECRD asserts it was bound by State regulations and has not issued any guarantee the river will not be impacted. Water activists allege bottled water comes from groundwater which has a direct hydrologic connection to springs and other vulnerable surface waters (the Frio River.)

Save the Frio sued RECRD. Litigation has been costly and ineffective, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Some business and resort owners now propose they need to jump into the fight and a class action law suit against Pavlas may be the only solution to protect their water.

Meantime, protestors in rural communities across the nation are taking their voices to the streets, holding protests, and rallies to bring awareness to this multibillion dollar industry causing immeasurable harm to the environment. The amount of energy needed to produce one water bottle is the equivalent of filling a plastic water bottle one quarter of the way full with oil. Water is also wasted in the process and many estimate that for every one-liter of bottled water produced, two liters are wasted. It is estimated over 40 million water bottles arrived at landfills last year, an estimated $1 billion worth of recyclable plastic. The incineration of plastic water bottles releases toxins and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

It is expected Pavlas will now apply to the RECRD for a Transportation permit before pumping begins in order to move the water out of the county. A public hearing will have to be held. Danny Rimkus and other Save the Frio leaders are urging local citizens to attend and voice their concerns. The RECRD could delay the permit for various reasons.

Class action litigation could also present delays.