The Aransas Project Archives - Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Grant to Initiate the GBRA/TAP Agreement

June 25, 2017June 19, 2017 by Admin

Goal to Address Long-Term Water Supply Needs in Guadalupe Basin and Safeguard Critical Whooping Crane Habitat

AUSTIN — The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) and The Aransas Project (TAP) undertook the first step in the implementation of The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority/The Aransas Project Agreement (GBRA/TAP Agreement), announcing the receipt of a grant from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation (www.CGMF.org).

The grant is to develop a strategy and action plan to advance implementation of the GBRA/TAP Agreement toward a shared vision for future habitat and water for Guadalupe River System and San Antonio Bay.

Developed in 2016, the GBRA/TAP agreement was reached after years of litigation over freshwater inflows for San Antonio Bay and the long-term success of the only remaining flock of wild whooping cranes in the world.

The agreement sets up a process by which GBRA and TAP will jointly investigate issues associated with the future of water usage and availability on the Guadalupe and San Antonio River systems and the freshwater needs of the whooping cranes. The work under this agreement will consider both habitat issues for the whooping cranes as well as long-term water supply and inflow issues.

Under this planning grant, GBRA and TAP are designing a process to engage key stakeholders throughout the Guadalupe River Watershed and neighboring San Antonio and Aransas Bays to inform the development of the strategy and plan to support implementation of the Agreement. This research will begin in June and will continue into the fall.

The intent of GBRA and TAP is to create a study and evaluation process that will ultimately propose distinct courses of action to ensure whooping crane habitat and long-term water availability for both humans and nature.

About The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority

The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority was established by the Texas Legislature in 1933 as a water conservation and reclamation district. GBRA provides stewardship for the water resources in its 10-county statutory district, which begins near the headwaters of the Guadalupe and Blanco rivers, ends at San Antonio Bay, and includes Kendall, Comal, Hays, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Gonzales, DeWitt, Victoria, Calhoun, and Refugio counties. GBRA provides services that include hydroelectric generation; water and wastewater treatment; municipal, industrial, and agricultural raw water supply; and recreational operations.

About The Aransas Project

The Aransas Project was founded by a diverse group of organizations who believe that the whooping cranes, the Texas coast and the freshwater of the Guadalupe River Basin are essential to our way of life. TAP is committed to ensuring Guadalupe River flows from the Hill Country to the coast and for the protection of San Antonio and Aransas Bays and the endangered whooping crane. TAP’s membership includes governmental entities such as Aransas County, City of Rockport and Town of Fulton and non-governmental organizations such as the International Crane Foundation, American Bird Conservancy, Audubon Texas, Matagorda Bay Foundation, Houston, Coastal Bend and Travis Audubon Societies, Aransas Bird and Nature Club, Aransas County Guides Association and several Rockport-area businesses.

For more information, contact:
Todd Votteler, tvotteler@gbra.org or (830) 379-5822 and
Jim Blackburn, jbb@blackburncarter.com or (713) 501-9840

River authority and advocacy group sign new agreement

March 9, 2017December 1, 2016 by Admin

By Sara Sneath – Victory Advocate

The Aransas Project and Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority have recommitted to working together to find ways to balance the water needs of an ever-growing population and threatened wildlife.

The two groups, which have historically fought in court over differing visions of water needs, first signed an agreement to work together in February.

But the river authority’s longtime general manager, Bill West, retired in late September. The new agreement was signed Monday by West’s successor, Kevin Patteson.

“The signing of the agreement is just another way to reaffirm our commitment to conducting the appropriate studies related to the Guadalupe River watershed,” Patteson said. “And to meeting our mutually agreed-upon goals.”

The agreement is not legally binding, but Jim Blackburn, The Aransas Project’s former attorney and current board member, said the good faith agreement is innovative in its approach to water management in the state.

The six-page document outlines the need for more research into habitat needs for endangered whooping cranes, freshwater mussels and other wildlife in the Guadalupe Delta. The document also addresses the need for a dollar value to be placed on water in the state.

This value would include the true cost of taking water that would otherwise flow into the bay, supporting estuaries, as well as commercial and recreational fishing.

The groups plan to meet early next year to seek funding and further devise their strategy, Blackburn said.

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org

Whooping crane case won’t be heard by Supreme Court

June 23, 2015 by Admin

Whooping crane family at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge — Whooping Cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to hear the case brought before the court by The Aransas Project, (TAP). Although the TAP case will not be heard, Friends of the Wild Whoopers is disappointed but does not feel that TAP’s efforts were a loss. Since TAP filed their first lawsuit in 2010, up through today, this case has made the public aware of how important fresh water is for the estuaries, bays, and our beloved wild Whooping Cranes. The public paid close attention to how the water flows were controlled and who controlled it. Now that the legal options for TAP have come to a close, FOTWW and the pubic will be keeping a close watchful eye on those who control the fresh water flows to ensure that our beloved Whooping Cranes and the citizens downstream will always have enough fresh water to make a living and survive.

US Supreme Court won’t hear case on whoopers

By Sara Sneath of the Victoria Advocate

The U.S. Supreme Court will not weigh in on a Texas agency’s role in the death of 23 whooping cranes.

The high court denied a petition Monday to review the case brought against the state environmental agency by The Aransas Project, a group of concerned citizens, businesses and municipalities that advocate for responsible water management of the Guadalupe River Basin. The group maintains that by allocating too much water from the Guadalupe River, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality did not allow enough freshwater to reach the bay, where the only wild flock of whooping cranes winter.

To read Sara Sneath’s article in its entirety, click here.

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

Whooping crane case gains support

March 10, 2017April 30, 2015 by Admin

9:07 PM, Apr 29, 2015
by David Sikes/Caller Times

Whooping crane case gains support — Whooping cranes wintering in Texas. Photo by Chuck Hardin

CORPUS CHRISTI – Fans of whooping cranes everywhere and proponents of environmental river flows in Texas received support last week from Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan, who now officially supports the effort to uphold a court decision that placed partial blame on the state for 23 crane deaths.

Last summer the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans threw out a 2013 decision by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, who declared Texas water managers were partially responsible for the 2008-09 whooper die off in violation of the Endangered Species Act. An appellate court disagreed fully with Jack in its decision, referring to the district court’s action as an “abuse of discretion.”
A request is pending for the case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.

From the Fifth Circuit’s decision came a glimmer of hope in the form of a dissent opinion written by Fifth Circuit Judge Edward Prado, who suggested his fellow judges who voted to reverse Jack’s ruling applied their own facts to the case rather than using those of the trial judge. He wrote that . . .

To read David’s article, click here.

FOTWW thanks the Caller-Times for allowing us to share this article.

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org