Cuero Water Ending Up in Goliad Uranium Mining Field

By Sonny Long, Victoria Advocate, Texas

Nov. 23–CUERO — Water being sold by the city of Cuero to private haulers is being used by a uranium mining company in neighboring Goliad County.

Cuero City Manager Corlis Riedesel said the city is not selling water directly to Uranium Energy Corporation, the company that has been drilling test wells in Goliad County the last six months, but added, “We sell bulk water to individuals and companies, and we don’t ask them what they do with the water. We, as a city, sell bulk water to companies. They bring in water trucks, and it’s metered.”

Bob McCurdy, general manager of the Pecan Valley Groundwater Conservation District that serves DeWitt County, verified that private haulers are moving water from Cuero to the uranium mining area. Neither McCurdy nor Riedesel named the private water haulers.

The groundwater district’s board of directors plans to discuss those sales during a meeting next week.

“We are aware of the situation and looking into it,” said McCurdy. “I am in the process of studying how to best deal with it and present that to the board. We can’t have water transported out of DeWitt County without a transport permit. It’s against the groundwater district’s rules.”

According to those rules, specifically Section 8, Transfer of Groundwater Out of the District, “groundwater produced in the district may not be transported outside the district’s boundaries unless the board has issued a transport permit.”

The district’s board of directors, when considering whether to issue a transport permit, may take into consideration “availability of water in the district and in the proposed receiving area; the projected effect of the proposed transfer on aquifer conditions, depletion, subsidence, or effects on existing permit holders or other groundwater users within the district; and the approved regional and state water plan, and the certified district management plan,” according to the groundwater district rules.

“Right now, it’s a procedural matter,” said McCurdy. “Transport permits need to be applied for and considered by the board of directors.”

In Goliad County where the uranium exploration is taking place, the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District has denied UEC a permit to use a water well on the property for mining purposes. In addition, the county’s commissioners court has passed a non-binding resolution in opposition to uranium mining in the county.

The drilling site is off Duderstadt Road near the Weser community about two miles from the DeWitt County line. UEC has leased about 2,000 acres in that area. In September, the company acknowledged that uranium has been verified in the test area.

Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-275-6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Victoria Advocate, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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