Exelon still holding on to Guadalupe waterWeb Posted: 07/11/2009 12:00 CDT
By Anton Caputo - Express-News
Exelon Energy's plans to build two nuclear reactors near Victoria may be on hold, but it hasn't stopped the power company from reserving the rights to 75,000 acre-feet of precious Guadalupe River water for another year — and maybe longer.
<snip>
Farmers and cities that hold junior rights, like Victoria and Kerrville, have been cut off from river water at times during the drought and forced to rely more on well water.
<snip>
The Exelon deal makes no sense to Victoria area rancher David Huber, 61, who has watched the Guadalupe and the nearby San Antonio River dwindle over the past two years. The river's authority's most recent drought report showed the Guadalupe's flow near Victoria is 187 cubic feet per second, about 18 percent of its average flow.
“As far as water down here, we just don't have it,” he said. “It's as bad as I've seen it in my lifetime. The whole point is the '50s drought was not as bad. If we didn't have mesquite and huisache, the cattle would be starving.”
<snip>
This nuclear plant, if it ever gets built, will make droughts worse.
So will global warming.