On the record is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho.

San Antonio is a fast growing, fast moving community with something new happening every day.

And that's why each week we go on the record with the newsmakers who are driving this change.

Then we gather at the Reporters Roundtable to talk about the latest news stories with the journalists behind those stories.

Join us now as we go on the right.

Hi, everybody, and thank you for joining us for this edition of On the Record.

I'm Randy Beamer, and we have a lot to talk about this week.

You may be enjoying some what we would call beautiful weather after some decent rain.

But then if you're a farmer or if you're a guy who works at the Aquifer Authority, this beautiful weather isn't this beautiful as you'd like to see some gray skies.

Joining us to talk about that, Roland Ruiz is the general manager of the Average Aquifer Authority.

Thank you very much for coming in.

You bet.

Great to be with you.

First of all, if you look at the skies right now and you look at the level of the aquifer, where are we?

Where things aren't good?

I mean, we're in stage three of our drought management plan and we've been there for some time.

The rain that we've had in recent days, in recent weeks has been helpful, but it's not a drought breaking type of.

Rain because people think, okay, we've had some rain, we're good, right?

Not the case here.

No.

And I think what really needs to happen is we need to see a change in weather pattern over a sustained period.

You know, you go from a dry time to a wet time.

And so the sunny days and the great spring weather that we see, while it's pleasant to the to the senses, it's not helpful to the aquifer itself.

And where are we historically now compared to what we've been?

Well, we are today.

If you look at where the levels are and we measure aquifer levels at our main index well, which is commonly referred to as the G17 index, well it's located over at Fort Sam or what Now it's joint Base Antonio Antonio course.

But anyway, we're about 30 feet below historical average for where we should be this time of year.

So that's significant.

And if you look at we just got the numbers for how much recharge occurred last year and it's pretty low.

It starts to look like numbers that we saw during the 1950s when we experienced a historic drought of record.

And so that that doesn't bode well for us.

We need to have we need to reverse that trend.

And those things just don't happen overnight.

And people might be thinking, well, you know, I got some rain, but I still I want to have my, you know, my good looking lawn this summer.

What do you tell people?

Because we're looking at the what is it, the 630 level as a trigger for stage four water restrictions?

What do you tell people about yards and lawns and.

Well, I think that the message there is to be as as responsible as you can be with your lawns and that is use drought tolerant plants.

You know is there escaping is an option and all that.

And I think I think saw's, the main water utility for certainly San Antonio for the region, has done a good job of getting that message out to their customers.

The challenge for us as a regional agency is that we don't regulate the end user as much as we regulate the water providers, the water purveyors.

And so it's almost like a trickle down effect.

We we set the stages, for example, the cut backstage of stage one through four, and ultimately stage five if we need to get there and it's up to the permit holders, the users to manage under those parameters.

Unusual people might not understand exactly what the Edwards Aquifer Authority is in terms of the governmental relation and your authority, your power to do.

What?

Right.

And and so we were created by the legislature basically out of a lot of conflict litigation back in the early nineties.

And the legislature said, here's how we're going to solve this problem.

We're going to create this agency that is going to regulate use of the aquifer where before there was no regulation.

And so.

There's Ronnie Paycheck and the.

Check was kept and so there was a cap put in place on how much water can be taken out of the aquifer in any given year.

That cap is still in place.

So we manage under that cap and a permitting system was created by the legislature.

We administer that permitting system and all those permits have been issued.

There are no new permits to be had because we are at that cap.

And so what's happened now is that when someone, an entity comes into the region and wants to develop a business or industry, the way that they get access to the aquifer is that they have to go on the open market and buy a permit from someone who already has one.

So it's kind of a cap and trade system that exists now.

And so what you've seen happen over time is that some of the major users of water like saws, have gone out and acquired additional water resources.

At one time, the Edwards Aquifer was the sole water resource for the river.

But it wasn't that long.

Ago.

It was not a couple of decades ago.

And what's happened now?

You see this diversification of water use.

You see programs like Vista Ridge.

That source has brought in they've developed for Storage and Recovery project where they store Edwards and another aquifer and bring it back when they need to to offset their use of the Edwards.

And the same in New Braunfels, in San Marcos.

They're doing similar things.

So we're in a much better place than we were, say, a generation ago.

But terms of that watershed in the rains still is even worse than it was when I was covering droughts in the eighties and nineties.

Right?

There's more people now where the per capita use across the region is better, but there's more people now.

And so the challenge for us is what do we do moving forward?

And one of the things we've started to look at is one of the stress points obviously is up in the Texas Hill country, which makes up the watershed to the aquifer.

All the water that ends up in the aquifer starts up there and makes its way down gradient, ends up in the upper through the recharge zone.

We don't have the ability to regulate that sort of region.

It's beyond our powers.

So we're trying to get creative and we're looking at ways that we can incentivize conservation easements that take properties out of development and keep them in their natural state, because that will help protect historic recharge and perhaps even.

And if we can get creative and enhance recharge.

How do you how do you incentivize that?

I know the state lawmakers legislature is looking at a bill that would help with that.

But how would you do it here?

Well, we've had a successful partnership with the city of San Antonio over the past couple of decades.

And you may recall that for many years, the citizens of San Antonio voted an eighth cent sales tax on themselves and dedicated Hays Properties to pay for that.

So there's been a lot of property already put into easement.

But there's still a lot of property.

Out there, still a lot of property out there.

And so we're looking at ways to identify additional funding for that partnerships, collaborations with other entities who are like minded and with private industry as well, corporations that want to we want to focus on.

So if you're out there, you have some money, you have a partnership, a private industry talk to roll over is as we look at another, you know, a tough summer.

Even if we get the rain that we would normally get, it's still going to be tough.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We it's it's normal.

Average rainfall will help, you know, sustain stabilize our core levels.

It's not going to bring us up.

We're going to need a rainy season.

We're good and that's historically what if you look back and you look at the records, drought is followed by flood.

It's sad to say that, but that's just the reality.

We live and it's probably more of the same as we look ahead and we try to anticipate what the effects of climate change might be.

Although California, we look there and they have you know, they had that severe drought and riots and floods.

We appreciate it.

Thank you very much for coming in and giving us the news about the aquifer.

Roland Ruiz, thanks.

Thank you.

After the mass shooting in Uvalde last year, there were many, many voices calling for changes in gun laws and in guns safety.

We wanted to follow up with one of the voices, one of the men doctors who had treated people both in Uvalde and after the Sutherland Springs shooting.

And Dr. Ronald Stewart, who was a trauma and trauma surgeon at University Health, joins us now, also chair of the department at UT Health, I believe, right?

Yes, sir.

Thank you very much for coming in.

Now, you have a different viewpoint on this, all doctors and surgeons, but you especially because you've seen firsthand, you know, a couple of mass incidents here.

And even before that, you were a part of a working group of doctors, surgeons working on dealing with guns.

How bad is the issue now of gun deaths, I understand is the leading cause of death now from guns, from children and teenagers, the leading cause of death period.

The leading cause of death period for us children and adolescents.

It's the number one cause of death, not the number one cause of injury.

The number one cause of death in U.S. children.

Adolescents.

And it's it's a really significant problem in adults as well.

It's it's I think is the most under addressed health problem in the U.S..

Intentional injury violence and and in firearm related injury.

And now you had been working with these surgeons, I guess, since 2018, trying to come to common ground on recommendations even before you Valletta.

What are some of those recommendations and especially after you, Valletta, that you're pushing for?

Our team working with a group of really passionate firearm owners.

That is, it's really possible to work together to try to do two things to to work to make firearm ownership as safe as reasonably possible for those who own firearms and for those who don't.

And then the second is really understand what's one of the root causes of violence that lead to injury and and how can we work to address the underlying root causes of violence.

And, you know, that that that requires acknowledging what I just consider to to facts.

Firearm ownership is a constitutionally protected right.

And the second we have a really, really large firearm related injury problem in the United States and South Texas.

The tragedies of Sutherland Springs and the Rob Elementary School shooting in Duvall Day really, you know, bring it home, that those are two of the largest mass shootings in U.S. history.

And and we can we can actually do something about it if we if we commit to work together to make.

Some of the recommendations that you hear.

Excuse me for interrupting some of the recommendations that you had and kind of reissued after you vowed.

A lot of people anyway, talked about raising the minimum age for buying a gun and background checks, universal background checks.

Where are you in terms of after you valley looking at what Austin is doing or not doing and lawmakers in Washington as well, what's your reaction to how they're reacting?

For us to see meaningful action, we need bipartisan action.

People working together to to to try to prevent and reduce the dramatically reduce the frequency of these tragedies, these mass shootings.

You're talking about mass shootings specifically.

I did work with the part of work group of and they were almost all extremely passionate, very knowledgeable firearm owners.

By passion.

I mean, you know, they they really care about Second Amendment rights and and are extremely experienced.

And, you know, they they issued a list of about 14 recommendations.

I think they're they're all actionable.

And what now what what are those, do you think that are actionable?

Raising the minimum age background checks, universal background checks.

I mean, because politically in Texas right now, that that's a nonstarter here in Austin.

Right.

And I, I, I would I would like for it to be a starter.

I would I would really like for it to be actually a start up a conversation of what we could do to to work together with respect to mass shootings in particular.

I think that group heads it's most and most interesting recommendation was to to look at the air 15 class of weapon, high capacity magazines, semiautomatic rifles.

There are class of weapons that are regulated more tightly.

Those general things would be, you know, fully automatic machine guns, suppressors, other classes of firearms.

But that group recommended to to really consider looking at the air 15 class of firearm and and to to open up the the National Firearm Act regulations and look at reclassify define those.

Well now in terms of some pistols some pistols now with braces are being reclassified as short barreled rifles.

So you have to register those.

And that group of Texans is actually suing the Biden administration over That is how do you look at that reclassification?

Is that a a beginning of some of the reclassification you think that could happen?

So, you know, I would I would like to say I'm knowledgeable about that specific topic you're talking about.

I'm not.

But but there are those those I think the the the gist of it is, is similar, although I really do think this would take Republicans and Democrats working together at the federal level to reclassify they are 15, is either a class three firearm or come up with a new class, that it's not a ban on that firearm, but it would allow putting putting some regulations around it that it could could be age, could be a lot of different things.

And enhanced background check, as you talked about a permit to purchase.

Those are things that could be done in actually, I think could be done in a nuanced way.

If and and you know, which would would would really go a long way with respect to these mass shootings.

Pardon me.

Again, these are things that you are still working on with legislators.

You and others this session.

You think we're out of out of time, but you think there's some possibility of any of that happening in Texas this session?

I think the probability is not is not great that that will happen.

But but I do think from a I think appealing to responsible firearm ownership and having firm owners advocate for this, that all the strategies that I'm talking about really intimately involved working with responsible firearm owners to to to, to, to, to, to preserve and even enhance Second Amendment rights just making firearm ownership safer and and and making it better for responsible firearm owners.

All right.

Well, thank you very much, Dr. Ronald Stewart.

Whatever happens, the trauma surgeon there at University Health, we hope you don't have to respond to any more mass shootings like we've seen in this area.

Thank you very much for talking with us.

Thank you.

On Reporters Roundtable this week, Mayor Ron Nirenberg gave his annual State of the City address.

Here to talk about that, what's in it and maybe what wasn't in it as well is Joy Palacios, who was the city hall reporter for Texas Public Radio.

Thank you very much for coming in.

Thank you.

You wrote a story on this and I guess part of it was that it's a little different what he said then from most state of the city, state of the nation state or whatever, that they talk about the state of the city is, and then they fill in the blank.

But in his case, it was a little different.

Fill in the blank.

So the state of the cities, they're not actually put on by the city.

They're put on by the chambers of commerce in town.

And they are often a springboard for mayors to be able to talk about new initiatives and things they want to bring forward over the next year, usually done spring or early summer.

This one was done a month shy of the election where the entire city council is up for reelection.

And, you know, a lot of times we see when we hear state of the unions are state of the states, you know, they hear the state of our union is strong and cities have mayors have said that before.

But Nuremberg took a little bit of a different approach this time in saying our city is poised for takeoff.

And that goes into a lot of the projects that he has brought forward over the last few years.

And so we have a clip from Mayor Nirenberg talking about what that means.

Well, I think we're we're transitioning now from a period of design and planning and to seeing things come to fruition.

I mean, a good example of that is the airport project, which is transitioning from design phase in to shovels in the ground, which will begin next year.

So a lot of that work is underway.

Of course, we passed the largest bond issuance by voters in our city's history and all of those projects are now starting to get underway.

So the city is poised in so many ways.

As I mentioned, mayors often talk about what they're going to bring forward, But instead of any new initiatives, Nierenberg this time is focusing on things that he has already put on the table, things that are already in motion.

So we're seeing during the speech, we saw him talk about the Ready to Work program, which voters approved through a sales tax a few years ago.

We're also seeing him talk about transportation.

He mentioned VR.

He also talked about the affordable housing program.

The housing bond, all of these things that are already in motion that he wants to see through through what what would be if he's reelected his last two years in office.

And now the some of these projects came about through federal money from COVID and that kind of the CARES Act and such and also through the bond issue.

So those programs are, you know, as he said, poised to make a difference.

But the city is really now shepherding those.

So we're not going to have any other big major projects, according to the mayor.

And this, although we're looking forward to the airport expansion as well.

The airport is going to be the biggest thing the city has on its horizon.

The mayor mentioned this.

You know, city manager Eric Walsh has said that this is going to be the largest capital improvement project the city has ever taken on.

And it's a $2.5 billion investment in the airport that's going to lean pretty know not entirely, but pretty pretty heavily on federal funds, the bipartisan infrastructure law, things like that to bring this into fruition.

Over a decade or so.

I mean, for years and years that's going to happen.

Right.

The new airport is supposed to be open, new terminal, I should say, rather, by around 2028.

So that is going to be something the city is going to be putting a lot of emphasis on.

And as far as any new projects, you know, I can't say that they won't bring anything new forward, but I know that the mayor wants to focus on the things he already has on the table.

And mayors always have legacy projects they want to see through.

For instance, Howard Peake had the Greenway Trail system that now bears his name.

Mayor Castro had the decade of downtown, of which we've seen a lot of investment over the last decade and going forward.

And so, you know, Nirenberg has several projects that he wants to see through that would be his legacy as mayor to.

Ready to work the housing initiatives, those kinds of things.

We really at the beginning say the housing, the ready to work looking at that or mixed results so far.

So it's it's it's very early to see what the long term results are going to be.

You know, ready to work officially started in May of last year, and it was projected to have around 15,000 people with new jobs, new skills, new things.

How do they make them ready for the workforce?

And it's had a slower start than I think the city would want to see so far, 200 people have completed training and 99 people have been placed in jobs.

And that's data as of this week.

So there is a still a lot of.

That 15,000 wants to be over a number of years through.

2028.

Through 2028 is when this program is supposed to be pretty much completed.

It's a $200 million program.

It's funded through the one eighth of a cent sales tax that voters approved a couple of years ago.

And you know, that sales tax project, the whole sales tax initiative, you know, came from the sunsetting of the aquifer protection program.

The city is using other means to fund that.

But the funding for ready to work sunsets in 2026 and that money is then going to go to VA to help fund some of its transportation initiatives.

And that kind of built off of the COVID work project that also was a little slower than they thought.

But how about the I'm sorry, go ahead.

Well, so and it's it's funny you mention that because, you know, the Ready to Work program was came out as a necessity from COVID.

There was trained for jobs, let's say, which was funded through the CARES Act money.

The specifically coronavirus money from the federal government.

And before COVID started, the mayor had this very big transportation plan that he wanted to go through, wanted to use some sales tax money to go towards.

But COVID pretty much torpedoed that, and it made this necessary.

You know, we saw a projected 14% unemployment when the pandemic was first starting in March and April of 2020.

I saw those staggering numbers the city was projecting.

And so, you know, there was a big refocus to get the this funding being used to put people back to work.

And we're seeing that now through ready to work.

And it's going to take a few years to see how many people actually go through and complete this.

How about the housing?

Now, we just saw this week a groundbreaking for some of the affordable housing.

You talk about that and how long that is going to take.

So the housing plan, it has several components to it.

Part of it is through the bond which voters approved.

There's also money that has gone through.

There's also emergency money that has come through to help keep people in their homes right now.

But San Antonio over the past couple of years has had a bit of an affordable housing crisis, much like the rest of the country.

And so these initiatives, the city has put places to put in place is trying to make housing more affordable, to keep people in their homes and to keep housing reachable.

Well.

You're reaching for that word, Jamaica, that.

We've seen for for people within my generation of millennials, homeownership is becoming very, very challenging for people to try to achieve.

And, you know, there have been these housing initiatives are the local way of trying to help people attain that.

And so it's going to take a few years, just like ready to work to see the impact that it's had.

And as I mentioned, that this is like these are the legacy projects that Nierenberg is putting forward.

And he was also you also ask him about Proposition eight.

That's coming up.

Let's take a look at that clip.

I've been on the record and I've worked towards access to women's health care.

That has not changed.

I remain strongly in support of women's health care rights, and I also favor legalization of marijuana.

But we cannot do that at the local level.

The city charter is not state statute, and we cannot preempt, we cannot supersede state law and the state constitution is very clear about that.

Proposition eight has a lot of different moving parts to it.

There are requirements that police wouldn't be able to arrest for certain things.

For instance, low level marijuana possession, which the city already has in place through its site and release program.

It gives officer discretion.

I wouldn't be able to make any arrest over abortion and wouldn't be able to make any arrest over theft under $750 or graffiti, I believe under $2,000.

And that's one of the issues that Nierenberg has a problem with, is that he says that theft is not a victimless crime and kind of taking that authority away would impact the victims.

He also says that Prop eight would not be enforceable.

And the city a city attorney has said this, too, that the city charter, which Prop eight would amend the city charter, cannot supersede state law, of which there are already numerous things on the books that would affect this.

So he has come out against Prop eight, which took, I think, a lot of people by surprise, given his statements of supporting things like site release.

But he still says he supports site and release.

And as you heard a moment ago, that he supports marijuana legalization.

It's going to be interesting.

I know you're going to be covering that as well.

Thanks for coming in.

Joey Palacios, you can read or listen to him on Texas Public Radio or a TPR .org Thanks.

And thank you for joining us for this edition of On the Record.

You can see this show again or preview shows as well as downloading the podcast.

Just go KLRN.org and we'll see you next time.

On the record is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho.