Presidio County
Two new faces will join the Presidio Underground Water Conservation District in September. Tina Neufeld, a graduate student at Sul Ross University, has been hired to replace outgoing general manager Trey Gerfers. Austin Thomas, a hydrogeologist and business owner, will take the seat vacated by board member Brenda Witty. Thomas and Neufeld were warmly welcomed by the other board members at the August 20 meeting.
Gerfers is credited with setting up well monitoring systems and administrative systems for the district board. He has published a regular column about groundwater in this publication for the past five years. He has planned to leave for the past several months to pursue personal travel. His last day is September 30.
In recent months, underwater conservation boards in Texas have received renewed scrutiny for their role in safeguarding water for future generations. The heavy water demands of data centers, rapid industrial development and federal construction have caused concern among local citizens who are keenly aware of the limited supply. As a right-to-capture state, the law limits what the board can and cannot do beyond permit and monitor wells.
The expertise that Neufeld and Thomas will bring to the board was praised by the board and Gerfers. Neufeld is a mentee of Kevin Urbanczyk, the director of the Rio Grande Research Center at Sul Ross who has been deeply involved in well monitoring projects in West Texas. Urbanczyk recently announced that he will coordinate research between the Presidio board and the newly launched West Texas Water Research Center.
Thomas completed his graduate degree in resource and environmental science from Texas State University, with a focus on Texas water policy. He owns a construction company in Terlingua and lives in Presidio with this reporter.
