The impact of the election May 1 on Blanco citizens and their Wimberley Valley neighbors downstream along the Blanco River was immediately apparent at the city’s May 11 council meeting under new mayor Rachel Lumpee, joined by new council member Connie Barron. A council previously struggling to address its first municipal utility district (MUD) achieved a number of water and wastewater planning objectives for Blanco that will directly benefit Hays County.

The Blanco City Council adopted a MUD policy that had been tabled before the election, ensuring infrastructure standards for new developments that promote water quality. The council initiated a companion development agreement policy, which if passed will set expectations for negotiations with developers on details about what gets built in a MUD.

Read more from Ray Don Tilley, Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, in the monthly Water Column with the Wimberley View here.