State Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, said in a packed Hays County Government Center conference room on Feb. 5 that he hopes to patch up an unregulated portion of the Trinity Aquifer that has many western Hays County residents concerned about their water supply.

Isaac told government officials, private stakeholders and Hays County residents gathered for the meeting that he could file at least one and as many as five bills in March to bring a portion of the Trinity Aquiferfrom which Electro Purification, a private water supplier, plans to pump 5.35 million gallons of water a dayinto local control.

"We are working on a solution," Isaac said. "At least in the Hill Country there is a group of legislators I am working with to address the particular issue."

Isaac said a constitutionally required notice of intent to file the legislation will be published in the Austin American-Statesman on Feb. 9.March 11 would be the first date on which Isaac could file the proposed legislation.

Isaac and others offered up solutions to the issue, which has received attention from media and citizens alike since Jan. 20, when the city of Buda became Electro Purification's third customer in the area. The city entered into a contract with the Houston-based water developer to receive 1 million gallons of water a day from the Cow Creek Formation of the Trinity Aquifer, located in western Hays County.

The meeting was held after a committee to discuss the growing concerns related to the project and the ongoing search for water sources in the region was formed by the Hays County Commissioners Court on Jan. 20, hours before Buda City Council moved forward with the project.

Buda Mayor Todd Ruge told the committee and the audience on Feb. 5 that the city needed to secure an additional water source by 2017, and Electro Purification was the citys fifth and final option.

"Folks, we need help," Ruge said. "We need other options. We were left with one option. And we need that water by 2017. You can see the conundrum that we are in.

"My hope is that another water source will come riding in on a white horse because we need another option."

Among the sources Buda had been considering was an arrangement with Centex Materials, a Buda cement company that uses water permitted by the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District. The city of Buda would supply treated and cleaned wastewater to Centex in exchange for its BSEACD water. But Ruge said the conservation districts rules do not allow such transfers.

A representative with the district said the matter would be discussed at its Feb. 12 meeting.

Hays County Commissioner Will Conley, who governs the precinct in which the pumping is being proposed, said the meeting is the start of a dialogue on how to conserve water supplies in the area while securing the future supply. Conley said he is optimistic that the needs of Hays County residents can be met.