Wimberley and western Hays County residents who fear their water supply will be decimated by a commercial project unregulated by a groundwater district said they hope to stop the pumping before it starts. Hundreds clad in t-shirts or bearing signs with the words save our wells descended on the Wimberley Community Center for a town hall organized by state Rep. Jason Isaac, RDripping Springs, on Feb. 10. Houston-based Electro Purification, which plans to pump as much as 5.35 million gallons of water per day from the Middle Trinity Aquifer, was represented at the meeting by its manager Tim Throckmorton, hydrologist Kaveh Khorzad and its attorney Edward McCarthy. "The company reiterated it has conducted its business transparently and said a 2011 meeting with Hays County Commissioner Will Conley was met with no objections by the commissioner," McCarthy said the company will be a good corporate citizen in the community. Conley, who represents many of the citizens who attended the meeting, said at the town hall meeting that he has no recollection of the 2011 meeting with EP officials. He said, in response to the companys claim of having good relations with the communities it serves, that he has spoken to officials in those jurisdictions who claim otherwise. "I'm not the only official," he said. "Talk to other officials that experienced this so-called corporate-citizen company in their other jurisdictions. They will tell you they were lied to, that they're a fraud. We don't want you here. We want you to leave." McCarthy said contracts have been executed with its three customers: the city of Buda, the Goforth Special Utility District and a proposed high-end residential neighborhood in Mountain City's outskirts. EP has nine months to prove the wells can produce, in quality and quantity, the water its customers have been allotted. Should the wells fail to show productivity, EPs contracts will be terminated. EP anticipates a launch of service in 2017. "As you can see, our customers have come to us and asked [if we can] come up with a solution to their problem," Throckmorton said. "At this point, we're not sure we can. A lot of work needs be done." Isaac, who announced Feb. 5 at a Hays County committee meeting that he plans to file as many as five water-related bills this legislative session, said he will work to bring the well site under the jurisdiction of a groundwater conservation district or to create a buffer around the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area. That would impose enforcement measures, such as permitting, to ensure pumping would not pose a threat to groundwater resources. Currently, EP is able to pump as much water beneath its property as it wants, under the statewide rule of capture. Throckmorton said at the meeting that about 90 percent of its projects are regulated by a conservation district. Asked whether EP would oppose legislation to regulate the so-called white area from which the company intends to pump, McCarthy said not necessarily. "If the legislation is reasonable and fair, that's one thing," he said. "It just would depend on what the legislation said." McCarthy said he did not have an opinion on what would be reasonable and fair because the feasibility study has not been completed. He said the company will continue to be involved in discussions with government officials and the community. "Contrary to some of the statements, we did not sneak into town," McCarthy said. "We are not running out of town." But many opposed to the project are aiming to stop its operations in the Middle Trinity Aquifer, which they said is a vulnerable water source. One member of the audience claimed her pump is already experiencing pressure issues. Activists and concerned well owners who attended the meeting adorned the walls with signs stating, "EP go home!" A Wimberley resident urged the community to contact Gov. Greg Abbott so that he can declare the matter an emergency, which could fast-track related legislation. A Change.org petition urging state senators Judith Zaffirini and Donna Campbell to enact legislation that would bring Electro Purification into a groundwater regulating entity, such as a groundwater conservation district, had gathered more than 2,650 signatures as of Feb. 11.