J Allen Carnes Discusses his Agriculture Commissioner Bid on Pratt on Texas [AUDIO]

UPDATE 11/22/13 11:30a

Editor's Note:  Article updated to remove incorrectly transcribed quote.

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Tuesday on Pratt on Texas on KFYO, J Allen Carnes, the mayor of Uvalde, Texas, joined Robert Pratt to discuss issues related to his run for Texas Agriculture Commissioner in the upcoming Republican Primary.

Mr. Carnes cited his family’s long history in farming and his experience in farming and being a mayor in a rural area of the state being a qualification that sets his apart from the other candidates for Ag Commissioner.

As with many candidates that Mr. Pratt as interviewed for the upcoming election, he asked Mr. Carnes his stance of water rights. Mr Carnes said,

“I am a strong advocate for the rule of capture and property rights."

Carnes continued, "My father and his father before, that built our business, and that being said we have challenges in our state overcoming water issues, and when you talk to a person in downtown Houston or downtown Dallas and you talk about the rule of capture and of vested property right in your ground water, a lot of times that doesn't resonate with them.

"I think as Texans we need to start talking about what we’re doing with that water an how we’re producing and how we are becoming a positive output for the state. Because, right now there is a huge gap between service water and ground water and you’ve seen the problems that service water has seen recently with the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and the rice farmers and we eventually are going to have to deal with that on ground water and if we don’t fight and fight hard we don’t make the case for why this water needs to remain with the land owner.

"We’ve got huge challenges in Texas but I think they can be overcome we just have to have smart people in office being able to explain these situations and not just say we’re going to fight for it just to fight for it, we are going to have to have people there who explain that vested water right is a huge asset, not only to the property owner but to Texas as a whole moving forward and why they need to be able to make the choices of how that ground water is used.”

More information on Mr. Carnes can be found on his website here.

Mobile / Tablet download link for interview audio