County: No Easy Fix for Residents Stranded West of Mineral Wells Crossing

CHRISTOVAL, TX — Residents who live in the subdivision near Christoval with public access only via Mineral Wells Rd. are struggling getting into and out of their homes because the S. Concho River continues to flow with a higher volume over the low water crossing leading to those homes.

Pct. 4 Tom Green County Commissioner Bill Ford has been working on the situation since September when heavy rains caused the S. Concho to rise about 12 feet above normal making the low water crossing impassible.  Historically, residents had a handshake agreement with the owner of the XQZ ranch which allowed them to drive north, through the ranch — privately-owned land — to FM 2335.

According to testimony before the Commissioners Court Tuesday, the ranch sold in 2015 and the new owner allowed residents to access his private road in the fall when heavy rains caused the river to rise. The landowner changed his mind and prohibited the 50 to 60 residents from using his road after the gates on the road at the ranch were left open in October.  

Now, residents are forced to cross the Mineral Wells low water crossing with a large volume of water still flowing over the bridge.  There is no other way out of the subdivision.

Mineral Wells Rd. is a county owned and maintained road but no one is sure who owns the crossing infrastructure and there is no record of who built it.  Long time residents say the crossing was built in the early 1970s.

Residents requested the Commissioners' Court force the ranch owner to allow them to cross his private property.  County Judge Steve Floyd said that forcing a private landowner to do something was not going to happen. Federal and State laws side with the landowner even in emergency situations.  

Commissioner Ford said County road crews have twice attempted to remove debris from the crossing in an effort to lower the water level.  He said they would have to get a permit from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to build a new bridge and that is a years' long process.

Other options are for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide a temporary bridge until the water goes down and the bridge can be improved.  The County Judge is the primary emergency management director for the county.

Commissioner Ford said there is no quick fix for the bridge and the river will continue to flow because there has been so much rain that springs are running a large volume of water into the S. Concho River like never before.  

Commissioners took no action Tuesday on the Mineral Wells crossing.  

After the meeting, Commissioner Bill Ford described the challenges of the Mineral Wells Crossing. He said about 25 residences west of the crossing are affected. That equates to around 60 constituents, he said. Ford said commissioners will pursue all angles, to include working with the State of Texas that has a bridge fund and grant program.

"We need to first find a design that is workable," Ford said.

The crossing makes a slight turn in the middle of the low water area.

"There are choices, but because the road curves on the low water crossing, we need to find a way to engineer that. It's an awkward problem," Ford said.

The problem is not going to abate by itself any time soon, Ford estimates. The river is currently flowing at 105-110 cubic-feet-per-second (cps). "That's 10 times normal," Ford said. "The river hasn't lowered. It just stays up and there isn't a quick answer."

"Right now we're trying to make it safe, putting reflectors up there so you can see at night. I don't want anyone driving off into the river," Ford added.

In other business, Commissioners approved closing the request for bids to operate the Stephens Central Library Cafe because there were no responses.  The last vendor lost the lease because of unpaid rent.