A water supplier whose leases would supply a significant portion of groundwater for the Vista Ridge pipeline project now wants to take those leases elsewhere, according to a lawsuit filed in Travis County District Court.

The suit by W. Scott Carlson, president of Metropolitan Water Co. in Brenham, argues that Ross Cummings’ Blue Water Systems of Austin, has “failed to share one penny” of $5.5 million in fees received from a subsidiary of the Spanish conglomerate Abengoa that is building the pipeline.

Besides constructing and operating the pipeline, Abengoa Vista Ridge, under its contract with the San Antonio Water System, must acquire rights to groundwater. It did so through an agreement with Blue Water, which has its own agreements with Carlson’s company.

Efforts to reach Carlson and his attorneys Wednesday were not successful.

In the filing, they referred to an October 2014 agreement to assign leases to Blue Water. Metropolitan’s groundwater leases make up 1,300 of the roughly 3,400 leases Blue Water submitted to SAWS. They would help supply the 142-mile pipeline that will ship up to 16.3 billion gallons of water per year to San Antonio from a well field in Burleson County.

Carlson first began visiting landowners in Burleson and Milam counties in the 1990s, buying up groundwater rights to the prolific Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in the area. The lawsuit states he spent 15 years gathering the leases that cover 50,000 acres in those counties.

Metropolitan’s and Blue Water’s relationship dates back to at least 2006, when they signed an agreement allowing Blue Water to help find a buyer for Metropolitan’s water. A section of that agreement required them to split 50/50 all “reservation fees,” which allow an entity to call dibs on water not yet being used. The agreement appears as an exhibit in Metropolitan’s suit.

Soon after the San Antonio City Council approved its agreement with Abengoa Vista Ridge last year, that company then told Blue Water it needed to convey its groundwater leases so Abengoa Vista Ridge could secure financing for the project, the lawsuit alleges.

After a “marathon negotiating session that lasted through the night” of Oct. 14, 2014, Metropolitan’s Carlson and Blue Water’s Cummings came to an agreement that they would split 50/50 any payments from Abengoa Vista Ridge, among other terms, the suit states.

The next day, Metropolitan’s attorney purportedly sent an email confirming the terms to Blue Water’s attorney, who allegedly confirmed them. Metropolitan then sent a draft agreement to Blue Water to sign, the suit states.

Fourteen months later, Blue Water has not signed that agreement or shared any of the more than $5.5 million allegedly paid to them by Abengoa Vista Ridge, according to the lawsuit. Metropolitan now wishes to “find new, trustworthy partners with which to do business,” it states.

Blue Water’s attorney Paul Terrill declined to comment on the allegations, saying Blue Water will tell its side of the story in future court filings.

Abengoa Vista Ridge is also named a defendant in the suit. Efforts Wednesday to reach its spokeswoman in Texas were not successful.

Abengoa is facing problems of its own in Spain, where it filed for pre-insolvency protection from creditors in November. While sources vary on company’s total debt spread across its subsidiaries worldwide, many put it at $9.4 billion. Creditor banks agreed Wednesday to offer it a short-term cash infusion of $123 million, according to Reuters.

SAWS officials have said they do not expect Abengoa’s problems in Sapin to affect the Vista Ridge project.

When asked whether enough leases would be left to supply the full 16.3 billion gallons annually if Metropolitan’s agreements with Blue Water are nullified, SAWS spokespersons Gavino Ramos and Anne Hayden referred questions to Blue Water and Abengoa Vista Ridge.

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