May 10 -- Victoria Regional Airport's aging water and sewer system is soaking county taxpayers. In a rainy month, the county's water and sewer bill at the airport can reach almost $13,000. That's double the cost in a normal month.

The reason? Old clay sewer pipes allow rainwater to filter into the sewer system, which can double the sewer bill the airport pays the city each month.

"We have clay sewer pipes, so the water has been filtering into the sewer system," he said. "It's been hurting the airport for quite a long time," said County Commissioner Kevin Janak, who did the initial study of the problem.

The county wants to improve the airport to pave the way for future growth. The effort to determine what needs to be done is just beginning, County Commissioner Wayne Dierlam said. The work could be costly, he added.

County Commissioner Wayne Dierlam said. But he said it could be a potentially costly undertaking.

"You really don't know how bad something is until you get into it," he said. "We're going to have to look at it and evaluate it. I guess eventually, someday we're going to have to replace some of that."

A committee appointed by the airport commission also found the airport lacks sufficient working fire hydrants and water pressure to some hydrants.

About 15 to 20 of the 75 fire hydrants at the airport don't work, said Kyle Young, the Victoria County fire marshal. However, he stopped short of saying that poses a critical danger.

"We can fight fires," he said. "It's not to where we would really like it to be, but it's well above most of the county because most areas of the county don't have hydrants."

Young noted that the airport was an Air Force base and the military was notorious for having more fire hydrants than the minimum requirement. He said that means the airport will probably be able to reduce the number of fire hydrants it has.

On a scale of 1 to 10, he'd rate the airport's system at a 6 or 7, he said. "I would feel comfortable fighting a fire here with what we've got."

The airport control tower that is being refurbished and prepared for use later this year will need a fire suppression system, he said. He's awaiting word from an engineer to decide if that will require a bigger water line or some other improvement.

But he said the tower is at the end of the water main system.

"Of course, you're going to have less flow on that end of the system," Young said. "What we may end up having to do is putting some boosters on it."

He also said it's possible the water system will have to be looped to improve the flow or maybe something as simple as opening a closed valve will help improve the pressure.

Young said getting an adequate water supply to the control tower is a priority for the county commissioners and airport commission. He said he thinks the other improvements won't be far behind. "I don't think it's something they want to drag out." David Tewes is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6515 or , or comment on this story here.

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