The Texas Tribune has done a good job of outlining West Texas’ water woes.
But it could have been a bit more thorough. The article attached to this blog talks at length about the current water troubles in the Midland-Odessa and San Angelo regions. And yes, those communities are in deep trouble over the short term. The Tribune notes they might run out of water as early as next year.
But Amarillo is in a different position. The city has been buying water rights throughout the Panhandle. Boone Pickens recently sold a gazillion acre feet of water rights to the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, thus ending his dream of piping water downstate to water-starved regions of Texas.
Local water planners keep telling us the city is in good water shape for, oh, the next couple of centuries. Yes, our drought is as grim as it’s been in the Permian Basin, but our water planners have been pretty far-sighted with their water strategy.
All this makes me wonder, though: What happens when the water does run out in, say, 2212? I realize that none of us will be around then; nor will our kids or grandkids. But a few generations down the road will feel the pinch when the water does run out. And it will.
I do take some comfort, though, in Amarillo City Hall’s proactive approach to developing new water sources – even though the city could do even more to promote aggressive water conservation.
Nothing – not even our water – lasts forever.