Tag Archives: Texas drought

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Texas drought taking its toll

Wichita Falls residents have been given the order: no more outside watering.

The prolonged drought throughout much of Texas has forced the city to enact some very strict rules on residents. Seems the lakes that supply the city with water are continuing to shrivel. Water quality is being degraded. Residents are facing stiff penalties if they violate the restrictions.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/11/12/facing-drought-wichita-falls-bans-outdoor-watering/

Is this a harbinger of what other communities may face down the road?

Amarillo is in better shape than many communities. It has purchased a lot of water rights throughout the Panhandle. Of course, Amarillo’s boon could mean a bust for smaller communities that rely on the same aquifer ground water as the Panhandle’s largest city.

Lake Meredith, which used to supply the city with some of its water, no longer is of any use. It’s level has receded below the intake pumps. Marinas have been closed. Boating is limited. The lake’s volume is less than 1 percent of capacity — which means it’s virtually dry.

All that bad news can be countered, though, with some good news. Wichita Falls is going to enact a wastewater treatment program that will recycle wastewater back into the system. The plan calls for a dramatic reduction in the amount of water drawn from lakes Kickapoo and Arrowhead.

Good deal, yes? Of course it is.

Here’s the thing, though. If Amarillo ever were to enact such a plan in which residents are drinking water that once contained, um, certain organic matter, I hope the city does so without ever telling anyone.

Some things I don’t need to know.

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‘Rule of capture’ might become campaign issue

An interesting issue may be emerging in the race for Texas governor.

Is it OK for a leading candidate for governor to talk about water conservation when he has drilled a well on his property to collect all the water he can use — and avoid municipal fines in the process?

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has sunk a well on his property in an exclusive Austin neighborhood. Austin, as is much of the state, is snagged in a punishing drought. It has imposed restrictions on lawn-watering. Abbott — along with other well-heeled residents — has gotten around that drilling his own well.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/11/10/drought-abbott-keeps-his-lawn-green-drilling/

Abbott is using the time-honored “rule of capture” doctrine in Texas that enables property owners to use whatever they can from under the ground. The courts have upheld this practice, even though it might deplete groundwater supplies for others.

“To me it’s just unconscionable. It’s a total disregard for the resource,” said Andrew Sansom, executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and the former head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “What we should be doing is reducing our consumption of water.”

The drought has had its impact on West Texas. Remember what used to be known as Lake Meredith? A recent survey of all the state’s surface-water reservoirs shows the one-time “lake” at 0 percent of capacity, meaning that it’s virtually empty.

The Hill Country also is in serious trouble with its water. So, what about the leading Republican candidate for governor digging his own well? Does it become an issue for his major GOP primary opponent, Tom Pauken? Will the likely Democratic nominee, state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, make it an issue?

Should they? Certainly they should.

Leadership requires leaders act the part, not just talk about it.

From my vantage point way up yonder in the water-starved Panhandle, I believe the attorney general might have dug himself into a bit of a political hole.

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Video of shrinking lake is mind-blowing

Lake Meredith used to be a substantial body of water.

It now needs to be renamed to, say, Puddle Meredith.

http://amarillo.com/news/texas-news/2013-07-24/drought-keeping-lake-levels-down-time-lapse-video-lake-meredith-decline

The time-lapse video of the lake shows what the punishing drought has done to this once-magnificent body of water about an hour’s drive north of Amarillo.

The feds opened Sanford Dam in 1965 along the Canadian River. It filled up with river water, reaching a maximum depth of 103 feet in the early 1970s. It’s been downhill, so to speak, ever since.

The water levels got so low in 2011 that the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority stopped pumping water from the lake and shipping it to cities served by CRMWA. Marinas have closed. The lake level now stands — last I saw it — at around 27 feet.

The Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, which was created as a place for people to take their boats for a little water-related recreation now is a place for folks to camp, hike and do other things on dry land. I reckon some folks can still take their boats onto the water, what’s left of it.

I’m still waiting for an answer to this question: Did anyone foresee this immense water depletion occurring when they built the dam in the first place?

And was it all a wasted effort?

Amazing. Simply amazing.