Summary: Excerpts from The Community News article "It’s time to find water solutions" and Dallas Morning News article "Water Woes: A deepening crisis." and additional articles.
Latest Update: Friday, 30 September, 2022
Tags: #FortWorthWater
Friday, 30 September, 2022, updated with article, To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs, The Texas Tribune, 26 September 2022 Excerpt:
As the state is losing water, some conservation organizations, mostly nonprofits, and agencies are stepping up to help conserve water by using a new strategy — paying farmers to leave the water in the ground and consume more sustainably... Getting reimbursed for using less, or in some cases no water, could be beneficial to farmers with failed crops. The current drought is costing Texas agriculture billions of dollars in losses.
According to Kapnick, 64% of the country was in drought conditions this summer, and much of that was concentrated in Texas. At the peak of the summer, 95% of the state was experiencing drought, compared with 59% of the state now.
The Ogallala is heavily relied upon in the High Plains region, which produces 30% of the nation’s crops and livestock, in times of drought. However, the region has also had more decline in the aquifer’s water levels than anywhere else in its span through seven other states, according to a 2019 report from NOAA.
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It’s time to find water solutions, by Richard Henderson, The Community News, 07 September 2022, Excerpts
A recent Dallas Morning News article titled “Water Woes — a Deepening Crisis” by Annette Nivens, special contributor, addresses the water problems facing citizens of Parker County. It is one of a series of articles from a year-long project by the Denton Record-Chronicle and the University of North Texas graduate journalism students regarding the water problems of the DFW area. I recommend a full reading of the article.
Nivens had some memorable, sobering quotes. One such quote was attributed to Ron Kaiser, professor of water law and policy at Texas A&M University, about overuse of water on lawns and pools in drought: “That’s due to ‘Ignorance and stupidity’ in not planning for the future. … Ignorance comes from not knowing any better. Stupidity comes from knowing we are running low on water but abusing it anyway.”
Jeff Bennett, another water well driller, said “ There is an overall culture of rampant water use in the name of extravagance during a time of drought.”
Toby Watts said “There are just so many straws we can put in the ground before it all dries up.”
I still think the ultimate solution is to tie on to the Tarrant Water District surface water as have Aledo, Willow Park, and Hudson Oaks, who are no longer dependent on wells. These cities have the necessary powers to force conservation measure at the water meters for the good of all.
You may not like government to regulate the use of water, nor the expense, but what is the alternative?
Jack Watts, the patriarch of the Watts Family has the final answer:
“We are going to run out of water someday. It’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time.”
Water Woes: A deepening crisis, The Dallas Morning News, Search for scarce water strains communities, Excerpts
The ground is so parched, it cracks and pops as Toby Watts maneuvers a mud-encrusted, 2-ton water-drilling rig across a scraggly field of rock and grass along FM1187 in western Tarrant County.
Jeff Bennett has dug wells in Parker, Hood and Tarrant counties for 30 years. He worries that today’s “do whatever it takes” attitude could leave future generations high and dry.
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