1. Summary
In this article, the author argues strongly that an article in the Guardian about the oil industry using too much of Texas' water supply is very misleading for many reasons. First, Barnhart, Texas, which is the focus of the article, has had wells run dry often in its history, and is in an area that has had a long-term drought caused more by lack of storms. Also, agriculture is a much heavier user of water than the oil industry. Finally, the oil industry has begun using brackish water, which is more abundant than fresh water, and is not a heavy user of water anyway, relatively speaking. He feels that the Guardian article makes it appear that the frackers are heavy water users, and, along with the fact that the industry has raised the demand for water relatively recently, and the fact that people can see the huge water trucks on the road, this causes an image problem for the oil industry which must be addressed. (-TL)
Blackmon, D. (2013, Aug. 21). Shale, fracking are not the main cause of Texas water shortages. Forbes. Retrieved on August 29, 2013 from:
Blackmon, D. (2013, Aug. 21). Shale, fracking are not the main cause of Texas water shortages. Forbes. Retrieved on August 29, 2013 from:
2. Summary
This article has been
written by Michael B. Sauter and Alexander E.M. Hess. It explains how drought
has a negative effect on nine cities in Western U.S., among them Lubbock,
Texas, which has on average the worst level of drought since the beginning of 2011. Drought leads to different kinds of
problems in these cities like crop losses, low reservoir level, water shortage,
etc. The most important factor that causes such drought is low rainfall. Based
on Fuches' theory, the authors believe that in some cities there are thunderstorms, however, they cannot fix the region's long term problems. Fuches also adds that this rainfall will possibly be used in some agricultural plans, not other types of issues which need water. Thus, cities schedule some voluntary and mandatory restrictions based on each city's circumstances. Furthermore, according to Fuches, some of these cities have just one source of water and if the source goes dry, these cities will be in big trouble. Moreover, the authors are also concerned about big cities with more than one water source, because there is no guarantee that they do not run out of water if the droughts persist. In addition, the authors compare the above mentioned nine cities, their extreme drought coverage percentage, their exceptional drought coverage percentage, and their populations. Also, they illustrate what kinds of problems each city has, how each city has become dryer, and how each of these cities have faced their problems. For example, some cities enact some rules that restrict the use of water such as limiting the washing of vehicles, irrigation of lawns, and refilling of swimming pools. In short, the authors show how the shortage of rainfall affects some cities of the Western U.S., and how they try to solve the problem. (-S.H.)
Reference
Sauter, M.B., and Hess, A.E.M.
(2013, August 1). Nine cities running out of water. 24/7 Wall Street. From
http:/247wallst.com/Special-report/2013/08/01/nine-cities-running-out-of-water
3. Lubbock water sources and usage restriction
Based on a
report by the Lubbock Water Department, the city water currently comes from three
sources, two groundwater sources, well fields in Roberts County and a well
field in Bailey County. The third source is Lake Allen Henry.
In 2011, the third source was Lake Meredith, but in 2012 Lake Meredith dried up and they put the city on stage 2 restriction of usage, limiting mainly lawn water and carwash (Reed, 2012). But after completion of Lake Allen Henry project, it's gone back to stage 1 restriction as of August 20th 2012. (-N.K.)
References:
1. Lubbock Water
Department, http://www.mylubbock.us/departmental-websites/departments/water-department/home
2. Reed, A. (2012), Lubbock water crisis, how did we get here?, KCDB website,
http://www.kcbd.com/story/16903788/lubbocks-water-crisis-how-did-we-get-here
4. Strategic Water Supply Planning for the City of Lubbock
This document
summarizes the city of Lubbock’s goal, which is to provide a road map, plan,
and guidance document for the development and implementation of its water
supplies over the next 100 years. The report below is a summary of the city’s
plan.
Historic Water Supplies
Lubbock’s water supplies have historically varied between
groundwater and surface water. Some water supplies have been discontinued due
to diminished water quality, reduction in the water availability, and more
stringent drinking water regulations.
Water Demand Projections
The
planning process presented began with projecting the city’s water demand over a
100-year timeframe. The projected water demand is the driving force behind
water supply decisions, and these decisions are dependent upon population and
per capita consumption estimates. The current water requirements for the city
of Lubbock is 36 MGD with a peak demand of 55 MGD; the projected demand in the
next 100 years is about 55 MGD with a peak demand of 90 MGD.
Current Water Supply
Situation
Lubbock’s current water supply sources consist of Lake Alan Henry (LAH),
Roberts County Well Field (RCWF), and the Bailey County Well Field (BCWF).
Current estimates show that by the year 2014, additional water supplies and/or
aggressive water conservation is needed in order to maintain water supply
during the peak demands of the summer months. Without these additional water
supplies by 2025, Lubbock will not be capable of supplying the projected water
demand even with aggressive conservation. In order to meet the projected
deficit created by an increasing demand and a decreasing supply of water,
multiple supply strategies were developed and evaluated in this plan.
Water Conservation
Strategies
Water conservation is considered the least expensive of the strategies to better manage our current resources. The City could potentially delay future water supply projects by as much as 23 years by implementing a consistent and aggressive water conservation program. Section 5.0 discusses the various conservations methods considered, the strategies discussed include public education and awareness, stringent seasonal watering restrictions, increased water volume rates, indoor water fixture replacement programs, landscape rebate program, and reducing unaccounted for water losses. It appears that some of the most effective water conservation programs include increasing water volume rates and stringent seasonal watering restrictions.
Supply Packages that
Satisfy Future Needs
Combinations of supply strategies in conjunction with the various demand projections were used to develop five different supply packages that can potentially provide the city with water for the 100-year planning period. In all supply packages, the BCWF and LAH play an important role in providing the city with its peak demand over the planning period. In order to preserve the BCWF, efforts should be made to reduce the annual usage from this source. (-R.S.)
References and Citation:
City Of Lubbock Texas (2013). Strategic Water Supply Plan for the
City of Lubbock.
5. A summary on the article
titled “Lubbock cost effectively expands its water distribution system”
This article, ”Lubbock cost
effectively expands its water distribution system” by Jayendran Sirinivasan, a
technical writer for Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, Inc., shows how Lubbock
expands its water service capabilities cost effectively working with Lockwood,
Andrews & Newman, Inc. (LAN), a planning, engineering and program
management firm and Enprotec/Hibbs & Todd (eHT), a local civil,
environmental and geotechnical engineering firm.
After pointing out the
necessity for expanding Lubbock’s water service capabilities, the author states
some recommendations made by the city based on a comprehensive water
distribution system study. Furthermore, the author describes how each firm
implements those solutions and how those flexible designs affect to meet city’s
requirement resulting in cost savings.
Finally, using a conclusion
the author emphasizes that this project was completed successfully. (-C.D.)
Reference
Srinivasan, J. (2009, October). Lubbock cost
effectively expands its water distribution system. Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, Inc.
6. Too much oil and not enough water?
The warning signs went almost unnoticed, but now towns in West Texas are facing a grim reality: water is so scarce that almost 15 million people need to ration it. They cannot water their gardens, ranchers are forced to dump their herd, and cotton farmers have already lost as much as half their crops. But what caused the current situation? According to the author, it was caused by many factors, like years of drought, inconsiderate use, climate change, and fracking. One oil well fracked alone uses more water than a whole town would use in a day. Large urban centers use west Texas water for their lands. It does not rain enough to regenerate underground aquifers. Water wells are being drilled in big cities, but small towns cannot afford them. And small centers' inhabitants are becoming aware that when water is gone, they will be gone, too. (-S.M.)
Reference:
Goldenberg, S. (2013, August 11). A Texan tragedy:
ample oil, no water. Fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the
ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty. The Guardian.
Retrieved on Aug. 28, 2013 from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/11/texas-tragedy-ample-oil-no-water
7. Summary
The water levels at the High Plains Aquifer, an extension of Texas’ own Ogallala Aquifer, have been the subject of some curiosity recently. Research conducted by researchers from Kansas State University has helped determine that at current rates of water consumption the aquifer could experience depletion as soon as 50 years from now. From the information gathered, the researchers were able to lay out a timetable describing their projected outcomes of future water levels given current trends in consumption. The High Plains Aquifer contains 70 percent of the United States’ underground water supply and spans eight states including South Dakota and Texas, making it a very important topic of discussion. The researchers discuss the benefits of realizing the issue at hand and making the appropriate choices regarding the consumption of the aquifer’s water. They point out the difficulty involved in predicting the exact future and allude to the fact that although it is possible to predict human impacts on the aquifer’s water levels, not all possible future natural impacts have been considered. (-J.P.)
Chow, D. (2013 08 26) Huge aquifer that runs through 8 states quickly being tapped out. LiveScience. Retrieved August 29, 2013 from http://www.nbcnews.com/science/huge-aquifer-runs-through-8-states-quickly-being-tapped-out-8C11009320
8. Summary of the article: Lubbock City Council Approves New Strategic Water Supply Plan
In this article “Lubbock
water supply plan” published in “KFCO News Talk”, the author points at the plan
that the Lubbock City Council has approved, and the new strategic water supply plan,
and he mentions some of the points for the plan, such as changing the City’s
water rate structure, keeping water loss during treatment and pumping at a
minimum, public education on conservation, and ordinances for mandatory
seasonal conservation.
The plan has sixteen
different strategies regarding new water supplies, which are split into three
categories: reclaimed water, ground water, and surface water.
Aubrey Spear is quoted as
saying, "The most important point is that our water supplies, we’re not
unlike any other city, they come and they go. There is no perpetual water
supply that lasts forever anywhere, so we have to always be planning for where
the next water supply is coming from.”
According to the article, the planners first estimated the water demand for three different population projections: accelerated population growth, historic population growth, and expected population projections, and then they calculated the current water supplies. In other words they made estimations about how much water Lubbock was going to need. Also, it referred to the
money; we will see an increased bill by approximately 35%. This plan was approved by
the Council. (-A.P.)
Reference:
Shooter, C. (2013, August
28). Lubbock City Council approves new strategic water supply plan. KFYO. http://kfyo.com/lubbock-city-council-approves-new-strategic-water-supply-plan/
9. A Summary on
the article titled "Water conservation rules to begin Monday, include
reduced watering hours"
In this article,
the writer reports that water restrictions will start soon in Lubbock due to
results of water conservation. According to Jeff McKito, who is a city spokesman,
the state of drought in Lubbock has been happening since August, 2012. For
avoiding another drought year and the loss of Lake Meredith, the city needs to
begin to save water resources. In addition, the author also mentions the explanation
of restriction stage 1 and 2. Finally, the writer also notices enforcement.
(M.K.)
Reference
Young, A.D.
(2013, March 29). Water conservation rules to begin Monday include reduced
watering hours. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved on Aug. 29, 2013 from
http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2013-03-29/water-conservation-rules-begin-monday-include-reduced-watering-hours#.Uh9k5TakopU
10. Is Lubbock having a
water crisis?
The article mentioned the
main water resource of Lubbock, Lake Meredith, which has been in trouble for
several years and is almost dried up. However, the author said that Lubbock had
three sources of water in 2011, but there has become only one in 2012.
Therefore, the Mayor of Lubbock came out and announced to the public about
limiting and saving water. Then the author described some facts about the water
level and water situation in Lubbock now. The Mayor tried to find another
solution, and it is Lake Alan Henry. Because of Lake Alan Henry, the water
crisis in Lubbock can be fixed during the following 8 years, which means we
will not have a water problem in the near future. Nonetheless, this solution
only can provide water for around one decade. In order to make people less
anxious, the Mayor said Lubbock will keep finding possible water for the city,
so the public should not worry in
the future. (S.Y.H.)
Reference
Reed, A. (2012, Feb 09).
Lubbock's water crisis, how did we get here? KCBD.
11. Portrait of a Drought:
Finding Water Where It Ain’t: Summary
In the article, Fleming (2012) mentioned the situation of a changing climate, and scarce water in West Texas. Many factors contributed to the present condition such as a cycle of hotter temperatures, more people, water-sapping cotton farming, and a devastating 2011 drought. Farmers should be people affected by the condition of scarce water. The limits on how much water farmers can pump from their wells dropped to 21 inches per acre per year and it is anticipated to be 18 inches in 2014. Other victims, ranches, have
to cut their cattle herd and use more resilient grass seeds. Lubbock’s primary
water reservoir, Lake Meredith, is going to dry up. The city announced serious
restrictions until a new reservoir, Lake Alan Henry, was put into use with a
cost of $220 million for several decades to build. The author also referred to
chances for investors to benefit from water rights. However, water conservation
is always a key concern that West Texans want to find a good solution for.
(-D.P.)
Reference
Fleming, P. (2012). Portrait
of a Drought: Finding Water Where It Ain’t. Climate
Progress. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/10/19/1052091/portrait-of-a-drought-finding-water-where-it-aint/
12. A Summary about ´´Nine Cities Running Out of Water ´´
In this article written by
Michael B. Sauter and Alexander E.M. Hess, they point out that "according
to a group that monitors drought conditions, Lubbock, Texas has averaged the worst level of drought since the
beginning of 2011." They figure out that there are nine cities in Texas
and Colorado facing water shortage problems.
They believe that the cause
of the drought in these areas, including Lubbock, Pueblo, and McAllen, is their
historically low rainfall. The author noted that, "In Pueblo, which is
part of the southeastern region of Colorado that has been especially hard-hit,
just 3.77 inches of rain were reported through late July, compared to the more
than 7 inches it normally gets by this time." Although there was some rain
in those areas, conditions have been bad for so long so that some rain will not
be enough to fix this problem after such a long-term and persistent drought.
"How much of a crisis
these areas are in depends on their source of water," the author
explained. Some of these places only have one municipal water source, and a lot
of these places in the Western U.S. get their water from large reservoirs. In
drought years, you´ll see those reservoirs go down, and they have to spend a
lot of money to move their pipes further and further into those reservoirs so
they can actually get the water out of it. "Many of these cities in our
list are large enough that they have multiple sources of water. But for some
smaller cities, if that lake or reservoir goes dry, that´s all they have,"
said the author.
So as we can imagine, if the
drought still exists in these places on the list, severe water shortages will
become a reality. (-Q.K.)
Reference
Sauter, M.B. and Hess.
A.E.M. (2013, Aug. 1). Nine cities running out of water. Yahoo, Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nine-cities-running-water-192757786.html
13. Summary of the article titled “Water rates reform promotes conservation,
enhances fairness”
This article is about the
proposal of restructuring water rates that the citizens of Lubbock have been
paying for usage of water by Councilman Todd Klein. His proposal mainly focuses
on increasing conservation by charging customers increasingly more for volume
and improving fairness and providing a clear view of rates, considering
customers' average monthly usage other than average winter consumption. This
method divides a customer’s water usage into three main blocks. The first block
is $4.00 for residential customers' average usage per thousand gallons, then
the second block is $5.00 per thousand gallons up to 40,000 gallons, and beyond
that it is $06.55 per thousand gallons. Commercial customers go with same blocks
method but changing 1.5 times average monthly usage other than 40,000 gallons.
They have been discussing many other suggestions after introducing his proposal
to promote conservation and fairness.
In my opinion his proposed
method is a reasonable approach for managing water consumption. (S.G.)
Young,
A.D. (2013, August 21). Klein: Water rate reform promotes conservation, enhances fairness. lubbockonline.com, A-J Media. http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2013-08-21/klein-water-rate-reform-promotes-conservation-enhances-fairness#.UigHKLx_VsP
14. Summary #1
This article is published by Associated Press (2002) from the point of view of desalination, which would meet the future water needs in Texas. The author pointed out that the fresh water resources would be under serous strain in the next half century. Thus, the state planners were proposing to build a large desalination plant to solve the water crisis. Governor Rick Perry has proposed a $208 million water desalination plant plan on the Texas coast. Although this plant is proposed to be built near the coast, the Texas Water Development Board chairman Wales H. Madden Jr. believes that there would be the potential to use saline water to replenish groundwater. With the population growth in Texas, and the increases of industrial use and irrigation in the future, desalination would be the only way to solve the water crisis and satisfy the drastically increasing water demands in Texas. Even though the process has been proved to be more expensive than other alternatives, recent water drought has forced the planners to consider desalination as a viable solution for the future. (C.L.)
Associated
Press. (2002, Aug. 22). State
studies desalination plant for future water needs. Retrieved on November 14, 2013, from http://lubbockonline.com/stories/082202/sta_0822020082.shtml
15. A Summary of “A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water”
Across the south-west, many communities are running out of
water and millions of people are living under some form of water rationing.
What are the factors contributing to this sever water crisis? Among the
contributing factor which one has had the most destructive effects? Addressing
the above questions the article cites four factors that are running down
reservoirs and underground aquifers : first,
three years of drought; second, long years of overuse, third, the oil industry's supersized demands on water
for fracking; and fourth, climate change that is making things even worse. Many
people blame the crisis on fracking which accounts for up to 25% of water use
in some counties. But Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech
University argues that it is the long years of overuse of water sources by
ranchers, cotton farmers, and cities that has sucked water out of reservoirs
and aquifers in west Texas. Now water system has reached a point that no normal
amount of precipitation can recharge it. And climate change has made the
revival of aquifers even more difficult. The unprecedented heatwaves in recent
years has been further drying out the soil and speeding the desiccation of water
in lakes and reservoirs. As Hayhoe puts it: “What happens is that climate
change comes on top and in many cases it can be the final straw that breaks the
camel's back, but the camel is already overloaded.” (HS)
Goldenberg, S. (2013, Aug. 11). A Texan tragedy: ample oil,
no water. The Guardian. Retrieved on Aug. 28, 2013 from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/11/texas-tragedy-ample-oil-no-water
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