Lubbock Water Crisis
By Mintae Kim
ABSTRACT
In
this report, we did a research survey to find out how much people are aware of dangers
of water problems and what information they know about the water problems in order to overcome the
water crisis in Lubbock, Texas. As found by research surveys, Americans from
Texas were not sure of their knowledge. They knew some information but not in
detail. In addition, female participants were more knowledgeable about Lubbock
water; and they considered environmental issues more than males. Unlike when I
expected, student and non-student participants knew very similarly about Lubbock
water and information. And also, only a few Americans from Texas agreed with
restrictions for farmers, yet others were less concerned about restrictions for
farmers in Lubbock. Last, the most important issue that participants thought
about was water pollution.
INTRODUCTION
Some
people feel that limitations are needed for preserving water sources in Texas;
it is still an issue whether restrictions are necessary or not. Texas has been
in danger of drought for several years, and also Lubbock is one of cities which
has very little precipitation. Besides, nowadays the aquifer beneath Lubbock
has been drying up in Texas. However, due to Texas tradition and law, it is
hard to control or prevent the abuse of water. Since Texas groundwater is
possessed by landowners, landowners have the right to pump or use water from their
wells. Thus, farmers and oil drillers can use water as much as they want. In the
case of Lubbock, since agriculture has been developed, the city obviously
consumes more water than other cities. In addition, since Texas has a lot of
oil resources, oil extraction is inevitable. People think that fracking is one
reason for water shortages because it uses a substantial amount of water during
drilling. Moreover, since Lubbock has little
precipitation, people feel they need more water for their lawns. Some people
think that these may cause water shortages, so there are several laws in order
to prevent the overuse of water resources in Texas. Even though there are
regulations to avoid overusing the groundwater, checking and managing the use
of water is not easy; however, these are not one problem. People do not still
know what the exact reasons for the water shortage are, and they still struggle
to solve many water problems. Moreover, people do not even know whether people
recognize the water problem or how much they know about its information. Therefore,
in order to preserve water resources and overcome social problems caused by
water it is needed to research how people feel about this problem and what they
know about the water problem in Texas.
BACKGROUND
According
to numerous reports and articles about Lubbock water, there are many
interesting arguments; some of which are opposed to each other. Most media
report that the drought condition of Lubbock has been at the worst level since
2011, and other cities in Texas are also drying up (Blackburn, 2013). In
addition, negative effects such as crop losses, low reservoir level, water
shortage, etc. are reported due to drought (Sauter and Hess, 2013). Thus, the
City of Lubbock will start other water restrictions soon (Young, 2013).
Moreover, some article analyzed how effectively Lubbock expanded its water
service capacities and saved cost (Srinivasan, 2009); another told how the City
of Lubbock is trying to find new water sources to avoid negative effects (Reed,
2013). In addition, some people assert that strict regulations and restrictions
are necessary in Texas. And then, they pointed out very detailed proposals for
conserving water resources in Texas (Young, 2013). On the other hand, others
point out that Lubbock’s water is still sufficient, even with drought. They
also provided some evidence about their claim and also there are few articles
which asserted that water problem is not because of reasons that people usually
think. According to the City of Lubbock Water Department, water consumption has
been reduced since the last few years; therefore, they do not want this water
problem to relate with water usage (Water consumption down for city of Lubbock
in July, 2013). Restrictions make some other negative problems. Because of
water usage restrictions in west Texas, farmers and landowners protested
strongly against restrictions (Pelt, 2012). And also, some article reported
about the consumption of fresh water in the oil industry. In this article, the
writer argued that fracking is not a reason for water shortages in Texas (Blackmon,
2013). In this way, both opposite claims contrast strongly because it is
difficult to predict future water consumption (Chow, 2013) and people still do
not know what exact reasons for water shortages are. So, it is hard to determine
which opinion is right; therefore, it is necessary to survey people’s opinion
and how much they know about water problems in order to overcome and figure out
the water crisis.
HYPOTHESES
Nowadays,
many people worry about environmental problems, so I thought many people in
Texas were also going to be concerned about water shortage, due to the fact
that the problem of water shortage is not only a problem in Texas. This is a
worldwide problem. Thus, I believed that many people who live in Texas,
including non-American citizens, may also agree with conserving water
resources; however, they may not know much about Texas regulations because it
seems a little different from other places, especially for non-Americans and
Americans from other states. In addition, I believed that most men participants
might know more environmental issues and water problems than women, but women might
worry more about water problems and environmental issues because of their
considerations. And then since students are very familiar with environmental
topics, I expected that student participants might know more than non-student participants.
Moreover, I believed that most participants might also consent to restrictions
or regulations to avoid overusing water. Last, since environmental issues are
worldwide problems nowadays, I believed that people might be very interested in
environmental issues but they might not know about more detailed information.
Among several environmental problems, people might believe that the most
interesting environmental problem might be global warming, because it causes
several other environmental problems such as rising sea levels, increasing
storms, tornados, and hurricanes, increasing flooding, drought, etc.
METHODS
This survey was for a writing class
of ESL 5301 Advanced Writing for International Students in Fall 2013. Our class
was composed by 13 students and 4 teachers; therefore, we had 17 researchers
for this survey. Each researcher did 8 or 9 surveys, so we had 150 survey results.
The purpose of this survey was to know whether people recognized the water problems
or how much they knew about its information in Lubbock, Texas.
First, we discussed which topics were important
these days and decided on a research topic, the Lubbock water crisis. Before we
had surveys, students in our class researched information and reviewed articles
or papers about Lubbock water and we shared and discussed about what other
classmates reviewed; thus we could learn more information and have more
knowledge about the Lubbock water problems and issues. Since most materials of
information were from web sites, we could easily access material resources. And
also since classmates summarized articles and papers, we could quickly find the
articles we wanted. In the class, we collected several questions about Lubbock
water and water problems in order to decide on survey questions, we selected
proper questions for this research, and made a 12-question survey (Appendix I).
Questions included general questions and also very specific questions in order
to know their awareness about the Lubbock water problems and basic knowledge.
Surveys were mainly conducted on campus. Many students had surveys in their own
department building. Surveys were individually conducted and gathered together when
they were completed. In my case, I tried to have various types of participants,
yet it was a little hard to find non-student female participants in our
department. Therefore, I visited my apartment leasing office and asked office
members to do surveys. During surveys, most participants enjoyed taking part in
this survey and they asked me where I would use this survey. As many
participants were graduate students, they expected that surveys were going to be
published in a journal. So, participants who were interested in our topic asked
me to show the journal after it was published. However, I told them that it would
be used for the writing class and promised that I would show the writing after finishing
the class. In addition, most people already knew most information about Lubbock
water; thus they did not have many questions while they had the survey. Some
people asked me about some terminology.
There were a few requirements and
also limitations in this survey. In the survey, participants should be 4 males
and 4 females including at least 5 Americans. So, I collected surveys from 2 or
3 Americans and 2 non-Americans for each male and female. In addition, since
the survey area was near the campus, most participants were related with the school.
Even non-student participants also worked at the university; therefore, results
could not reflect usual opinions.
RESULTS
First
of all, I believed that Americans who are from Texas may know more about
Lubbock water problems. In order to figure out whether this assumption was true,
I thought that question no.4 was an appropriate question and also question no.5
was much related. Unlike what I expected, most Americans who were from Texas
felt that they were not very knowledgeable about the Lubbock water supply. Only
28% of American from Texas, which was 21 out of 75, felt they were
knowledgeable about Lubbock water supply. Around 50% of Americans from Texas,
which was 37 out of 75, answered that they knew somewhat about it (see Graph I –1). However, as a result of question no.5, 57% of participants from Texas,
which was 43 out of 75, knew where Lubbock was getting its water for public use
(see Graph I – 2). In addition, I assumed that Americans from Texas might know
more information about Lubbock water than other participants such as
non-Americans and Americans from other states. As I assumed, Americans from
Texas knew more information about Lubbock water than others. If comparing
between Americans from Texas and other participants, 55% of participants, which
was 39 out of 70, were Americans from Texas who said they “Know” about the relationship
between Lake Meredith and Lubbock’s water supply for question no.5 (see Graph I– 3).
Second,
I wanted to know differences between men and women. I believed that men may be
more knowledgeable or know more information than women; however, women may be
more worried about Lubbock water and environmental issues than men. Unlike what
I believed, female surveyees selected more issues for question no.1. If
comparing total values of selection for most important issues, total values of female
participants were 326, with 311 for male participants (see Graph I – 4). As I
believed that female participants may be more worried than men about Lubbock
water; many female participants worried about Lubbock water. 60% of female
participants, which was 45 out of 75, answered that they felt “Worried” about
Lubbock’s ability to get water in the future and 87% of female participants said
that they tried to save water in a usual day (see Graph I – 5).
Third,
I thought that student participants might know more about Lubbock water problem
and be more concerned about environmental issues than non-student participants.
Based on the survey results, I found that there were not big differences
between student and non-student surveyees. 82% of non-student participants,
which was 33 out of 40, said they save water (see Graph I – 6). If comparing
with the results of student participants (83%), only a few percentages were
different.
Moreover,
I believed that most participants might agree with restrictions to prevent the abuse
of water. In fact, 20% of American participants from Texas, which was 30 out of
150, agreed with limitations for farmers, but others did not think that
restrictions were needed for farmers. Only 36% of participants felt that restrictions
were needed (see Graph I – 7).
Finally,
among various environmental issues, I believed that global warming might be the
most interesting issue because it causes several other environmental problems.
However, as a result of question no.1, people thought water pollution was the
most important issue among several problems. 16.2% of answers, which was 103
out of 637, were water pollution. Air pollution (16%) was second rank and
global warming (12%) was only fifth in rank (see Graph I – 4).
DISCUSSION
Most
Americans from Texas did not think that they were knowledgeable about Lubbock water
supply, yet most of them knew where Lubbock got its public water. These results
make me a little confused. I think that they did not have confidence to answer “Knowledgeable”
about Lubbock water supply. As they answered like “Somewhat”, they may know
something, but not in detail. In our survey questions, questions were also
little confusing to analyze exactly. As I expected, international and American
participants from other states were less concerned about Lubbock water than
Americans from Texas.
In addition, when comparing male
and female participants about consideration for Lubbock water and environmental
problems, I believed that male surveyees might know more information and have less
concern about Lubbock water. However, female participants were more knowledgeable
about Lubbock water issues and worried more than male participants. I was sure
that female surveyees will definitely worry more about Lubbock water and environmental
problems, but I expected that male participants may know more information. Since
our survey area was mostly near campus or on campus, I think that male and
female participants did not have very different knowledge of Lubbock water and environmental
issues.
Unlike what I assumed, that
students might be more concerned about Lubbock water and environmental problems
than non-student participants, results for both student and non-student
participants were almost similar. Perhaps, since most non-student participants
were from Texas, they were more interested in their town. And also, since many
student participants included international students, they could not be aware of
the danger of Lubbock water crisis. In addition, only few participants
consented with restrictions for farmers. Specially, Americans from Texas agreed
more than Americans from other states and non-American participants. I think that
it was because participants except Americans from Texas did not know exactly how
much they use water for farming in Texas. Besides, 52% of American participants
from Texas thought that restrictions of Lubbock were not strict enough to control
water usage (see Graph I – 8).
Moreover, I thought that global
warming might be the most important issue for every participant. However, water
pollution was the most important environmental problem in this research survey.
Female participants agreed that water pollution was the most concerning issue
and air pollution was for male participants. Top ranked environmental issues
were water pollution, air pollution, fresh water supply, and drought. All the top
ranked items were related with water except air pollution. I think that this
was reflected by our survey topic.
In conclusion, of course, there
were requirements and limitations in this research survey; We did our surveys
to 4 males and 4 females, including at least 5 American participants in order
to reflect various opinions and some researchers did their survey in several
places. However, only 150 survey results were not enough to know entire
opinion, but we could have an opportunity to understand or know briefly how
people feel about the water crisis in Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blackburn, E. (2013, June 8). Many eyes on
Lubbock’s water. Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://lubbockonline.com/stories/060808/loc_287908754.shtml
Blackmon, D. (2013, August 21). Shale, fracking
are not the cause of Texas water shortages. Forbes.
Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2013/08/21/shale-fracking-are-not-the-main-cause-of-texas-water-shortages/
Chow, D. (2013, August 26). Huge aquifer that
runs through 8 states quickly being tapped out. LiveScience. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.nbcnews.com/science/huge-aquifer-runs-through-8-states-quickly-being-tapped-out-8C11009320
Kaiser,
R. A. (2005, July). Who Owns the Water?. Texas
Parks and Wildlife magazines. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from
http://texaswater.tamu.edu/water-law
KCBD Staff (2013, August 16). City of Lubbock
disputes water shortage claims. City of
Lubbock. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.kcbd.com/story/23156106/city-of-lubbock-disputes-water-shortage-claims
Lake Alan Henry and Other Water Supply
Projects (n.d.), Water Conservation and Education Department. Retrieved on September
26, 2013 from http://mylubbock.us/docs/default-source/storm-water-management/developing-water-supply-alternatives-for-lubbock.pdf?sfvrsn=0
Pelt, T. (2012, February). Farmers, landowners
protest new water restrictions, KCBD. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.kcbd.com/story/16983979/farmers-landowners-protest-proposed-water-conservations-rules
Reed, A. (2013, February 9). Lubbock’s water
crisis, how did we get here?. KCBD News
Channel. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.kcbd.com/story/16903788/lubbocks-water-crisis-how-did-we-get-here
Sauter, M.B. and Hess, A.E.M. (2013, August
1). Nine cities running out of water. Yahoo,
Finance. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nines-cities-running-water-192757786.html
Srinivasan, J. et al. (2009, October). Lubbock
cost effectively expands its water distribution system. pump-zone.com. Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.pump-zone.com/topics/pumps/centrifugal-pumps/lubbock-cost-effectively-expands-its-water-distribution-system
Water Consumption Down for City of Lubbock in
July (2013, October 20). everythinglubbock.com.
Retrieved on September 26, 2013 from http://www.everythinglubbock.com/story/water-consumption-down-for-city-of
-lubbock-in-july/d/story/Z6n1RusK2UaG8G5PCqkfig
Young, A.D. (2013, March 29). Water
conservation rules to begin Monday include reduced watering hours. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved on
September 26, 2013 from http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2013-03-29/water-conservation-rules-begin-manday-include-reduced-wateing-hours#.Uh9k5TakopU
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