Summary #2: Lubbock water

1. Many eyes on Lubbock’s water

Summary

The article by Blackburn (2008) referred to issues related to water supply sources for Lubbock city and neighbor cities. The author claimed that Lubbock city could offer water supply contracts to out-of-city customers by attracting grant money for expensive water projects. However, the city should account for issues that it may affect the precious commodity of the city. Most of Lubbock's water supply comes from the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, a group formed 50 years ago with 10 other Panhandle communities to build and provide drinking water from Lake Meredith. Thereby, Lubbock has contracts with Shallowater and the Reese Redevelopment Authority providing the equivalent of 5 percent of what the city consumes each year. Other contracts are with Buffalo Springs and Ransom Canyon communities, Littlefield, Lubbock-Cooper Independent School District, and residents around Lake Alan Henry. According to the author, existing customers can use up to 3,600 acre feet of water while Lubbock's supplement for each year is 42,000 acre feet of water. However, the fact that water resources have become more scarce and the adjacent cities, such as Wolfforth and Abernathy, do not want to be dependent completely on Lubbock's supply, makes the city's water projects encounter difficulties. The article concludes that state and federal grant groups tend to support large groups of governments rather than a project that benefits a single city. Thereby, Lubbock should find additional water resources to keep its key role in water supply for the region. (D.P.)

Reference

Blackburn, E. (2013, June 08). Many eyes on Lubbock's water. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved on September 05, 2013 from http://lubbockonline.com/stories/060808/loc_287908754.shtml

2. Summary

This article points out that the City of Lubbock must carefully evaluate several water supply alternatives and select the best one, since water supply project is a major purchase. Three projects underway are indicated in this article (i.e. Canadian River Municipal Water Authority (CRMWA) Roberts County Well Field Expansion, Bailey County Well Field Development and Park Irrigation Conversion to Groundwater). However, the problems of drought impact to Lake Meredith and growing population have forced the City to find a new water supply. After detailed evaluation of several water supply proposals, Lake Alan Henry with the estimation of $240 million is considered as the most sustainable and cost effective water supply. In order to reduce the cost of the largest infrastructure project ever initiated, the City of Lubbock is seeking federal and state grant and loan programs with lower interest rates. For the first period, the City was successful in securing $22 million for the Lake Alan Henry project from Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) with a 2% lower loan interest than other programs. Furthermore, the City will continue to pursue additional TWDB assistance opportunities for the project. However, wise use and conservation of available water would also be always the best way to have sustainable water supplies. (C.L.)

Reference:

Lake Alan Henry and Other Water Supply Projects, Water Conservation and Education Department. Retrieved on Sep 5th, 2013 from http://www.mylubbock.us/docs/default-source/storm-water-management/developing-water-supply-alternatives-for-lubbock.pdf?sfvrsn=0

3. Water increasingly important in environmental perceptions

The author of this blog post informs us that the 6^th biennial survey of Peoples’ Perceptions of the State of the New Zealand Environment evaluated peoples’ perceptions of a number of environmental issues, like air quality, national parks, native plants and animals, etc. The main concerns of New Zealanders are water and water pollution, and the majority of people taking the survey responded that land farming is the principal cause of damage to freshwater. Dr. Joy, the first expert commenting on the survey, points to the existing confusion, as while people’s perception of environmental management has improved, the actual state of lakes and rivers has declined. Fenemor, the second expert, adds that people’s perception is highly influenced by the media exposure on a particular issue. Whereas years ago chemicals were thought to have the main impact on freshwater, now farming is exposed as more responsible for pollution. Finally, Davies-Colley shows little surprise that freshwater is the primary environmental issue, and observes that blaming livestock farming has actually been a steadily growing trend over the past decade. (-S.M.)

Reference:

Water increasingly important in environmental perceptions. (2011, September 29). [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2011/09/29/water-increasingly-important-in-environmental-perceptions/

4. A “war over water”

According to this article, regulation on water in west Texas made many farmers and landowners outraged. More than 100 of them were gathered in February 2012 in the public hearing held by the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District (HPUWCD). Although they made a plea for removing the restrictions, at the end it turned out to have no effect other than a two-year amendment in which the restrictions will not be enforced and no penalties for violation would be charged.  – N.K.

Reference:

        Pelt, T. (2012, Feb.) Farmers, Landowners protest new water restrictions, KCBD.

         Retrieved on Sept 5th 2012 from: http://www.kcbd.com/story/16983979/farmers-landowners-protest-proposed-water-conservation-rules

5. Summary

In this article (Young, 2013), the city of Lubbock rebuts the accusations of 24/7 Wall Street article naming the City of Lubbock as number one city running out of water in the USA (Sauter & Hess, 2013). The rebuttal covers each one of the accusations made in the article and the write up below is a summary of the rebuttals. The city's rebuttals to the objections to rate increase were that the city has not gone through a water rate increase since 2006, but has instead encouraged water conservation for over a decade. On the city being the number one city running out of water, the city said it has a strategic plan to supply water to the city of Lubbock for the next hundred years. This strategic water plan was adopted by the city in February 2013; the plan details usage of the different sources of water that the city owns; the different sources were wells in Robert County, Bailey County and Lake Alan Henry. The City also highlighted some misleading statements in the Wall Street article; the article mentioned White River’s lake going dry, but the city clarified that there is no correlation between the White river levels and Lubbock’s water supply as the White River is not a water source for the city. The city also went on to say that the city meets about 80% of its demand through ground water and also said the Lake Alan Henry was not currently at a dangerously low level. (R.S.)

Young, Adam (2013, Aug 17). City disputes 24/7 Wall Street claims that Lubbock is running out of water. Retrieved on September 05, 2013 from: http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2013-08-16/city-disputes-247-wall-street-claims-lubbock-running-out-water#.Uij4RtK-ris

Sauter, A. and Hess, E.M. (2013, Aug 1). Nine Cities Running Out Of Water. 24/7 Wall Street. Retrieved on September 05, 2013 from: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/08/01/nine-cities-running-out-of-water/#ixzz2dyjOAVH2

6. A summary of “City of Lubbock disputes water shortage claims” which was posted on Aug 16, 2013 9:55 AM by KCBD Staff.

At the very beginning, this article has mentioned the alarming news that Lubbock is listed as the first city that is running out of water which is published by the 24/7 Wall Street company. And then they have debated against it and mentioned some facts that the Lubbock area has been in the "state of exceptional drought since 2011” but that it is not true it is going to run out of water.

Some evidence has been provided as following:

First, for over a decade the city of Lubbock just has been encouraged to conserve water. Second, “Lubbock adopted its current Strategic Water Supply Plan in February 2013” which can supply the city water for at least 100 years.  Third, though White River is running out of water, this is not going to affect the City of Lubbock a lot. For the city’s water largely depends on the underground water, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, one of Lubbock’s groundwater sources, instead of the surface water, which will not be greatly affected by the rainfall. Lake Alan Henry, “which is approximately 70% full,” is not at dangerously low levels. In short, they rejected the conclusion that Lubbock is running out of water. (M.F.)

Reference:

City of Lubbock. (2013, August 16). City of Lubbock disputes water shortage claims. KCBD.

http://www.kcbd.com/story/23156106/city-of-lubbock-disputes-water-shortage-claims

7. Water Consumption Down for City of Lubbock in July

In the article titled “Water Consumption Down for City of Lubbock in July”, the author mentioned the fact that “According to the City of Lubbock Water Department, water consumption is currently down when comparing July from each of the last few years.”

According to Aubrey Spear with the Water Department, the restrictions, the water rate and the rain are the main reasons for this situation of “about the five year average at this time”.

At first, the city of Lubbock is in “stage one water restrictions” and “has been for a full year” after “Lake Alan Henry went online”.

Second, most of the residents have formed the habit of conserving water, and still there is another reason for the people to be interested in water conservation which is the recent Lubbock Power & Light rate increase, according to Aubrey Spear with the Water Department.

Third, the rules for stage one water restrictions have been described, such as the amount of irrigating water per week, the exact time of the people to water. The irrigation schedules are based on the last digit of the home; it’s fine for drinking  at any time of the week. And Aubrey Spear suggested “twice a week watering restrictions” would be well. (M.F.)

Reference

Water consumption down for City of Lubbock in July. (2013, August 20). EverythingLubbock.com.

http://www.everythinglubbock.com/story/water-consumption-down-for-city-of-lubbock-in-july/d/story/Z6n1RusK2UaG8G5PCqkfig

8. Summary of the article “Reynolds: Give Lubbock water another look before buying bottles”

The author is named Jakob Reynolds, and he said he has lived in Lubbock all his life. He points out that "Frankly, the tap water in Lubbock tastes rather bad. However, an interesting characteristic I recently discovered is our water actually tastes rather good with ice in it.” “Cold Lubbock tap water is almost indistinguishable from its bottled counterparts,” he believed. And this is good news for those citizens in Lubbock, he thinks.

First of all, it is obvious that Lubbock’s citizens can save their money by not buying that bottled water. Secondly, the author noted that city water is cleaner than bottled water. The author mentions that “city water can contain no traces of confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria, according to EPA. But on the other hand, in fact, bottled water is allowed to contain a certain amount of coliform bacteria.” Thirdly, another disadvantage of bottled water is some of plastic bottles can be toxic. And those bottles may have polluted water in them, the author pointed out.

According to the author, when we are thirsty sometimes, we should just buy a reusable aluminum water bottle and drink the water we have already paid for from our tap. “You’ll definitely save a lot of money and help the environment in the process,” the author believes.

Reference

Reynolds, J. (2013, Sept. 5). Reynolds: Give Lubbock water another look before buying bottles. Retrieved from http://www.dailytoreador.com/opinion/article_19358b88-d446-11e0-9382-001a4bcf6878.html

9. Summary of the article “Lubbock’s water crisis, how did we get here?”

This article, “Lubbock’s water crisis, how did we get here?” is published by Abby Reed in KCBD News Channel. The writer mainly introduces reducing present water sources and finding new water supply sources in Lubbock, Texas. During past years, Lubbock has had three water supply sources, yet Lake Meredith, which is one main water supply source, cannot be utilized as a water source anymore because of the drought and the lack of precipitation. According to Mayor Tom Martin, Lubbock has water restrictions and shortage; however can still have water because of using a new water supply source, Lake Alan Henry, for several years. The mayor is worried about finishing water in Lake Alan Henry, but the city keeps developing new water supply sources. Thus, the city will not have a water problem for several years. (MK)

Reference

Reed, A. (2013, Feb. 9). Lubbock’s water crisis, how did we get here?. KCBD News Channel. Retrieved on Sep. 5, 2013 from http://www.kcbd.com/story/16903788/lubbocks-water-crisis-how-did-we-get-here

10. The summary of water shortage shaping up as crisis

In this article, the author announced that water shortage problem is not only for those who consumed water a lot, such as farmers, but also for the whole cities. The article mainly mentioned the water problem in the Lower Rio Grande, and the author said, "the area faced the worst drought in decades." Then, he described the situation of the area, about how the main industry works, and how people live there. So, we can understand that this is an agricultural area and agriculture needs water badly. He said, “there are a few wells, but they tend to be very salty.” Although some districts lack water, some districts are still in an acceptable condition. However, what are they supposed to do if they really have a water crisis? They buy some water from Mexico and the other states. Therefore, the U.S. government even forced Mexico to release water because they said Mexico owed them water. Moreover, the article listed every condition of the area in Texas, so we would have basic information about it. (SYH)

 

Burns, R. (2013, Mar. 12). Texas crop, weather for March 12, 2013. Agrilife. Retrieved from http://today.agrilife.org/2013/03/12/texas-crop-weather-95/

11. Summary

This article is written from the point of view of the mining industry, which uses scarce water in mining projects in South America. The author says that perceived water shortage problems are crucial, because they have caused many mines to be closed down. Local communities fear that the diversion of water for mining will threaten their use of it for agriculture, so they pressure the government to stall or cancel the mining operations. The author feels that most of the problems caused by mining are historical, and that the mining companies have found other water, or are using recycled water, so they are no longer threatening the fresh water supply. But he feels that the media is unfair about this, and stirs up people's perception of water shortage, thus endangering the projects. Finally, he mentions desalination, which is expensive and has its own environmental hazard, but is sometimes used by the mining companies. (TL)

Moore, M.A.  (2012, Apr. 19). Water problems - real and perceived. Mining, People and the Environment. Retrieved on September 7, 2013, from

http://www.mpe-magazine.com/special-features/water-problems-real-and-perceived?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print_friendly

12. Summary of "New phases lining up in Lubbock's evolving water strategy: Roberts County well field, Lake Alan Henry pipeline capacity expansions on drawing board"

This article mentions how Lubbock has tapped Mother Nature’s water, how that is constantly changing ,and the plans for capacity expansions to well fields in Roberts County and the Lake Henry pipeline which are on the drawing board.

Lubbock’s director of water resources recalled the city’s more than 100-year history of moving from one water source to the next in addressing the City. He said, “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.” As a historic point in 1992, 87% of Lubbock’s water came from Lake Meredith, with about 13% coming from city’s Bailey County well field. But now in 2013, Bailey and Roberts counties served as the city’s main water supply, with Lake Alan Henry accounting for 2% after its 60 mile pipeline opened in July. With current infrastructure, Lake Alan Henry water should provide about 7.5 million gallons of water per day and provide for 20% of the city’s water usage.

We only take the yield such that we can take water from it in perpetuity, he said. (JAPC)

Young, A. (2013, March 9). New phases lining up in Lubbock's evolving water strategy. Retrieved on Sep 5, 2013 from http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2013-03-09/new-phases-lining-lubbocks-evolving-water-strategy#.UiimU8akol8

13. Second Summary

The Ogallala Aquifer has been rapidly dwindling. The article ‘Ogallala Aquifer in Texas Panhandle Suffers Big Drop’ reports some figures that show how serious the problem is. The figures, covering a 16-county area stretching from south of Lubbock to Amarillo, show that wells have dropped an average of 1.87 feet from 2012 to 2013. This is one of the five or ten worst drops in 60 years. The main cause of this drop is that the drought that has affected the area since 3 years ago has made farmers pump more water to make up for the lack of rain. A drop of 1.8 feet could cause some farmers to stop irrigating in areas where the aquifer is thin, but in areas where it is thick the drop does not count as a serious problem. (H.S.) 

Galbraith, K. (2012, May 22). Ogallala Aquifer in Texas Panhandle Suffers Big Drop. StateImpact. Retrieved on 9/5/2013 from http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2013/05/22/ogallala-aquifer-in-texas-panhandle-suffers-big-drop/

14. Summary on the article titled “The Ogallala Aquifer, an important water resource, is in trouble”

Based on a study over four years by researchers from Kansas State University, the article “The Ogallala Aquifer, an important water resource, is in trouble” by Karen Dillon, of the Kansas City Star, points out the importance of this water resource, the dangerous situation that it is in, and the suitable or necessary actions that should be taken specially by farmers to control the situation. Furthermore, the author highlights that many farmers are aware of the situation and they support the legislation that is sponsored by Gov. Sam Brownback to “keep the lake recharging at a rate that doesn’t allow the resource to dry up”.

At the end, using the exact words, “Society has an opportunity now to make changes with tremendous implications for future sustainability and livability”, of David Steward, lead author of the study, Ms. Dillon is trying to remind the society about their responsibility on this matter.  (CD)

References

Dillon, K. (2013, September, 1). The Ogallala Aquifer, an important water resource, is in trouble. Kansas City Star.  Retrieved on September, 5, 2013 from http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/01/4452173/the-ogallala-aquifer-an-important.html

15. Water use in the United States:

The article mentions that water has different uses in our life. It illustrates how our nation's underground and surface water are vitally important to our everyday life. Based on a report in the national Atlas of the United States, the use of water in the U.S. has changed with time, and the most important factor which affects our water source is human activities. In the 1950s and 1980s there was a steady increase in the United States’ population. Thus, scientists expected the increase of water usage with the increase of population, but it did not happen because of the increased awareness of the need for water and the changes in technology. Furthermore, the article explains five methods of water use including thermoelectric, irrigation, public, and other uses of water. Moreover, in each section it is mentioned how much water we consume for each of those usages. Finally, it provides two tables that encompass data regarding water usage between 1950 to 2000. (S.H.)

Reference

Water use in the United States. (2013, Jan, 28) nationalatlas.gov, US Government.

http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/water/a_wateruse.html

16. A summary on article title on “Ogallala aquifer: Could critical water source run dry?”

This article by environmental science and engineering experts has shown that underground water is going down enormously due to overusage of water for agricultural productions. Their study was in the western part of Kansas, which is the largest wheat growing part of the USA, pumping water from the Ogallala aquifer. The researchers have mentioned that current water policies have not impacted significant reduction in ground water and current trend of water usage can cause loss of water within 5 decades. The report said that limitation of water in these days can be a significant problem for food production but also that may extend our future water usage time for more decades. According to the study if water usage will be reduced by 20 percent, that can increase our agricultural production time into 2070. However consumption of fresh water is still not in a dangerous situation. The research group has explored thousands of related data and reports during the last four year period to make this report. (S.G.)

Gillam, C. (2013, August 27). Ogallala aquifer: Could critical water source run dry”, Reuters. 

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0827/Ogallala-aquifer-Could-critical-water-source-run-dry

Hello from ESL 5301!

Summary #1 - articles about Lubbock water

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:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2013/08/21/shale-fracking-are-not-the-main-cause-of-texas-water-shortages/

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.

http://www.mylubbock.us/docs/default-source/water-department-file-library/2013-strategic-water-supply-plan.pdf?sfvrsn=2

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.

http://www.pump-zone.com/topics/pumps/centrifugal-pumps/lubbock-cost-effectively-expands-its-water-distribution-system

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.

http://www.kcbd.com/story/16903788/lubbocks-water-crisis-how-did-we-get-here

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