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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFrackers Guzzle Water as Texas Goes Thirsty
In summer, the bison on Thunderheart Ranch opt for the feathery shade of a mesquite tree as temperatures reach 100. This land, just a handful of miles from the Mexican border, was once known as The Wild Horse Desert, lawless, rough brush country where, in a good year, 21 inches of rain fell and in a bad year, less than a dozen descended from the clouds. My grandfather used to say we get two 10-inch rains and never get the other inch, says Hugh Fitzsimmons, owner of the 13,000-acre ranch.
Fitzsimmons hails from an old Dimmit County family that has several large holdings in the area 100 miles southwest of San Antonio. He also serves on the local Wintergarden Groundwater District and spends a good deal of his time worrying about the falling water levels in the underground aquifer that serves the sparsely populated county.
Even as fall officially begins in Texas and temperatures dip into the low nineties, 97% of the state is suffering from an extended drought that is pitting neighbor against neighbor in a battle over water. Lakeside restaurants are closed, boat docks stand high and dry, farmers are at odds with suburban gardeners, and small town wells are depleted. In the states booming Oil Patch, the earth is cracked and the grass is brittle, but water is still gushing to hundreds of hydraulic fracturing operations. Its water in, energy and dollars out at a gold-rush pace that some say cannot continue.
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Drillers working the Eagle Shale Formation in South Texas use approximately 15,000 acre-feet (nearly 4.9 billion gallons) of water annually about half the annual recharge in normal years from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer under Dimmit and its neighboring counties, according to the Southwest Research Institute, the non-profit, San Antonio-based research and development organization. To put that in perspective, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates the average U.S. household uses about 100,000 gallons of water a year.
Read more: http://nation.time.com/2013/09/29/frackers-guzzle-water-as-texas-goes-thirsty/#ixzz2gJpTxM6x
CAG
(1,820 posts)the delay is all about, other than the fearmongering these people continuously hear from Faux news and from their pulpits on Sundays.
Link Speed
(650 posts)But we never hear about that, do we?
We hear about farming and fracking, but never about idiot homeowners and their beloved, non-native St Augustine-carpeted lawns.
derby378
(30,252 posts)If anyone thinks they can reclaim the water that's been flushed into a fracking well, good luck to them - that water is essentially gone forever.
And forever is a very long time.
jsr
(7,712 posts)and water conservation measures.
Link Speed
(650 posts)Excellent.
My property is a meadow that was created by John Greenlee
http://www.greenleeandassociates.com/
I watered it maybe a total of five hours last year.
Four of those waters were fueled by wine. "Fuck yeah, let's go water this shit."
Way to go, Tejas.
jsr
(7,712 posts)SECTION 1. Section 202.007(a), Property Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A property owners association may not include or enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or restricts a property owner from:
(1) implementing measures promoting solid-waste composting of vegetation, including grass clippings, leaves, or brush, or leaving grass clippings uncollected on grass;
(2) installing rain barrels or a rainwater harvesting system;
(3) implementing efficient irrigation systems, including underground drip or other drip systems; or
(4) using drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving turf.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Reap what you sow.
Just don't expect the Great Lakes region to bail them out!
derby378
(30,252 posts)In fact, we just shut down a fracking project in Dallas County. City Council couldn't muster enough votes to approve it.
Only thing is, seems like someone behind the scenes is trying to restart the project and ram it through the bureaucracy.
Uncle Joe
(58,366 posts)Thanks for the thread, cali.