Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, Same as it ever was”
~ David Byrne, Talking Heads
If I didn’t know better, I might think this Talking Heads song is about Texas, While not exactly the “same as it ever was”, we are stuck with enough historical quirks that we are heading toward a hard choice of rational management of the state’s water resources now or rationing in the not too distant future.
Texas’ population is expected to increase by 10 million in the next 13 years - the equivalent of adding New York City and Phoenix. Current water supply and demand dynamics already create conflicts between different interests and areas. Cities with growing populations, industry, and agriculture have rights to and use large shares of Texas’ water supply. The water that is unallocated or unused by water rights holders make up “environmental flows.” Environmental flows - water that is crucial to the health of Texas’s bays and estuaries - create magical marshes where fresh and saltwater mix into a medium that nurtures young invertebrates and fish that eventually inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. Beyond the value to the vast and vibrant diversity of aquatic, land, and bird species of Texas, these species are also of huge regional economic value through commercial fishing, sports, and recreation.
Surface water makes up about 45 percent of water used in Texas. It is a public right owned by all Texans and managed by the state, but is subject to a series of water rights where the holder of the water right has permission to use that water for specific need(s) in a specific location in perpetuity. Older water rights trump newer rights. 90% of those rights were claimed before 1985, when the system for flows management was adopted, and a vast majority of those water rights do not have any environmental flow protection conditions attached to them, meaning that, in some areas of Texas, rivers could (and are) pumped dry.
Ground water makes up the remaining 55% of water use, and is subject to the “rule of capture” which generally means you can pump out whatever you want. Because the capture rule resulted in people pumping down groundwater sources to the detriment of surrounding users, the state modified the rule by creating groundwater conservation districts to somewhat manage the spacing and production of water wells. The management generally only applies to wells producing greater than 25,000 gallons per day.
Much more planning and management is needed, but unless we are in severe drought, only little steps (forward and backward) are taken each legislative session. This legislative session has some extremely complicated bills. Some of them would take us backwards, and make it harder for people to challenge surface water permits that might affect their downstream interests. Some bills would move us forward, such as a proposal to enable groundwater districts to do a better job managing groundwater.
Given the power of the interests who control most of the state’s water, absent a sustained drought crisis, we are not likely to make major changes to our still antiquated wasteful systems. However, despite a less than optimum overall system we do many things well in Texas and are making headway, mostly water district by water district and city by city. Thanks to the Texas Living Waters Project - a joint effort by Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, and Galveston Bay Foundation, more and more water is being conserved. Not only are cities and regions getting far greater use out of existing water, but water is being left in rivers and streams to supply life blood to bays and estuaries that are so important to ecological balance.
Hats off to the Texas Living Waters Project for winning a Blue Legacy Award for Innovative Projects from the Water Conservation Advisory Council. The award recognized the Texas Water Conservation Scorecard. This first-of-its-kind public awareness project assessed the conservation efforts of over 300 Texas water utilities by using data from publicly accessible water conservation plans and reports, water loss audits, utility websites, and other sources. The Scorecard highlights where utilities are doing well and where more effort is needed, and it helps utilities understand what their peers are doing, creating opportunities for professional collaboration. Texas Living Waters Project leaders plan to follow up with utilities interested in identifying strategies for improving their scores, and to update the Scorecard annually to highlight those improvements.
By making the most of our water supply through water conservation and other practices, we help Texas’ bountiful wildlife survive and thrive, we help Texas’ economy, and we preserve the natural areas of Texas for future generations. We are proud to be part of the Texas Living Waters Project and happy to find ways to better manage our water supplies in Texas.