Jan
2
2010
Experts, states and federal agencies have long recognized that river systems are crucial to many important natural services, while providing life-giving drinking water for people, livestock and wildlife; irrigation water for our food and other products; groundwater recharge and recreation for people. Healthy creek and river flows are crucial to maintaining the vital green belts along them called “riparian zones”. Riparian zones are important for quality livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, water filtration and storage, stormwater/ flooding reduction, maintenance of streamflows, aquatic system health and recreational values. (See http://www.texasriparian.org/ for riparian information.)
But, all that fancy terminology is not “new information” to most of you rural Texans, farmers and ranchers - the original “stakeholders and conservationists” who have been taking good care of Texas’ watersheds, creeks and rivers for hundreds of years! You already knew how important that spring and creek in the valley pasture was to you, your livestock, the wildlife on the place and to the river it flows into. But, many present day Texans are “new Texans” or have been in towns/cities so long they have been disconnected to the world around them. Many think food comes from grocery stores and water appears magically at their faucets. This process will try to assure that all of us are going to pay enough attention in the future to those vital springs, wetlands, creeks, rivers and bays – from now on – making sure that our kids, grandkids and all others will have their many benefits forever.
Environmental Flows processes were created by the 80th Texas Legislature in recognition of the importance that the ecological soundness of our riverine, bay, and estuary systems and riparian lands has on the economy, health, and well-being of our state. Thru SB-3 legislation the major river basins and bays of Texas will be carefully reviewed, studied and environmental flows data and guidelines will be developed by several committees and groups. Expert science teams for each basin will support each basin’s group of stakeholder’s committee along with technical support from state agencies and academic institutions.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is the primary state agency charged with this mission. This is a crucial process, which not only will affect Texas’ rivers and bays, but the springs and creeks which feed our rivers and wetlands providing so many life-supporting services for Texans.
The Environmental Flows program in Texas began with the Sabine/Neches Rivers & Bay; the Trinity/San Jacinto Rivers & Galveston Bay; the Colorado/Lavaca Rivers & Bays, and this fall, the Guadalupe River Basin & Bay system. Each major river basin will also have its own Science Advisory Committee made up of qualified, knowledgeable experts in several different sciences necessary for flows study and development.
Each basin will have citizen stakeholder groups representing all key interests along the rivers and on the Gulf such as: Ag Irrigation, Livestock, Recreational Water Users, Towns & Cities, Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Industry, Commercial Fishing, Public Interest Groups, Groundwater Districts, River Authorities and Environmental Interests.
The author is a member of the Guadalupe River Basin & Bays Stakeholder Committee and will try to keep you magazine and blog readers aware of the status of the process. If you have good comments, questions or information of value to the Guadalupe basin, please send them to me and they will be considered.
Your local newspaper and other media should keep you updated on meetings in your river basin and of key issues discussed and resolved. If your newspaper is not carrying this information, contact the Editor and ask that they obtain the news releases from TCEQ or your local River Authority.
Dec
9
2009
Earth’s Water (Posted By Gary Cutrer)
Been a while since I thought about Earth’s water cycle — seem’s like it was about the fifth grade. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about water as part of our atmosphere. Did you know that water vapor in the atmosphere is considered a “greenhouse gas?”
The U.S. Geological Survey water website has a good educational section that is about my speed and I stumbled upon a page about the distribution of water on Earth:
A graphical view of the distribution of water resources on planet Earth. Source: USGS website.
The Earth is pretty much a “closed system,” like a terrarium. That means that the Earth neither, as a whole, gains nor loses much matter, including water. Although some matter, such as meteors from outer space, are captured by Earth, very little of Earth’s substances escape into outer space. This is certainly true about water. This means that the same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is still here.
Now, the USGS lesson states that not much water is being created or destroyed, but I beg to differ. The chemical breakdown of water and its “reassembly” is happening constantly and in great volume. The chemical breakdown of water occurs in growing plant life and animal life. The reassembly occurs when very old and not so old hydrocarbon compounds combust or burn. And, of course those hydrocarbon compounds are the products of once-living plant and animal life, both land- and ocean-based.
Disclaimer: I am not a scientist and have no idea what I am talking about but like to pretend I do.
Dec
7
2009
Introductions, Open Thread (Posted By Gary Cutrer)
Lake Travis, Texas.
If you’ve newly found this blog and are interested and plan to visit often, please leave your name or handle and a short comment as an introduction. Feel free to suggest water topics or news of interest!
Dec
4
2009
City will have to Move People:WATER SHORTAGE (Posted By Mike Mecke)
(no, not here in USA or Texas - yet, but too much growth in the wrong places might….and not just due to climate changes! Several Texas areas are experiencing too much growth with the possiblity of local water shortages in their future. A saying among water folks is “Water flows uphill to the money!” Cities/towns often feel like they will need or deserve the “new” water more than nearby agriculture does. Do you agree? Or?)
Vanishing glaciers imperil La Paz
Fears are growing for the future of water supplies in one of Latin America’s fastest-growing urban areas – Bolivia’s sprawling capital of La Paz and its twin El Alto.
Scientists monitoring the glaciers high in the Andes mountains – a key source of water – say the ice is showing signs of shrinking faster than previously forecast.
Back in 2005, glaciologist Edson Ramirez, from the University of San Andres in La Paz, predicted that the Chacaltaya glacier would vanish by 2015.
In fact it’s happened several years sooner………………………………………
Faced with a booming population and a combination of glacial retreat and reduced rainfall, the governor of the La Paz region is even contemplating moving people to other parts of Bolivia.
Water is already in short supply among the poorest communities and has become a cause of tension…………………………………..
High impact
I asked the governor of the La Paz region, Pablo Ramos, how he was responding to the latest studies into the future of water supplies.
One answer is that new reservoirs may be built and underground sources tapped.
But it’s clear that these solutions may not be enough and Mr Ramos is starting to consider a far more radical solution – trying to move people away.
He told BBC news: “We are thinking about a planned programme of migration, mainly to the north of the region.”
On a large map in his office, he pointed to an area of well-watered rainforest and explained his plans for new settlements. For sure there’s going to be a huge movement of people – planned and unplanned.”
La Paz already has one global claim to fame: as the world’s highest capital.
If the most extreme climate predictions are right, and water shortages become severe, it may acquire another claim in coming decades: as the world’s first capital to run so dry that it has to turn people away.
(read the whole article on link)
Dec
2
2009
Law of the Biggest Pump (Posted By Gary Cutrer)
In Texas water law, the state owns your surface water, as a general rule, and you must get permission to use that water. The landowner owns water found below the earth’s surface in the crevices of soil and rocks–percolating water. Texas groundwater law is judge-made law, derived from the English common law rule of “absolute ownership.” Texas courts have adopted, and the legislature has not modified, the common law rule that a landowner has a right to take for use or sale all the water that he can capture from below his land.
Because of the seemingly absolute nature of this right to all water beneath your land, Texas water law has often been called the “law of the biggest pump.” Regardless of how it affects your neighbor’s well, you can pump all the water you wish from your wells. However, the case of a subterranean river is different. As landowner, you are presumed to own underground water until it is conclusively shown that the the source of supply is a subterranean river. Both stream underflow and subterranean rivers have been expressly excluded from the definition of underground water in Section 52.001 of the Texas Water Code.
All this information in easy to understand language is available at this Texas A&M and AgriLife Extension website. More:
The practical effect of Texas groundwater law is that one landowner can dry up an adjoining landowner’s well and the landowner with the dry well is without a legal remedy. Texas courts have refused to adopt the American rule of “reasonable use” with respect to groundwater.
Exceptions to Absolute Owner Rule. There are five situations in which a Texas landowner can take legal action for interference with his groundwater rights:
- If an adjoining neighbor trespasses on the land to remove water either by drilling a well directly on the landowner’s property or by drilling a “slant” well on adjoining property so that it crosses the subterranean property line, the injured landowner can sue for trespass.
- There is malicious or wanton conduct in pumping water for the sole purpose of injuring an adjoining landowner.
- Landowners waste artesian well water by allowing it to run off their land or to percolate back into the water table.
- There is contamination of water in a landowner’s well. No one is allowed to unlawfully pollute groundwater.
- Land subsidence and surface injury result from negligent overpumping from adjoining lands.
Dec
2
2009
Texas Water 2010 Conference April 13-16 (Posted By Gary Cutrer)
Texas Water 2010 is billed as the “Largest regional water conference in the U.S.,” this annual meeting is presented by the Texas Section of the American Water Works Association.
Nov
30
2009
Water News and Links (Posted By Gary Cutrer)
Water battle in central AZ towns not over
Cattail clears arsenic from water
More news about water on the Moon
Republican State Rep’s Take on California’s Water Problems and Texas’ Similarities
Ag Commissioner Todd Staples: Sharing water and responsibilities
Rainfall map of Texas and other maps of interest
Nov
29
2009
Finding an Unexpected Oasis (Posted By Gary Cutrer)
Desert wanderers dream of happening onto an island of fresh water in an ocean of alkali sand and dust. These oases from around the world are places where the wanderers can stop, drink, even settle and farm. But settling an oasis too heavily can deplete its water supply.
Crescent Lake in China’s Gobi Desert sits on the edge of an ancient city that once saw traders embark on their journey along the Silk Road to the West. Today it is drying up and has dropped more than 25 feet in the last 30 years, in part due to water being redirected for local farmers and a doubling of population, resulting in the slow disappearance of a lake that has existed for thousands of years.
Gobi Desert Oasis on Crescent Lake.
Nov
24
2009
COMMENTS & OUTSTANDING SATELLITE PHOTO OF MISS. RIVER & GULF
It was an outstanding photo – had to share with ya’ll. I had heard that on the delta Georgianne, too bad it is going into the Gulf with the nutrient load and causing the huge “Dead Zone” I was probably being a little too hard on farming methods causing the sediment in the river and Gulf – more likely it is geology-caused – all those great, deep clay and clay loam soils erode very easily and did pre-white man too. But from what little of the river system I have seen in the Midwest there is little or no native riparian system left to trap sediment, pollutants or provide habitat. I hope that is changing as we learn. But I still see millions of tax dollars being spent making sections of river into hardened canals – a la San Antonio River Walk and Museum extension. thanks for commenting, Mike (We urge all of you readers to do so too and to add your own news items! Please do…… we need your input.)
Mike, The Mississippi Delta is sediment starved in recent years. Instead of depositing in the delta, sediment is trapped behind dams up river. Then the levees in the lower region propel most remaining sediment into the deep gulf waters where it cannot build land.
Thanks for sharing the satellite image.Georgianne
On Nov 21, 2009, at 1:26 PM, “Mike Mecke” <mmecke@stx.rr.com> wrote:
The Texas Riparian listserv is managed by the Texas Riparian Association to promote communication about Texas riparian issues, ecology, and management. More information about the TRA at www.texasriparian.org
st1\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#ieooui) } Look at the results of many man- caused wounds to “Ole Man River”: pollution, destroying riparian zone, poor farming conservation methods, city waste effluent & stormwater, destroyed wetlands, etc. Is this happening to your river? From: Susan
At least we don’t’ live along the Mississippi
Sediment in the Gulf of Mexico
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=41237&src=eoa-iotd
Nov
13
2009
Drought Losses Heavy in Lower Rio Grande Valley (Posted By Mike Mecke)
Drought losses top $19 million in Lower Rio Grande Valley
Reservoir levels are healthy but wet winter not forecast
November 13, 2009
TAMU AG News
Writer(s):
Rod Santa Ana, 956-878-8317,r-santaana@tamu.edu
Contact(s):Dr. Luis Ribera, 956-968-5581, LARibera@ag.tamu.edu
WESLACO — For the second year in a row, Mother Nature has dealt a heavy blow to agricultural producers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, according to an economist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Weslaco.
“Last year it was Hurricane Dolly that helped rack up losses of just over $25 million,” said Dr. Luis Ribera. “This year, the drought claimed just over $19 million.”
According to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency, final tallies for 2009 show that almost half of the total acreage of cotton, corn and sorghum was lost to the drought.
“Of almost 524,000 acres planted in 2009, we lost just over 255,000 acres, or about 49 percent, to drought,” Ribera said. “Losses totaled $19.13 million.”
Despite the higher financial losses in 2008, more acres were lost this year than last.
“That’s because more cotton was planted in 2008, and cotton is a higher-value crop than sorghum or corn,” Ribera said. “Had more cotton been planted in 2009, losses would have been much higher this year.”
According to the USDA report, the four-county area at the southern tip of Texas lost roughly 77 percent of its cotton, 34 percent of its corn and 45 percent of its sorghum.
“The highest losses came in the dryland planting of those three crops,” Ribera said. “Of the $19 million in losses, irrigated crops only accounted for less than $1.4 million of that. This just reemphasizes our dependency on Rio Grande irrigation water.”
Despite a recent trend among Valley growers away from cotton, Ribera expects that will change.
“We’re likely to see more cotton planted in 2010 for two reasons,” he said. “One is that cotton market prices seem to be on an upward trend, likely due to a decrease in cotton production in the U.S. and China. The other is the need for crop rotation. After two years of planting sorghum, yields are starting to decrease so growers need to replenish their soils by rotating in a crop of either cotton or soybeans.”
With market prices in the mid-60s cents per pound of lint, Ribera suspects growers will opt for cotton instead of soybeans.
“Cotton market prices have been low for several years, at or below 50 cents per pound,” Ribera said. “But since April, they’ve been on an upward trend, probably due to an increased demand worldwide for lint. As of Nov. 5, the market cash price was at 62 cents per pound.”
Rio Grande reservoir levels should not be a major concern in the foreseeable future for those growers who irrigate, according to Erasmo Yarrito Jr., the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Rio Grande watermaster.
“The reservoir at Falcon Dam is at 64 percent of capacity, and Amistad, which is the larger reservoir, is at almost 96 percent capacity,” he said. “That’s a combined U.S. storage capacity of 82 percent, which is much higher than the trend of the past five years.”
The exception was last year, Yarrito said, when both reservoirs were above capacity due to excessive rains and flooding on the Mexican side of the Upper Rio Grande River Basin, a major source of South Texas water.
“Hopefully, Mexico will have a wet winter,” Yarrito said. “Since many of their reservoirs are already near capacity, rain would prod them to release water that could be captured in our reservoirs.”
Rain is not necessarily in the forecast for deep South Texas, however. Weather experts report that weather patterns are not conducive to a wet winter.
Jeral Estupinan, the science officer at the National Weather Service in Brownsville, said although this is an El Nino year, conditions do not seem strong enough to clearly predict a wet impact on South Texas.
“Our chances of a wet winter are better this year than last, but there are no guarantees that El Nino will produce rains at this latitude,” he said. “And unfortunately, not all fronts produce measurable precipitation through our area. We can’t rely on cold fronts to promote precipitation this winter. The exception could be along the coast on the tail end of cold fronts, but it is very difficult to predict.”
Estupinan said the Rio Grande Valley typically needs wet summers in order to have a normal rainfall year, which did not happen this year.
“Although we achieved normal rainfall for part of the summer, it was not enough to alleviate the drought. We had a very dry summer and the hottest summer ever for McAllen and other areas of the Valley,” he said.
Alfredo Vega, a hydro technician at the weather service, said deep South Texas is five inches to 11 inches below normal rainfall. Normal rainfall in Brownsville is 27.5 inches per year.
“In the short term, most areas are below normal rainfall, and drought conditions in South Texas range from normal to moderate to severe, depending on the county,” he said.
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