On Water Shortages

A common complaint in areas where I have lived is that too many people are sucking water out of the ground, causing the water table to sink. Outside of Houston where I was raised, the water level was fairly shallow. Yet in the drought of the 1950s, people complained that their water wells were going dry because of too many people pumping water. The City of Houston was indeed subsiding and still is.

When I moved to the Austin area, springs had lost some of their flow due to pumping. Whether inAustin or Houston, it takes a lot of water to supply a growing city. Even with water saving devices like low flush toilets, low flow shower heads, and efficient use washing machines, the amount of water needed to satisfy the populous just keeps going up.

San Antonio is pumping water out of Lee County to fill its citizens faucets. At the family ranch in Caldwell County, the aquifer is dropping due to San Antonio, Austin, Kyle and Buda pumping water for their folks. Look at the Lubbock area and there are bigger problems with the United States largest aquifer. And that is mostly agricultural pumping.

Water restrictions save a lot of water, but they are generally not common-sense practices. They are imposed when rainfall is low, generally in the summer, and not yearround. Why not impose water restrictions when there is too much rainfall and the ground is soaked? Believe it or not, people will water ground that is too wet.

Water restrictions generally penalize people who would stand outside in the daylight watering a new tree, shrub or garden in 90-degree weather while allowing those with automatic irrigation systems to water throughout most of the night. My most frequent calls to look at a dying plant are from people who have overwatered the plant in a drought.

Fines for using too much water rarely work. One client of mine had a $1,200 a month water bill for each of three months. She was the largest user in town. The mayor asked me to talk with her about her use. I got her to use compost over the lawn areas and she reduced the bill to almost $300 a month and the lawn looked better.

I have been a member of water boards, landscape committees and other water related groups and my experience is that very few government agencies will listen to common sense. While some of my recommendations were taken seriously it was a small fraction. I was once told by the water supplier that they needed to sell more water during wet periods in order to stay profitable!

Let me give some free advice to water boards across Texas. We are still running out of water and they need to focus more on putting water back into the aquifer than restricting its use. And I am not referring to actually pumping it back into the aquifer like San Antonio and a few other cities.

If cities and the State of Texas were to promote organic fertilization, cover crops, better cattle management, and reduction of chemical applications to the lawns and pastures, the aquifers would rise. There would also be enough water to offset a good deal of growth in the State. Of course, that would mean that several chemical companies in the state would lose money. And that is exactly why this won’t happen.

It is no secret that chemicals like fertilizers, weed killers and other pesticides kill beneficial soil microbes that support plant life. It is no secret that after years and years of applying pesticides and chemical fertilizers, some water wells and aquifers have been poisoned. It doesn’t matter if it’s a homeowner’s lawn or a 50-acre ranch. Texas A&M once proved that organic fertilizers were superior to chemical fertilizers, with less fertilizer runoff, less percolation of the fertilizer out of the soil and a greener, healthier lawn! Guess you don’t hear about that research very often.

If the soils in Texas spent more of the year under cover crops, thick pastureland, and taller lawn turf, we could put more of the available rainfall back into the soil. Bare dirt, runoff and erosion shouldn’t be allowed on a regular basis.

Cities could work on convincing homeowners to better manage their lawns and irrigation systems. People would not only save water, but less water would go into the storm and wastewater systems, and instead go into the aquifer. Residents will benefit from having cleaner water to drink because the water would not need to be treated as much and would be less toxic. Some cities in Texas already drink recycled treated water from the cities’ septic system.

Now if college and universities would promote more progressive soil and range management systems, the real savings would begin.We could have more profitable farmers and ranchers and more water! The aquifer can rise under a rancher’s land (when it is not rising under their neighbor’s land) if they begin to grow more grass through management intensive grazing. The same is true for farmers who use cover crops.

Currently there seems to be enough water in Fayette County. It is raining on a regular basis. We are in the Apathy Zone of the Hydro-Illogical Cycle. That means people are not thinking about future needs for water.

What is needed is a “Fill Er Up-Texas Needs the Water” campaign. When we start recharging the aquifer with available rainfall, we will have a more beautiful and green State.

David E. Will is a local rancher and consultant. He can be reached at 830-6299876 or by email at dwill207@sat.rr.com.