Texas Water Journal (TWJ - Texas Digital Library, TDL E-Journals)
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A battle ends, but the fight for water in Oklahoma continues
No full textAs the lifeblood of land and communities, water will forever remain at the center of people’s lives in the arid Southwestern United States and, given the scarcity of water resources, at the center of their disputes. In Oklahoma, disputes over water seem unending with entities in North Texas seeking access to desperately needed water supplies in the Red River Basin, and Indian Nations claiming tribal rights to water in southeastern Oklahoma. Given the recent decision in Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, Oklahoma seems to have at least settled, for the time being, one dispute, leaving North Texas entities looking to develop additional water supplies elsewhere. But, Oklahoma’s battle with the Chocktaw and Chickasaw Nations over rights to water in southeastern Oklahoma appears to just be heating up as drought conditions do the same.
Citation: Thornton SR. 2014. A battle ends, but the fight for water in Oklahoma continues. Texas Water Journal. 5(1):24-35. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v5i1.7004.
Multi-year water allocation: an economic approach towards future planning and management of declining groundwater resources in the Texas Panhandle
No full textHeavy withdrawals from the Ogallala Aquifer, the most dependable source of groundwater in the Texas Panhandle, create an impending need for implementing water conservation policies. This study evaluates the policy option of multi-year water allocation coupled with water-use restriction in Regional Water Planning Area-Region A of Texas, over a 60-year planning horizon for 4 study counties, namely Dallam, Sherman, Moore and Hartley. Dallam County is studied as a representative county and results compared with other study counties. For the unconstrained baseline scenario over 60 years, the counties of study show a decline in saturated thickness that recommends the incorporation of water-use restriction alternatives at different rates. Increasing restrictions rates led to decline in water use per acre as well as total annual water use. Such restrictions, if mandated by the water conservation districts, will result in individual irrigators bearing the cost of water savings in the form of reduction in net present value per acre. The decline in net present value may have implications to the regional economy, and therefore, it is crucial to analyze the socio-economic effects of implementing such a policy alternative and analyze the feasibility in the light of legislative and political scenarios.
Citation: Tewari R, Almas LK, Johnson J, Golden B, Amosson SH, Guerrero BL. 2014. Multi-year water allocation: an economic approach towards future planning and management of declining groundwater resources in the Texas Panhandle. Texas Water Journal. 5(1):1-11. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v5i1.6390
Observed trends in air temperature, precipitation, and water quality for Texas reservoirs: 1960-2010
No full textChanges in climate, environmental management, and land use can affect water quality in lakes and reservoirs. Here, we quantify observed trends in water temperature and water quality in the 57 Texas reservoirs that have sufficient data for the period 1960 to 2010. We also quantify trends in air temperature and precipitation at 120 long-term weather stations adjacent to those reservoirs. Annual average temperature, seasonal average temperature, and cold temperature extremes are all becoming warmer near many Texas reservoirs. These air temperature trends are highly correlated with observed increases in water temperature across the state. Slight statewide increases in annual and winter, spring, and summer precipitation have contributed to greater increases in precipitation intensity, which are moderated by increases in the average number of dry days per year. Changes in precipitation can affect runoff and evaporation rates, which may alter levels of salts and minerals in the lakes. In addition, local human activities could be an important contributor to the observed increases in pH and phosphorus across the state and changes in specific conductance, sulfate, and chloride throughout Texas.
Citation: Gelca R, Hayhoe K, Scott-Fleming I. 2014. Observed trends in air temperature, precipitation, and water quality forTexas reservoirs: 1960-2010. Texas Water Journal. 5(1):36-54. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v5i1.7001
Fifth Circuit Decision in The Aransas Project v. Shaw: the Whooping Crane Case
No full textEditor’s Note: The opinion expressed in this commentary is the opinion of the individual author and not the opinion of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute.
Citation: Gulley RL. 2014. Fifth Circuit Decision in the The Aransas Project v. Shaw: The Whooping Crane Case. Texas Water Journal. 5(1):55-58. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v5i1.7010
Documentation of a recharge-discharge water budget and main-streambed recharge volumes, and fundamental evaluation of groundwater tracer studies for the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer
No full textData and information reveal that the Edwards Aquifer between Lady Bird Lake (the Colorado River) in Austin, Texas and the "groundwater divide" near Kyle, Texas discharges to 2 major springs: Barton Springs and Cold and Deep Eddy Springs. The long-term mean discharges for the springs are 51 cubic feet per second and 5.5 cubic feet per second, respectively. The source for Cold and Deep Eddy Springs probably represents Dry Creek in the Rollingwood, Texas area and a small amount of recharge water from Barton Creek.
Additional springflow, which periodically discharges from the lower reach of Barton Creek immediately upstream from Barton Springs, varies from zero when Barton Springs is flowing about 50 cubic feet per second to about 5 cubic feet per second during extreme high-flow conditions at Barton Springs. Two streamflow gain-loss studies on the Colorado River document any other discharges from the Edwards Aquifer to the Colorado River to be nonexistent or minor.
A recharge-discharge water budget for a 32-month period reveals that the total discharge from Barton Springs, Cold and Deep Eddy Springs, the lower reach of Barton Creek, and groundwater pumpage is about 3% less than the surface recharge—a value within the potential error of the measurements. Additionally, for the budget period, recharge within the main channels of the 6 major streams crossing the recharge area account for a minimum of 75% of total recharge. Therefore, long-term recharge within the recharge area from overland flow or tributaries to the main channels represents a maximum of 25% of total recharge, a value equivalent to a mean depth of 2.1 inches per year over the 90-square-mile recharge area, or no more than 6.6% of the long-term mean precipitation of 32 inches per year over the recharge area.
Citation: Slade RM Jr. 2014. Documentation of a recharge-discharge water budget and main streambed recharge volumes, and fundamental evaluation of groundwater tracer studies for the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. Texas Water Journal. 5(1):12-23. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v5i1.6988
Texas groundwater rights and immunities: from East to Day and beyond
No full textFor well over a century, the debate has raged over what interest, if any, landowners possess in the groundwater beneath their property, as well as what degree of tortious immunity a neighboring landowner enjoys for draining adjoining groundwater. After the Texas Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, and the Texas Legislature’s 2011 amendments to the Texas Water Code, these debates appear to have been finally settled—for now!
This article traces the jurisprudential development of Texas groundwater law, from its earliest origins in ancient Rome through to the most influential and substantive decisions of the Texas Supreme Court and legislation from the Texas Legislature. It also examines what cases are on the horizon that may yet affect Texas groundwater law in the coming years.
Citation: Drummond DO. 2014. Texas groundwater rights and immunities: from East to Day and beyond. Texas Water Journal. 5(1):59-94. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v5i1.7013
Public attitudes toward water management and drought in Texas
No full textWater management in Texas is increasingly salient as the population grows, water supplies continue to be taxed and the planet continues to warm, resulting in more severe, widespread, and frequent droughts in the state. Public support, though, is often essential for governments to enact large-scale projects, like those that may be needed to tackle water management issues. Given the challenges facing the state of Texas, surprisingly few studies explore public attitudes, preferences, and risk assessments about water-related resource allocations. Will the public act to direct or limit the actions of its elected officials on water issues? Is the public ready to consider policies, regulations, and expenditures concerning the potential impacts of increased drought frequency on Texas water resources? We report the results of 2 public opinion surveys of the citizens of Texas that focused on water management and drought issues. We find that the public is willing to support government efforts to manage water, but not if these efforts negatively affect the environment or agriculture.
Citation: Stoutenborough JW, Vedlitz A. 2013. Public attitudes toward water management and drought in Texas. Texas Water Journal. 4(2):47-61. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v4i2.6354
Groundwater Levels in Northern Texas High Plains: Baseline for Existing Agricultural Management Practices
No full textNew groundwater policies are being debated for the Northern Texas High Plains because of Ogallala Aquifer depletion. These policies should be evaluated using a calibrated groundwater model for assessing their impact on subsequent groundwater levels. The objective of this study was to calibrate and validate a regional groundwater model for predicting the impact of existing agricultural management practices on groundwater levels beneath 4 counties located in the Northern Texas High Plains. Results indicated that the MODFLOW-2000 groundwater model was calibrated and validated satisfactorily based on reproducing and comparing groundwater levels with coefficients of determination of 0.97 and 0.98, root mean square errors of 28.0 meters (91.9 feet) and 15.5 meters (50.9 feet). The model showed normalized root mean square errors of 6.9% and 4.3%, for calibration and validation, respectively. Analysis of prediction results indicated that 2 zones would become depleted if the current level of aquifer exploitation continues with no modification for the next 50 years. The calibrated model should assist water managers in evaluating alternative agricultural management policy scenarios.
Citation: Hernández JE, Gowda PH, Marek TH, Howell TA, Ha W. 2013. Groundwater Levels in Northern Texas High Plains: Baseline for Existing Agricultural Management Practices. Texas Water Journal. 4(1):22-34. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v4i1.5356
The legacy of Charlie Flagg: narratives of drought and overcoming the monster in West Texas water policy debates
No full textThe 40th anniversary of the publication of Elmer Kelton’s 1973 novel The Time it Never Rained coincides with one of the most severe droughts on record in Texas. Meanwhile, as of 2005, local groundwater conservation districts in Texas are required by law to determine how much groundwater they want to conserve for future generations. Such policy decisions have led to debates in West Texas among agricultural producers over whether pumping restrictions amount to erosion of the famous “rule of capture” and private property rights. This article presents Texas water law history, the Ogallala Aquifer, and its users as a continuing story in which producers and government policymakers are actors. This paper first summarizes the ways in which water challenges in the American West and elsewhere have been classified according to different disciplines and then shows how each of those ways of knowing can be understood as a kind of storytelling. The author uses Kelton’s drought novel and scholarly insights into how narrative works as a means of interpreting and contextualizing comments made by producers and others at several West Texas agricultural water policy hearings. The article concludes that policy-makers must consider the human instinct to translate complex and often contradictory knowledge from multiple domains into a less confusing story line.
Citation: Baake K. 2013. The legacy of Charlie Flagg: narratives of drought and overcoming the monster in West Texas water policy debates. Texas Water Journal. 4(1):78-92. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v4i1.6993
The Edwards Aquifer Water Wars: The Final Chapter?
No full textOn December 28, 2011, the Edwards Aquifer Authority’s Board of Directors approved the recommendations of the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program with respect to a historic Habitat Conservation Plan. The Habitat Conservation Plan could resolve decades of acrimonious rancor and litigation over the use of the Edwards Aquifer. It provides the protection required by the federal Endangered Species Act for 8 listed species stemming from the use of the Edwards Aquifer and associated Comal and San Marcos springs while recognizing the region’s ever-growing need for water. The plan was developed by a diverse group of stakeholders through a consensus-based process and submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on January 5, 2012, in support of the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program’s application for an Incidental Take Permit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noticed the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for public comment and conducted 7 public meetings to receive public comment. The public comment period closed on October 18, 2012. On February 15, 2013, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued its Record of Decision approving the issuance of the Incidental Take Permit and the Habitat Conservation Plan. This paper discusses the history of the dispute over the use of the aquifer, previous attempts to resolve the dispute, the strategic plan for protecting the aquifer, and the decision-making process used to develop the plan.
Citation: Gulley RL, Cantwell JB. 2013. The Edwards Aquifer Water Wars: The Final Chapter? Texas Water Journal. 4(1):1-21. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v4i1.6423