Texas Water Journal (TWJ - Texas Digital Library, TDL E-Journals)
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Frac Sand Facilities and Their Potential Effects on the Groundwater Resources of the Monahans-Mescalero Sand Ecosystem, Permian Basin, Texas
No full textUp until the end of the oil and gas boom in 2014, much of the sand used in the Permian Basin for hydraulic fracturing was sourced from upper Midwest of the United States. Because of substantial cost savings, producers in the Permian Basin began using local sand resources, creating an associated boom in local frac-sand mining in the Monahans-Mescalaro Sand Ecosystem. By December 2018, 17 frac-sand operations had registered with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality with 16 being operational with a cumulative annual capacity of 56.8 million tons and a self-reported 2,927 acres of disturbed land. We identified 230 production wells for the 16 facilities with depths ranging from 80 to 1,199 feet and most completed in the Pecos Valley Alluvium and/or Dockum aquifers. Estimated frac sand facility water use (10,000 to 40,000 acre-feet per year, based on 60 to 250 gallons of water consumed per ton of produced sand) rivals or exceeds that of water used in the four counties (Crane, Ector, Ward, and Winkler) with active frac sand facilities (23,500 acre-feet per year). Modeling suggests that long-term pumping of the unconfined Pecos Valley Aquifer may be a challenge requiring additional wells over time or the use of alternative water supplies. For the confined Dockum Aquifer, simulations suggest that pumping might completely deplete artesian pressure at the well field after 10 years
Book Review: The Water Recycling Revolution: Tapping into the Future
No full textAlley WM, Alley R. 2022. The Water Recycling Revolution: Tapping into the Future. Lanham (Maryland): Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538160411. 231 p.
Reviewed by Robert E. Mac
Water Management in the Rio Conchos Basin: Impacts on Water Deliveries Under the 1944 Treaty
No full textThe unusual drought that struck the Rio Bravo/Grande basin between Mexico and Texas in 1993 marked a new order in the relationship and commitments to water deliveries from both countries in the context of the 1944 Water Treaty. As a result, Mexico did not comply with the volume of deliveries required in the 1992-1997 cycle. Since then, Mexican deliveries have shared a climate of tension with the U.S., blamed partly on Mexico\u27s unpredictability of its obligations. This tendency is gaining academic interest from the perspective of the Treaty and the binational relationship. However, the evidence on Mexico\u27s inability to meet its binational commitments is still scarce. Hence, this article explores the Conchos River, Mexico\u27s most important tributary to comply with its obligations, the water management and actors involved; the competition and possible conflict scenarios and their solutions; and the impacts on water deliveries from Mexico to the United States. The work uses the Multi-level Governance and Sub-national Hydropolitics concepts and the partial results of an investigation on the internal factors in the basin that affect water deliveries to the U.S
Optimizing Water Supply through Reservoir Conversion and Storage of Return Flow- A Case Study at Joe Pool Lake
No full textMaintaining an adequate water supply is one of the key challenges faced by the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where increasing population and rising water demand have elevated the vulnerability of the communities to water shortages. In this paper, we conducted a preliminary study exploring the possibility of converting flood storage in the Joe Pool Lake (JPL) as a means to improve water supply reliability and achieve better cost efficiency. This study employs a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) approach that considers the costs of meeting conversion demand and supply requirements over the northern portion of the Trinity River Basin. It includes trade-offs between capturing and storing natural flow versus return flow from the treatment facilities of the Trinity River Authority (TRA). A set of hypothetical prices and demand figures with the record drought of 1940-1996 considered to test the LP model. The optimal strategy yields expansion of JPL and associated storage-diversion on an annual basis. Also, the outcomes of the analyses suggest that, while the conversion would have a positive impact on water availability, storing the return flow might not produce sufficient cost savings; unless higher prices were imposed on the stored-return flow
Beyond Senate Bill 3: How to Achieve Environmental Flows in Texas Under Prior Appropriation
No full textIn 2007, the 80th Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 3 on the 140th and last day of session. This bill was the third far-reaching piece of water legislation after Senate Bill 1 passed in 1997 and Senate Billl 2 passed in 2001. Collectively, these bills changed how Texas plans for future water needs, regulates groundwater, promotes conservation, studies the need for environmental flows balanced with population needs, and establishes environmental flow standards for Texas’ rivers, bays, and estuaries. Senate Bill 3 created a process through which scientists, stakeholders, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality set environmental flow standards. Over 12 years have passed since Senate Bill 3 became law, allowing us to consider the efficacy of the enabling legislation and the resulting rules. In short, identifying and securing water for the environment has been difficult due to little if any unallocated water in the state’s river basins and limitations in Senate Bill 3 and Texas Water Code. We identified seven options for the stakeholders and the state to consider to increase the protection of environmental flows while respecting private property rights: (1) protecting water-right owners that participate in forbearance agreements from cancellation, (2) pursuing cancellations and affirming abandonments, (3) requiring that cancelled or abandoned water be set-aside to meet environmental flow standards, (4) modernizing how surface-water use and diversions are tracked, (5) requiring water rights holders to demonstrate the pursuit of other water supplies before suspending environmental flows, (6) studying ways how environmental flows can co-exist and be protected within a prior-appropriation system, and (7) studying how dedications of water under existing water rights can be considered for tax credit or deductions so as to further incentivize transactions for environmental benefit. If implemented, these options could allow Texas and Texans to more closely achieve the desired outcomes hoped for from Senate Bill 3
Commentary: Texas Comptroller’s Good for Texas Tour: Water Planning and Innovations
No full textEditor-in-Chief\u27s 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
Determining Geothermal Resources in Three Texas Counties
No full textThis project updates the geothermal resources beneath our oil and gas fields, as part of the research for the Texas GEO project for the counties of Crockett, Jackson and Webb. Through additional bottom-hole temperatures from oil and gas wells drilled in the late 1990s to 2019, the number of sites increased from 532 to 5,410. The project improved the methodology to calculate formation temperatures from 3.5 km to 10 km, included thermal conductivity values more closely related to the actual county geological formations, and incorporated radiogenic heat production of formations and the related mapped depth to basement. The project results show deep temperatures as hotter than previously calculated, with temperatures of 150 °C possible for Webb County between depths of 2.6 – 5.1 kms, average 3.3 km; Jackson County between depths 3.0 – 5.4 kms, average 3.7 km; and Crockett County between depths of 2.7 – 8.0 kms, average 4.0 km. Based on the 150 °C temperature desired for electrical production, 677 wells or 11.6 % of them have at least this temperature or higher. The oil and gas industry can be a significant resource for unlocking our ability as a nation to extract the geothermal heat resource
Focused Flows to Maintain Natural Nursery Habitats
No full textRegulatory standards for environmental flows to estuaries are not common, but they are required in Texas. This has led to adoption of complex freshwater inflow regimes that reflect seasonal and yearly fluctuations that vary geographically throughout the state. The flow regimes are based on dilution of saline water with fresh water in whole systems. Because the estuaries are large lagoons, large volumes of fresh water are required to meet standards. However, this volume of water is not available during dry periods. We present a new concept, focused flows, for lower flow volumes that would maintain the ecological health of the upper reaches of estuaries during droughts. The concept is based on maintaining ecological integrity of nursery habitats, which is an important ecological function of estuaries. These focused flows would protect nursery habitats during droughts and allow estuaries to recover more quickly when the hydrology returns to average or higher flow periods. This approach could be applied globally where increasing water infrastructure and deficits are a concern or increasing aridity due to climate change is reducing river flows to coasts
Commentary: Fresh, Clean Water for Texans Now and for Generations to Come
No full textEditor-in-Chief\u27s Note: The Texas Water Journal invited Texas state Representative Tracy O. King, incoming chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, to share his thoughts on what is ahead for the Natural Resources Committee. 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.
Received 26 February 2021, Accepted 3 March 2021, Published online 4 March 2021
Citation: King TO. 2021. Commentary: Fresh, Clean Water for Texans Now and for Generations to Come. Texas Water Journal. 12(1):40-41. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v12i1.7135
Commentary: 87th Texas State Legislature: Summaries of Water-Related Legislative Action
No full textEditor-in-Chief’s Note: September 1 of every odd-numbered year is the date when most new legislation from the most recent session of the Texas Legislature typically goes into effect. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited seven organizations that work closely with the Texas Legislature to provide their take on the changes to Texas water policy and law that were made during the 2021 session. The opinions expressed in these summaries are the opinions of the individual organizations and not the opinions of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute.Organizations:Texas Water Conservation AssociationTexas Alliance of Groundwater DistrictsTexas Water FoundationSierra Club, Lone Star ChapterTexas Water Infrastructure NetworkTexas Rural Water AssociationTexas Desalination Associatio