Water worries
South Texas no longer in drought, but water supply is still important
Most South Texas might not think much of the severe drought that plagued the area throughout the 1990s. Officials and planners, however, shouldn’t ignore the issue.
The Texas Water Development Board has conducted a water conference Monday and today in Fort Worth, to address the need to ensure that the state’s water needs continue to be met. Our officials should do the same thing at the local level.
A decade ago most Rio Grande Valley residents endured mandatory water conservation orders. Most of the Valley’s drinking and irrigation water is pulled from the Rio Grande, and the two reservoirs that supply the last section of the river at one point dropped to less than 20 percent of capacity.
During the worst part of the drought, people talked of the need for drastic — and costly — measures that included lining, or even completely sealing, the elaborate system of irrigation canals that feed our farm crops. As much as 80 percent of the Valley’s water supply is used for crop irrigation, and officials have estimated that as much as one-fourth of the water that flows through the canals either seeps into the ground or evaporates.
Some people even considered laying hundreds of miles of pipes in order to tap into Sabine Lake, on the Louisiana border, to augment the Valley’s water supply.
Fortunately, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reported Friday that as of Nov. 7, the reservoirs were at about 80 percent of capacity. But while the Valley hasn’t endured a water crisis in several years, the past two years have been unusually dry in many parts of the state, particularly Central Texas, causing the levels in many of the state’s 6,500 groundewater wells to drop significantly and forcing water restrictions there. That drought could end, or it could continue — and extend to South Texas.
Because we can’t predict the future, we can’t take for granted that our own water supply will remain safe. For this reason, local officials should continue to evaluate the area’s water needs and discuss ways those needs can continue to be met.
Some progress has been made. A desalination plant has been built on South Padre Island, but it is a pilot project and produces a small fraction of the water the area needs. Other projects should continue to be discussed as the area’s population continues to grow, creating ever-greater demands on our water supply.
The Valley isn’t in a water crisis now, but that possibility always exists. The time to address the area’s water needs is now, when officials have the time to discuss the issue thoroughly, weigh all the options and implement those that are deemed the best. Last-minute decisions tend to be deficient, and emergency actions tend to be more costly.
We should work to secure our water supply now, before it runs out.
