Drought and heat and misery

Posted on Aug 2, 2006 by jason

I saw a news report last evening about the wheat and corn harvests (among others) in Texas. Because of the extreme drought in our area, now rated as the worst possible, farmers have been devastated and are losing their crops to a degree not seen since the Dust Bowl in the early- to mid-1930s. Corn is rotting on the stalk and literally crumbles when handled. Wheat and other grains have simply withered in the ground and produced a tiny fraction of their normal yields, and what has been salvaged is not usable for humans. This is the second year in a row for this kind of destruction, and many farmers are accruing debt that threatens to overwhelm them and put them out of business.

The likely result of this will be the need to import significant amounts of these crops in order to feed the American people. Prices will go up. Supplies will go down. People will lose their livelihoods.

Add to that the extreme fire danger we have in the state. Because the drought has been ongoing for two years already and shows no signs of abating, and because temperatures continue to be above normal, most of the state is a tinderbox waiting to be ignited. Of course, some areas are already burning.

There is currently no serious hope for rain (wee chances here and there don’t help even if precipitation occurs). We are significantly more than two feet (more than half a meter) behind on rainfall for the past two years. Water restrictions are ubiquitous and range from stage 1 (e.g., no watering during the day) to stage 5 (e.g., no outside water use at all [including washing of cars], no new swimming pools, no landscaping, no refilling of swimming pools). It would seem the situation will only get worse. There are places where water is being turned off for those violating the restrictions because there is no room for error in water rationing.

And August is typically the hottest month…

[Update]: See my correction on Dallas’ water restrictions in this comment. Thanks to xocobra for mentioning that.

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9 Responses to “Drought and heat and misery”

xocobra

Aug 02, 2006

So when did dallas go into restriction? That is another touchy subject with residents in the ‘burbs. We in collin county are on water restriction because the entire county gets its supply from Lake Lavon. Same for the colony, lewisville, little elm since their supplier is lake lewisville. But city of dallas???? no restrictions. I see water running all the time. It’s sickening. my yard is turning a different shade of color daily. my foundation is moving at unheard of rates. and i drive to work or to get food on occassion and see sprinklers running in 100 degree weather and some guy washing his car. I love to wash my cars too but can no longer do it in my driveway. I have to go to a car wash. I would love to have a completely green yard and i can’t. the soaker hoses that i have around the foundation are not able to keep up with the rate that the moisture in the soil is being sucked up. City of dallas, GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!! All of north texas is on restrictions. Get with the damn program. you are part of the reason that the levels are going down in ALL of the surrounding lakes. You draw from multiple sources as the rest of us wither away. /Rant Off

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jason

Aug 02, 2006

Actually, for Dallas, the “[n]ormal summer Time of Day restrictions do run June 1- September 1.” You’re correct in that it’s not technically a drought response restriction. It’s just the normal summer restriction.

Part of the discrepancy is that Dallas has an extensive water supply from various sources (and is also currently working on creating a new lake in East Texas to augment that supply). But you should remember this: the Dallas water supplies were created for Dallas; other areas have tapped into them based on agreements with the city to use only certain amounts. That’s why Dallas isn’t in trouble with the supply right now: they planned ahead and they planned well, so much so that they can share without running into problems, and they continue to move forward with plans to keep up with the demand. Urban sprawl is the issue you’ve run into along with all other surrounding and outlying areas. They built up without considering water mainly because the big cities had enough to cover their needs. They wrongly assumed that would always be the case and did nothing to augment those supplies with their own sources. Now they have to deal with the repercussions of such poor planning.

As for watering during the day, that’s always been a stupid idea since more of the water evaporates than actually waters the yard. Still, people are dumber than a wet sack of hair, so they’ll break any restriction they can. That includes watering when it’s freezing outside, thereby causing dangerous driving and walking conditions — but they don’t care about that. They generally only care about themselves.

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jason

Aug 02, 2006

Oh, and on it being touchy with the ‘burbs, I’d strongly suggest they beat up on their local governments. Dallas has been here since the 1840s and invested significant effort and money in the water infrastructure. The ‘burbs, on the other hand, have done nothing except tap into what already existed. Dallas, as I mentioned, is already planning for a new lake to supply more water. What has your government done for you lately?

And I’m being somewhat facetious, of course, but Dallas is certainly sharing a great deal of its supply — sources created and maintained by Dallas, and paid for mostly by Dallas. I assure you the feeling runs the opposite direction as well when talk of restrictions come up within the city. Many residents want to know why the ‘burbs haven’t done more to address their own needs.

Can’t we all just get along?

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jenny

Aug 02, 2006

Agree with Jason here. I’m restricting water now rather drastically and there are plenty of lawns in my area going brown. While I drive by lots of collin county businesses heedlessly dumping water into the street or watering their parking lots at mid-day. Those ‘burbs, esp those north of Plano, expanded hugely and without any consideration of water, hell, they don’t even have decent roads. Don’t blame Dallas. My co-worker in his 2800 sq foot McMansion in McKinney is gonna fill up a brand new swimming pool this week. I’m pouring dishwater on my yard.

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xocobra

Aug 02, 2006

my point here is to not start a war. Jenny, it’s people like you that take the whole picture into consideration. It’s the morons that need to be controlled. I would just think that with all lake levels going down that Dallas would want to preserve as well. i’m not saying stage 4 or 5 but just think before you use. That should go for all of north texas. I did find this http://www.texaswatermatters.org/pdfs/ne... it shows that dallas uses more than other metro areas in texas. I’m not solely placing the blame on dallas for the situation for us ‘burb dwellers. Just saying that Dallas needs to take steps as well to curb usage. My comments may have been harsh because I do my best to use as little as I have to. I definately use more than a person that lives in a 1 bedroom apartment. So I do apologize if those of you that do live in Dallas took it personally. It is more of a rant toward the wasteful users and those that are in charge just turning away from a crisis that is in waiting.

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jason

Aug 02, 2006

It’s definitely not a war and no one here is taking it personally. Actually, I rather thought this was a good lively discussion. I’ve learned quite a bit just researching it and listening to the “outside perspective” (despite having assumed as much, it’s nice to see confirmation of the sentiment).

As for water usage, yes, Dallas uses quite a bit, but remember Dallas is using Dallas’ water — from sources the county created, manages, maintains, and finances — and shares. It would be one thing had they tapped into water from other municipalities, but they didn’t. It would also be another issue if they weren’t looking ahead and taking steps to address growth and need, but that’s exactly what they are doing. I think those are the points of contention because many in Dallas see the ‘burbs as consumers who have done and are doing nothing to help with maintaining or increasing water supplies. They didn’t build them; they don’t help maintain or manage them; they have no plans to address their own needs outside of holding their empty cups out to the larger areas with water to spare; they have expanded into the outer reaches of the area without a single act of self-supply; and they appear to be bottomless pits that suck water in without providing it. There’s probably more than a little resentment in that regard from Dallas to the outlying areas, and it’s obvious the resentment runs the other way because the suburbs see Dallas using all they want of their own water supply while suburbs have restrictions because they’re using supplies that aren’t their own.

I also bet this is the case with Tarrant and other counties that have built their own supplies and share with the suburbs and rural areas that have no sources of their own. I’ll have to look into that.

Ultimately, however, the biggest impetus is on everyone to be responsible for usage. Sadly, humans are anything but responsible, and reasonable actions are normally forced on them rather than given freely. It’s like electricity: they don’t think about it adding to air pollution and global warming; they just want to burn all the lights and power all the electronics as though the power is created by magic. Humans are by their very nature self-centered consumers. They want, want, want without thinking about the costs (and I don’t mean financial).

I suspect — and this is an assumption on my part — Dallas would readily implement restrictions in order to ensure continued supplies to the suburbs and rural areas that tap into those sources. I also suspect that will eventually happen as the drought continues and worsens. Nevertheless, it’s extremely prudent for those areas not supplying their own to more actively seek self-supply measures and/or more actively participate and assist in helping those who do supply their water (financially, physically, via conservation, etc.).

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jenny

Aug 02, 2006

Our current living environment isn’t really conducive to much of any conservation. ‘Grey water’ systems aren’t common anywhere for example unless you have it built in. I’d love one, but what I am doing is minimizing showers (5 min max), really collecting ‘grey’ water from dishwashing (I wash dishes manually so it’s pretty easy to do and use ‘green’ soaps) and tossing that on foundation/lawn, watering almost exclusively by hand or soaker hoses (no sprinkler) and beginning to plan for more xeriscaping and maybe eventually even buffalo grass for my lawn (lower water & mow costs). I’d get a rain barrell but it’s sorta useless right now…
And xocobra I didn’t mean to sound like I was beating up on you, I do hear alot of ‘burb people making all sorts of crazy claims about Dallas (one co-worker has asked me if I worry about being murdered. Well, not any more than he does). But I suspect that most of these burbs were thrown up by developers who then just leave with their money and paltry infrastructure. They need to, IMHO, be required to ensure that certain services are available before tossing up houses, esp huge houses. But that’s another sermon……
jenny

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xocobra

Aug 02, 2006

jenny, you know i love it when you beat me up…and i agree with you about the suburban-ite developer mentality. I’ve seen to many builders build. leave, come back under a different name. that goes for their financial stability as well. I don’t think that anyone thought this area was going to become this large so rapidly. I know that septic systems are a prehistoric version of grey water. Maybe someday they will figure a way to split off the drains for the dishwashing/laundry and pressurize the tank that it goes to and have it automatically water the foundation. The rain barrell would be good if there was a way to keep it sealed to prevent mosquitos…

ok, 2 ideas for patenting there. Jason, help me design this stuff and all 3 of us can go make a mint. it’s not like you are busy anyway. I mean really, how taxing is it to stare at a male cardinal all day? i’m sure many young catholic boys stared at them ind it took less time..

ok, i’m bracing myself for the backlash on that one

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jenny

Aug 02, 2006

Jason is making valuable contributions to wildlife science. Actually you can install grey water systems, I haven’t researched the cost, but they are available. California is a hot bed of ‘green’ building as you would expect, but so is Austin, TX actually, and the grey-water is a part of that (along with solar power, using non-toxic paint, renewable sources for construction like flooring or re-using stuff). This month’s issue of _D_ actually has a largish article on a very green house out on Lake Fork (I think), it’s made of cement and actually requires minimal A/C. And this month’s _Dwell_ is entirely devoted to ‘green’ housing.

what’s happened, I think, is that in TX there are few govt restrictions because that’s the way texans like it, except of course on who can marry who…, but hell, you can build your whole crappy little residential housing development, sell it all, walk away, and so what if there’s no roads, no postal service, no water and no plans for growth. North of Plano, Frisco, Little Elm, Prosper, I think alot of these exurbs (I think that’s right) are really hurled up there (pun intended) with no consideration of resources. And it’s human nature to ignore possible future consequences right now. I mean, it’s not an issue RIGHT NOW, so it’s not an issue. Water has been forecast to be an issue now for some time but no one wants to acknowledge that, let alone plan for it. Las Vegas, San Antonio, Phoenix, there are just gobs of communities that are going to be hit very hard soon. San Antonio is draining the acquifier it depends on for water (and has been). There will be lawsuits (actually already are) and all sorts of problems. All over water.

But unless someone holds these builders/developers accountable, the situation will continue.

so that’s my 25cents

the beatings are free though

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