Issues

Many West Texans have compared the weather conditions during the past few years to the Dust Bowl. Dust devils swirl around the plains as haboobs blow in and cover everything in chalky brown dirt, all while it is 92 degrees Fahrenheit in November.

With increased rainfall in 2014, conditions are slowly improving. However, it will take many years for West Texas to recharge its water supply.

Ken Rainwater, Ph.D., is the former director of the Texas Tech University Water Resources Center and a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering. He said the issues currently being studied by the Water Resources Center have been years in the making.

“The drought in 2011 got everybody’s attention,” Rainwater said,” because we had less than six inches of rain, for example, here in Lubbock, and very hot — a lot of difficulties with that. And so, that got a lot of municipalities attention. Prior to that, we’ve had long-time knowledge that the Ogallala is depleting in parts of the Southern High Plains and what that impact is going to be on irrigated agriculture. People have been dealing with that for a good long time.”

Rainwater said having long-term water resources is one of the biggest concerns in the region. While Lubbock has a 100-year water plan, he said, many smaller towns in West Texas may have to find alternate water sources. Lubbock has already begun tapping other water resources besides the main source, Lake Meredith. This year, Lubbock began sourcing water from Lake Alan Henry.

Water issues affect most people on a personal level, but some West Texans have experienced economic harm due to the drought.

Darren Hudson, Ph.D., director of the Cotton Economics Research Institute and a professor in the department of agriculture and applies economics at Tech, said the higher cost of water means higher costs for farmers to produce the famous West Texas cotton crops.

Hudson said certain cotton species are better adapted to dry climates and certain irrigation techniques can alleviate the need for more water.

“Those can cope with low water years,” Hudson said. “There’s really no way to deal with, like, 2011, 2012, when we had no water. It helps, but it’s not perfect.”

According to Hudson, a cotton farmer can spend up to $450 per acre, with most farmers breaking even at the end of the cotton season. This includes irrigation, seeds, herbicides and pesticides needed to produce a fruitful crop. Hudson said most farmers can produce two to three bales of cotton per acre during a good year. The costs to produce a cotton crop, he said, will continue to go up as water becomes more scarce.

Rainwater said one of the biggest issues facing the water crisis in West Texas is the cleanliness of water. This is an issue facing large and small cities, he said, and that money is a deciding factor in how clean the drinking water is.

“We have a number of smaller towns and then some rural community water systems — probably at least 100 of them that are dependent on groundwater from the Ogallala — that are out of compliance in terms of arsenic and fluoride,” Rainwater said. “And so, a lot of those places have been getting notifications from the EPA and the TCQ that they need to do something about it, but they don’t necessarily have the funds to make those changes happen quickly.”

West Texas is known for its random weather patterns, with many areas receiving heavier and more rain than others. Rainwater said that can make it difficult to measure what is really happening with our water stability. Ultimately, natural precipitation is what the West Texas area needs right now, he said.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but when you have a house and a yard,” Rainwater said, “the yard likes rain better than it likes water out of the hose.”

Searching “Texas ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” on YouTube brings up 327,000 videos, including ones from Texas Tech University. Searching “Texas Drought” results in 63,800 videos — just a fraction of the first search. Which one would you most likely look up?

If every “Texas ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” participant on YouTube used two gallons of water to complete the dare, that would be around 654,000 gallons. The average family of four uses 400 gallons of water a day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. So, at a 400 gallons per day rate, it would take a f0ur-member family over four years to use 654,000 gallons of water.

Tanner Hockensmith, the executive director of the ALS Association in Texas, said it was hard to say how much the campaign had raised as of August, but it was more than last year.

“This morning (August 29), we found out we crossed the $100 million mark, nationally, from July 29 until today,” Hockensmith said. “This time last year, in the same time frame, it was like $2.2 million. So, obviously, there’s an exponential increase, which is pretty amazing.”

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the spinal cord and nerve cells in the brain. Hockensmith described it as being trapped inside one’s body, where you cannot make your muscles move but are still mentally aware of what is going on.

Hockensmith said this has been the most awareness the disease — commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease — has received in a while.

“I think we’ll look back and see that this was a pivotal point in time for ALS,” Hockensmith said. “There was one more pivotal point in time: obviously when Lou Gehrig was diagnosed and gave his famous farewell from baseball. That was 75 years ago.”

Chuck West, assistant professor in plants and soil sciences, said he had seen the ice bucket challenge. West, Ph.D., said central and western Texas have been in a drought for years. Despite the amount of rain the area has received recently, he said people should still be wary of how much water they use.

West said city dwellers are not the only citizens using excessive amounts of water. West works with local farmers to teach them how to properly and most effectively irrigate their crops. He said the amount of water used on landscapes, both in the city and on the farm, is problematic.

“Lawn water is a major use of water in urban areas,” West said. “Whereas a cotton farmer might apply 16 or 18 inches of water during the whole growing season, a person who waters their lawn frequently is putting on 60 inches a year. It’s unbelievable.”

West gave numerous examples of how to conserve water in the city. He said he personally has showering down to one minute and uses only two gallons of water.

“You turn it on for 15 seconds, and during that time you wet your body down, you wet your hair” West said. “Then, turn it off. Then, you do your shampoo and, you know, scrub. Then, turn it on for 45 seconds and rinse yourself off. That’s 60 seconds of water.” (Editor’s note: This is sometimes known as a “Navy shower.”)

Hockensmith said water conservation issues have come up frequently during this activism campaign. He said some people have gotten creative with how they complete the challenge to raise awareness for both issues.

“I think Matt Damon did it best; I mean, he used toilet water,” Hockensmith said. “Get water out of your pool, and poor it on yourself and back into your pool. I think there’s ways you can still do the challenge and still be conservative with water.”

Hockensmith said he thinks one reason the campaign became so popular is because water is easily accessible for everyone.

Although the campaign was not started by the ALS Association, Hockensmith said it has been a blessing to the cause.

“People like to be connected,” Hockensmith said, “and so this is a way people were instantly connected with celebrities and politicians — and their neighbor down the street. It was an act of celebration. It was an act of standing with people with ALS.”

West Texas Water Issues Go Deeper Than The Ogallala Aquifer

The Big Issue: ALS Or Water Conservation?