Texas Water

Wildlife

Texas Water

Today and Tomorrow

STORY BY LORIE A. WOODWARD

Demand for water in Texas is increasing as the supply is decreasing, creating a potentially life, environmental and economicaltering shortfall, but researchers and innovators are developing promising solutions.

“It’s no secret that water is one of Texas’ most significant challenges for the 21st century,” said TWA CEO Justin Dreibelbis, noting this is the reason the recent Private Lands Summit, held in conjunction with TWA’s 39th Annual Convention in San Antonio, was dedicated to the critical subject. “The good news is that the best and the brightest are working to create alternative sources that can enhance our water supply.”

He continued, “These technologies are still in their formative stages, but they provide reason for cautious optimism.”

His optimism comes with a caveat.

“Emerging technologies do not cancel the need to carefully consider and ensure water availability before we, as a state, move forward with future growth,” he said.

Growth cannot be ignored. It is estimated that 1,400 people are moving to Texas every day. At this rate, the Lone Star State, currently home to more than 30 million people, will see its population surpass 50 million people by 2070. The average Texan currently uses 80 gallons of water per day.

If current projections hold up, the state will be contending with higher temperatures and longer, more intense droughts as the population swells. Less total rain means higher demand for water and less infiltration into underlying aquifers, which currently provide 75 percent of the state’s drinking water. Less rain also means less run-off into rivers, streams and lakes, while higher temperatures mean higher evaporation rates and diminishing surface water supplies and in-stream flows.

“We currently have a water shortfall, which likely will only get worse without some far-sighted and far-reaching changes,” Dreibelbis said.

The Situation

To set the stage for his overview of Texas’ current water situation, Dr. Robert Mace, executive director at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, quoted author James A. Michener who wrote, “Water, not oil, is the lifeblood of Texas.”

Currently, Texas relies on groundwater and surface water to meet the state’s needs. About 75 percent of the state’s drinking water is groundwater pumped from nine major and 22 minor aquifers that form a subterranean labyrinth lying beneath most of the state.

With the invention of the centrifugal pump, groundwater became much more accessible. Pumping began its rise to prominence in the 1950s, which happened to coincide with Texas’ drought of record—and triggered the ongoing decline in aquifer levels, particularly the Ogallala.

Today, the largest declines in underground water levels are seen in confined aquifers, where water lies between layers of impermeable material. As examples Mace cited water level declines in several cities ranging from 500-600 feet around Houston and 800 feet around Waco to about 1,000 feet around Dallas.

Declining groundwater levels not only require deeper wells and more energy to retrieve water, but they also impact the flow and availability of springs. In 1975, researchers identified 273 springs in Texas. By their tally, 40 of them or 15 percent were dry. Today, 62 springs or 23 percent of the 273 springs are dry. Springs feed rivers.

Lower groundwater levels also impact surface water. Studies have shown that about 40 percent of flow in rivers and streams comes from groundwater discharge. Obviously, rivers and large streams are water sources for humans and wildlife, but they are also critical conduits of freshwater inflows into estuaries and bays necessary for a myriad of marine species.

“More municipalities are reusing a larger percentage of their wastewater,” Mace said. “The more efficiently we use our water, the less water goes back into our rivers and streams diminishing in-stream flows.”

Land subsidence is another issue arising from significant groundwater level declines. When water is pumped from an aquifer, the pressure inside decreases. If the aquifer is in an area where soils are “loose,” the loss in pressure causes soil compression which results in land subsidence. In the Houston area, the surface, depending on the location, has subsided 6 feet to 10 feet. Even inland locations such as the Brazos Valley are experiencing land subsidence.

“There’s more subsidence than we know about,” Mace said. “And changes in elevation can change the way water flows across the land, realign flood-prone areas and affect structural stability.

“When you do anything with water, maybe you should step back and see how it impacts something else.”

When you do anything with water, maybe you should step back and see how it impacts something else.

New Water Sources

The State Water Plan, based on regional plans crafted by 16 regional water planning groups on a five-year cycle, is the Bible of water management in Texas. The plan addresses the needs of all water user groups in the state— municipal, irrigation, manufacturing, livestock, mining and steam-electric power—during a repeat of the 1950s drought of record.

In the most recent version of the State Water Plan completed in 2022, the Texas Water Development Board relies on two strategies: water supply and demand management. Water supply includes existing sources and identifies needs for the future. Demand management is a myriad of conservation strategies.

“While every bit of effort helps, we can’t conserve our way out of this long-term shortfall,” Mace said.

As a result, obtaining new water sources is a crucial component moving forward. Traditionally, new supplies meant reservoirs. Right now, there are 23 new reservoirs in various stages of development across Texas. While reservoirs are a time-tested solution, they have significant environmental impact, carry huge price tags and place an undue burden on landowners whose property lies within their footprint.

Because of these issues as well as the skyrocketing construction costs, planners are looking beyond tradition. In fact, by 2070 planners have expanded strategies to include reuse, seawater and aquifer recovery and storage.

According to the Texas Water Code, aquifer storage and recovery is the storage of water in a suitable aquifer through a well during times when water is available, and the recovery of water from the same aquifer during times when it is needed. The San Antonio Water System is already using this as part of its long-term strategies to meet the city’s ever-growing water needs.

Marine desalination, removing salt from seawater to create freshwater, falls under the umbrella of seawater. Currently, there are 50 inland municipal plants that are converting brackish groundwater to freshwater, but no marine plants. A marine desalination plant has been proposed by the City of Corpus Christi but has been stalled because of environmental concerns.

“If we’re not seriously talking about marine desalination, we’re kidding ourselves,” said Dr. Greg Stunz, senior executive director of the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi. “At the Institute, we see marine desalination as a viable way to help protect the freshwater flows that are essential to the estuaries as long as desalination plants are sited properly.”

Proper siting addresses intake, the number of fish and other marine life taken into the plant along with the saltwater, and the discharge of the by-products.

The process’ primary by-product is highly concentrated brine. When the brine concentrate is introduced to an estuary, where freshwater and saltwater mix to create a unique environment, it can raise the salinity so much that the estuary is no longer suitable habitat for the fish and marine life that rely on it. Estuaries are often called the “nurseries of the sea” because they are home to so many species that reproduce and spend their early lives there.

Seawater naturally is more saline than estuaries. Because of wave action that mixes the brine, the expansiveness of the Gulf and the salt tolerance of the deep-sea aquatic life, the environmental impact would be minimized if the briny by-products were disposed of offshore. Stunz suggested locating marine desalination plants at least 1 mile from shore, but preferably farther.

“Ten miles offshore would be ideal, but obviously cost prohibitive,” he said. “The longer the distance, the bigger the price tag.”

Produced water, a by-product of hydraulic fracking in the oil and gas industry, offers another promising supply side solution that falls under the reuse strategy. According to Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who chairs the state Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs in the Texas Legislature, produced water is a win-win solution.

“The oilfield has a PR problem because of injection wells and the related seismic shifting,” Perry said. “If we could repurpose that water and reduce the amount that has to be disposed of underground, it will solve two problems.” In fact, if the process proves to be viable, it could cut the amount of water disposed through injection by 75 percent, he said.

Perry co-sponsored SB 601 that created the Texas Produced Water Consortium at Texas Tech University. The consortium, under the leadership of Executive Director Rusty Smith, is leading the effort to determine whether the process which relies on both membranes and high heat is scalable, affordable and safe.

“The technology to desalinate brackish water is farther along than people think, but we’ve still got a way to go,” Smith said.

The list of obstacles is noteworthy but not insurmountable. For instance, the brackish water found throughout the Permian Basin often measures 125,000 ppm salt and other mineral components. In comparison, drinking water is 500 ppm.

The process’ thermal portion requires an extreme amount of energy. The membranes currently used in the reverse osmosis process lack the durability to withstand the hypersalinity of produced water. To be a viable alternative, the state would need to develop massive treatment capacity. Only about 50 percent of the water that passes through the process would be rendered drinkable.

Of course, the financial motivation to explore the process is significant. The discharge from the process is being evaluated for valuable components that could be extracted and sold for a profit. In the case of the oil and gas industry, produced water offers the chance to reclaim a waste product and convert it into a revenue stream. The opportunity to create another water market might prove to be lucrative for entrepreneurs from all backgrounds.

“Texans have always been big, bold thinkers who seized opportunities to solve problems and build industries,” Dreibelbis said. “Successfully meeting the state’s water challenges will be another milestone in our ongoing journey of innovation.”

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