Waterissue

Dec. 4, 2013 | Midwestern State University | thewichitan.com | Your Campus. Your News. | SPECIAL DROUGHT EDITION

DROUGHT DISASTER

After entering stage 4 on Nov. 16, city officials made it clear that students, faculty and residents needed to be more aware of what the term “drought disaster” means.

Inside this special issue, readers can learn why Wichita Falls is in such an extreme drought, explore the solutions the city has developed and determine how to help conserve water every day.

2000-2010 Average monthly rainfall: 2.32” 2011 | Drought begins; average monthly rainfall in 2011, 1.08” June 4, 2012 | Wichita Falls enters stage 2; average monthly rainfall in 2012, 1.65” Feb. 13, 2013 | Wichita Falls enters stage 3 Nov. 16, 2013 | Wichita Falls enters stage 4; average monthly rainfall to date this year: 1.94” Lake Arrowhead, February 2013 photo by Torin Halsey/Wichita Falls Times Record News

2B | Dec. 4, 2013 | SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE |

6,000

Number of gallons of well water required to fill Bolin Fountain

PHOTO BY ALEISHA SOLORIO / WICHITAN

Melissa Morgan, freshman in education, washes a load of laundry in the dorms. “I’m always making sure I have a full load of clothes before I take them to be washed,” Morgan said. “It sucks that we have to be so careful about the water we use now, but I do what I can to help conserve it.”

PHOTO BY HANWOOL LEE / WICHITAN

Jacob Hurst, sophomore in criminal justice, brushes his teeth. “When you brush your teeth you turn the water off, and when it’s time to rinse, you turn it on.”

PHOTO BY ALEISHA SOLORIO / WICHITAN

Ashley Gibbs, freshman in English, washes her dishes in the sink in her dorm. “Instead of leaving the faucet running while brushing my teeth or washing dishes, I turn off the water,” Gibbs said. “It’s a minuscule way to conserve water, but every little bit counts.”

“I don’t really conserve water. All I do is take Stage 4 restrictions force re-evaluation of water usage across campus showers, my said. “This could prevent our effectiveness in having showers are individuals looking at MSU.” “We are continuously However, the drought has had an impact on othlying over Wichita Falls is an exercise in visual 5 minutes at evaluating systems to er areas of campus. During stage 3 drought restricmonotony. Brown. Everything is brown. The tions, Athletic Director Charlie Carr said the fields lakes are empty. The grass is dead and the trees the most. I are dying. see where we can save were being watered less frequently by the student take one after So, for city and university officials, managing the athletes. Even with all the efforts to keep the grass additional water.” suitable for play, he said the playing surfaces still drought has become as much a part of the daily roumy morning tine as the increasingly harsh restrictions placed on KYLE OWEN weren’t at their best.

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, FACILITIES SERVICES “The drought has affected us for the past few area residents. workouts. I years and as the years go by it just builds and builds, Wichita Falls city officials have outlined restricfor its residents and these are the same guide- faith the admissions team will do its best to dimin- it’s also affecting our playing surfaces,” Carr said. drink water tions lines university housing follows according to Mi- ish any negative feelings about the appearance of “Our worst-case scenario is that we’d have to find new places to play.” out of water chael Mills, director of housing and dining services. the university grounds.

“The new welcome center will help with this to Kyle Owen, associate vice president of facilities “We don’t only conserve water, we also put embottles.” phasis on utility conservation and try to make sure some extent. We do not have specific actions to take services, said approximately 10 years ago, several

Emphasis on conservation MEGAN FERNANDEZ SPECIAL SECTION CO-EDITOR

F

JOHN ROWELL FRESHMAN, CRIMINAL JUSTICE

the students utilize what’s needed without being wasteful,” Mills said.

Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Keith Lamb said since stage 4 restrictions were imposed, he is mainly concerned about MSU’s image to potential recruits.

“The chief concerns are perception and the upkeep of the campus. Students moving to Wichita Falls to attend MSU typically live on campus. To this end, the quality of life on campus is not likely to substantially change with stage 4 restrictions,” Lamb said. “The concern, though, is the perception of being in a drought emergency to those we recruit from other areas.”

Although Lamb has concerns regarding perception and first impressions about the campus, he has

wichitan

The

Midwestern State University Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room B103 3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 • wichitan@mwsu.edu

if the campus vegetation does suffer at this point in time,” Lamb said. “We will consider options over the winter months so we are prepared once the spring arrives.”

Lamb said there is no data to say whether or not the lack of rainfall has affected enrollment, but he feels that it hasn’t.

Nor has it had any effect on the day-to-day activities of students. Lamb said students still have access to showers, food services, and all the same amenities that exist during times of sufficient water. However, Lamb went on to say he does have concerns for the effect of the decreasing water levels on enrollment.

“My concern revolves around the image. This would project outwardly to other areas of the state that are not in a similar rationing situation,” Lamb

SPECIAL EDITION EDITOR: Brittany D’Alesandro and Megan Fernandez BUSINESS MANAGER: Blake Muse STAFF: Courtney Betts, Sam Croft, Brent Deeb, Claneisha Gomes, Hanwool Lee, Paden Lemons, Austin Quintero, Lauren Roberts, Kayla Sims, Aleisha Solorio ADVISER: Bradley Wilson

wells were dug on campus to water the athletic fields.

Owen said last spring the university began installing a pumping and distributions system to utilize water from the wells to maintain athletic fields.

The system, which cost $77,000, was completed in the summer.

“The quality of water and the amount of production out of the wells were considered too low to justify using them for irrigation purposes,” Owen said. “But with the increase in water fees and the unavailability of city water due to drought restrictions, it became more worthwhile to use two of the more productive wells to water the sand-based football fields.”

Owen said university officials submitted a water

continued on page 3

Copyright © 2013. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication.

Letters should be brief (250 words or fewer) and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address. The editor retains the right to edit letters.

| SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE | Dec. 4, 2013 | 3B

3.6 million

Number of gallons of well water used per month to water athletic fields when temperature tops 100˚F continued from page 2 authorization permit to use some of the water from Sikes Lake to irrigate the competition softball and soccer fields. He said in the fiscal year of 2012, the university’s water use was 45 percent more than in 2013 due to conservation efforts and much less irrigation.

“We’ve quit planting. If a plant dies we don’t replace it,” Owen said. “The drought has even kept us from putting pansies around the monuments, a normal practice that we can’t do this year.”

When the city entered stage 3 in the spring semester, campus housing saw the drought as a threat and launched a public awareness campaign to inform students.

“In addition, we cannot water any vegetation during stage 4 so the lawns, shrubbery, and trees are in jeopardy if we do not receive rainfall,” Lamb said. “A campus with dying [or] no vegetation is not a good first impression to have on recruits.”

“We are continuously evaluating systems to see where we can save additional water,” Owen said.

The university has been proactive in its water conservation efforts for the future. Owen said many water-rationing installments have been made over the years including low-flow shower heads, hands-free water faucets and waterless urinals.

“The water used in university housing is strictly used for water dispensers, showers, toilets and sinks which are part of basic life functioning so there is not much conservation that can be done,” Mills said.

Owen also said the university’s water consumption abides by every restriction imposed by the city, and said the university would join the city in eliminating all outdoor watering should it enter stage 4. Since Wichita Falls entered stage 4 on Nov. 16, it’s more important than ever to consider all the options to conserve water, including using partially treated water.

According to Randall Hallford, associate professor of physical chemistry and board member for the re-mix water treatment program, the water proposed for use is already processed as well as any water retrieved from a reservoir. So the water brought into the city from the lakes is laden with bacteria, nitrates, salts, minerals, and solid matter. What’s unique about the reuse water is that it will be easier to treat and there will be an adequate quantity to work with.

“All drinking water is derived from wastewater,” Hallford said. “Every drink of municipal water is processed from the reuse water of the city above it.”

The treatment process is also less expensive.

Because the reuse water is highly clarified, it only contains dissolved chemicals and bacteria rather than various types of viruses, protozoans or parasites. So, the chemical treatment takes care of the bacteria and the reverse osmosis will treat the more threatening dissolved chemicals.

“It will be safe, cheaper to treat and readily available,” Hallford said. “All these reduce our cost and distress in a drought.”

Reported by Brent Deeb, Austin Quintero and Claneisha Gomes

Ken Johnson KAUZ Chief Meteorologist

Darron Leiker City Manager

Daniel Nix Public Utilities Operations Manager

Russell Schreiber Director of Public Works

City experts discuss water with students at campus panel The newspaper practicum class held a panel discussion Nov. 20 in the Shawnee Theatre of the Clark Student Center with city officials to talk about the ongoing drought and how the city and the university are collaborating to conserve water. For the full-text version, visit thewichitan.com.

Schreiber – An important thing to add, is that the pipeline is temporary, and we also have a permanent reuse project. We sized the pipe so we can use it in the permanent project. Of that $13 million, $6 or $6.5 million is pipe cost that we will recover.

Q: What is it going to take for residents to realize that this is a drought disaster? What will happen if we do not take the necessary steps to help conserve?

Q: How do you think the current drought will affect MSU recruiting?

A: Leiker - Folks realize how dire this situation is and it’s evident by the water they’re helping us conserve. In an average year, we treat and produce 8 billion gallons of water and we’re on track to hit probably about 6 or 6.5 billion, maybe even less than that.

So we think we’ll save about 2 billion gallons that we would normally use so that shows that people really understand and are doing a good job out there to conserve water and helping us within this situation.

Q: So will 2 billion gallons a year prevent us from going into the fifth stage?

A: Leiker- No, we cannot conserve ourselves out of this drought. It’s impossible, but keep in mind we can’t control how much water goes in those lakes and how much water comes out through evaporation. We can only control how much we pull out.

Q: What is it going to take for students to realize that what is going on can affect them? Will they have additional water charges in their tuition fees?

A: Leiker - Ultimately, students will be affected down the line because as water gets more expensive for MSU and they receive impacts to athletic fields and such, those costs will be passed on to students.

Q: Where does the money for the pipeline come from?

A: Leiker – The way our budget works is that we have a water fund that we keep separate. It’s like a separate checking account from other city funds.

We operate the water fund as a business fund, or as an enterprise fund. All the water bills citizens and businesses’ pay, supports the operation and maintenance of the water fund. We do not use property tax money, state money or grant money. We issued some bonds for $13 million that will be paid off over 20 years or so. To bring in the additional revenue, we raised retail water rates about 5 percent this summer.

A: Leiker – With water restrictions it is difficult for Dr. Rogers to recruit students or Darron Leiker to recruit new businesses because they say, ‘Where’s the water?’ That’ll change. This drought will end and we will get back into the pattern to where we recruit.

We’re trying to make sure we have water for the people that live here and the businesses here and MSU, but it does add some difficulty to it.

Q: Would the city be able to help ensure MSU’s playing grounds were kept up to standards to deter them from having to travel to play at a separate venue?

A: Leiker – I would advise my council to not assist because we are selling about 2 billion gallons less of water than we used to, so that’s taken a huge hit.

Therefore, we’re having to take care of other needs such as replacing water lines when they break and pay people to work on them. For us to take money out of that system to help MSU would be difficult.

Q: Would the city ever consider well water like MSU did?

A: Nix – We have considered it, but the issue with that is we’re sitting on a spotty aquifer called the Seymour Aquifer and the water quality in it is very poor and the volume is very limited. To supply a city the size of Wichita Falls would take a huge well field between 250-350 wells, you would have to own all that property and our estimate would be about 3,000 acres to create the well field, plus you have to have water under it and with that spotty Seymour Aquifer it would be hard to do. While it looks good and sounds good on paper it doesn’t pan out financially for the city.

“I don’t shower as long as I used to. When I wash dishes, I put the water in a container and then rinse from another container.”

BERNARD PETERS SOPHOMORE, SCULPTURE

4B | Dec. 4, 2013 | SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE |

$362,600

What it cost to implement improvements to Cypress Water Treatment Plant

TIMELINE 2013

New filtration system awaiting state approval

February | Wichita Falls put on list of a communities that could run out of water within 180 days; Wichita Falls enters stage 3 Aug. 2 | Water reuse project officially commenced Aug. 16 | Contractor arrived to begin plans

BRENT DEEB AND AUSTIN QUINTERO REPORTERS

D

Aug. 23 | First pipe hit the ground

aniel Nix would love, singlehandedly, to solve the water shortage problem in Wichita Falls. But as he said in a New York Times interview last spring, the solution isn’t going to be simple or inexpensive.

“You can’t go buy a rain,” he told Audrey White for the Feb. 7 article.

However, he also said the city has some innovative plans to begin using water more efficiently, including reusing partially treated water as part of a new treatment process that involves additional chemical and biological processes and filtration.

“Wichita Falls droughts are on 1012 year intervals,” Nix, the city’s public works operations manager, said. “After each drought we take everything we’ve learned and begin planning for the next one. We’re always improving.”

Sept. 5 | City receives approval from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Sept. 25 | Work progressed to the area east of Fairway behind the Lake Wichita Dam Oct. 3 | Pipe installed from the Cypress Water Treatment Plant up to the Lake Wichita/Lake Road Staging Area Oct. 10 | Pipe was installed from the Cypress plant to the Lake Wichita Spillway/Holiday Creek Drainage Channel Oct. 24 | Pipe was installed from the Cypress Water Treatment plant to Lake Wichita and into Holliday Creek up to the Champions Course at Weeks Park Oct. 31 | The staging areas have moved past the Champions Course at Weeks Park to Hamilton Park and the Edwards Staging Area Nov. 5 | Proposal of Cypress Water Treatment Plant Improvements ($362,600) approved by Council Nov. 14 | Pipe installed from the Cypress Water Treatment Plant/Johnson Rd. Staging Area, to the Williams Park Staging Area; Work at the Cypress Water Treatment Plant Flow Control Vault began

“The best cure for a drought is rain. It cuts usage and drops the flat line.

Pray for rain.”

To slow or prevent further decline into the drought, the PubDANIEL NIX lic Works Department PUBLIC WORKS OPERATIONS MANAGER and the Water Resources Commission initiated a water reuse project. The project is designed to transfer treated wastewater from the River Road Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Cypress Water Treatment Plant.

This past spring, a $14 million plant in Big Spring, Texas, the first of its kind in the United States and similar to the one being built in Wichita Falls, began turning treated wastewater into drinking water with about 2 million gallons of it being distributed daily to the Midland-Odessa area.

Now, Wichita Falls officials are mov-

Nov. 22 | Pipe installed from the Cypress Water Treatment Plant Flow Control Vault through Williams Park, up to the Red River Waste Water Treatment Plant fence line

2014 January | Testing proposed to begin; awaiting approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

15

12 9

WATER REUSE PROJECT

Mid-year | Daniel Nix tells Texas Tribune worst long-range predictions show Wichita Falls will be out of water

WICHITA FALLS RAINFALL

Wichita Falls Big Spring

Abnormally dry Moderate drought Severe drought Extreme drought Exceptional drought SOURCE: NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER

The area around Wichita Falls is at the highest level of drought. Big Spring was the first city to establish a water reclamation plant. ing ahead with the testing of the new facility, hoping to receive state authority to begin using it in 2014.

“We took samples and did analysis at River Road before we ever submitted the idea,” Nix said. “The quality of the treated wastewater is actually higher than that of Lake Kemp.”

After being transferred to the Cypress facility, the treated wastewater will be sent through the reverse osmosis system and introduced into the stream of water from Lake Kickapoo and Lake Arrowhead. All three sources will then be treated conventionally and used as the city’s water supply.

“This is brand new innovation,” Nix said. “This type of process wasn’t even standardized 40 years ago, and up until 10 or 15 years ago, it was still considered taboo.”

Nix said even now, there are no regulations for this type of treatment. He said the Public Works Department is

working with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to develop a set of rules to help protect the public health. Following the testing, the city will seek further approval to began utilization for the $13 million project.

“We had to decide between what was expensive, and what would be most beneficial to the city in the long run,” Nix said. “Every other option we looked at conserved less water for more cost.”

Officials hope the treatment plant can to pump out its usual revenue of 10 to 15 million gallons of water per day.

However, of the 10 million gallons, five will come from the lakes and five from treated wastewater — cutting the city’s lake use in half.

Although the project is on schedule, Nix still faces scrutiny for Wichita Falls being found on the TCEQ’s list of water system entities that would run out of water within six months back in March.

However, Nix explained there wasn’t any other category to select when notifying the agency that the city had entered stage 3, but that the city has since been removed from that category.

Nix said using projections and the information gathered from the current drought, the WRC has thought of new procedures to help prevent future water restrictions.

One of the procedures would mean that the unused water from Lake Kemp (previously sent through the reverse osmosis system) would be cut off and stored. Another procedure involves dumping the plant’s excess water back into the lakes instead of the Wichita River.

“We are continuously evaluating systems to see where we can save additional water,” Owen said.

“Even with all this in place,” Nix said, “the best cure for a drought is rain.

It cuts usage and the drops flat line. Pray for rain.”

SOURCE: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ASSOCIATION

6

Trend of average rainfall, -0.0004/month

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| SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE | Dec. 4, 2013 | 5B

7.5

Million gallons of water treated, tested and redistributed by water-reuse project

STAGE 4 • Total ban on all outdoor irrigation/watering • It is unlawful to wash sidewalks, driveways or structures.

• A home foundation may be watered using only soaker hose, from 8 p.m. to midnight, on the designated day to water for the property.

• Large industries will be required to conduct an internal water audit to see if there are additional water conservation efforts they can undertake and submit a report to City Staff within 60 days. Changes must be implemented by the time combined lake levels reach 20 percent.

• The surcharge triples for any amount of water used over 10 units. The charge will be $3 per unit used over 10 units.

This charge increases as additional units are used.

• All hydrant meters for contractor use will be pulled and service suspended until conditions return to a Drought Emergency status.

• It shall be unlawful to irrigate any and all turf areas on golf courses including greens, tee boxes, and fairways using water from the City system.

• The city will continue an aggressive public relations and education program.

• All stage 1, 2, and 3 water restrictions and requirements remain in place unless modified by stage 4 restrictions and requirements.

GRAPHIC BY SAM CROFT | THE WICHITAN

Flocculation, the last phase of the new water reuse project, removes contaminants from water. A flocculant, such as alum or ferrix, is introduced into the contaminated water. The flocculant then helps particles group together through a process called particle collision. After particle collision occurs, the newly formed flocs settle, making it easier to filter them from the water using the process of floc sedimentation.

GLOSSARY

Microfiltration filters clean water as it passes through and before entering the reverse osmosis process.

PHOTOS BY BRENT DEEB

Microfiltration filter, a filter used to eliminate all physical matter and bacteria from the water. The filter itself consists of more than 15 million strands with a pore size of approximately 0.1 micron — about 0.000004 of an inch.

Microfiltration | a contaminated fluid is passed through a special poresized membrane to separate microorganisms and suspended particles from process liquid Protozoa | any of a large group of single-celled, usually microscopic, eukaryotic organisms, such as amoebas, ciliates, flagellates and sporozoans Osmosis | the tendency of a fluid, usually water, to pass through a semipermeable membrane into a solution where the solvent concentration is higher, thus equalizing the concentration of materials on either side of the membrane Reverse osmosis | the process in which pure water is produced by forcing waste or saline water through a semipermeable membrane Drought | a period of dry weather, especially a long one that is injurious to crops Wastewater | water that has been used in washing, flushing, manufacturing Irrigation | the artificial application of water to land to assist in the production of crops Coagulate | to change from a fluid to a thickened mass Flocculate | to form flocculent masses, as a cloud or chemical precipitate; form aggregated or compound masses of particles Dissolved particles | substances that dissolve in water and have been absorbed Suspended particles | substances that do not dissolve in water Texas Commission on Environmental Quality | Staffs drought information hot line during business hours to answer questions from the public: 800-447-2827. Conducts weekly meetings across programs to provide updates, monitor status and forecasts, and address concerns. Sends targeted news releases in areas where water rights have been curtailed to provide information and encourage conservation. Actively participates with other state agencies on Joint Information Council and Drought Preparedness Taskforce

“I take shorter showers, and we stopped watering our plants with tap water. We collect rain water. When I was in the military I saw what kind of effect a lack of water has.”

KARI CROWL FRESHMAN, SOCIAL WORK

SOURCE: WWW.WICHITAFALLSTX.GOV

Over the last 50 years rainfall has decreased on average .0004 inches per month. | 1931-1940 The Dust Bowl. 1939 was the worst with only 18.31 inches of rainfall. | 1949-1957 The Dry Spell of the ‘50s lasted eight years. | 2011 was the driest year yet with only 12.97 inches of rainfall recorded. | 2013, third year of the current drought, the second worst drought in history.

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6B | Dec. 4, 2013 | SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE |

28.3

Percent of capacity of Lake Arrowhead used for city’s water supply; Lake Kickapoo: 32.1 percent

AQUIFER any geological formation containing or conducting groundwater, especially one that supplies the water for wells, springs | RESERVOIR a natural or artificial place where water is collected and stored for use, especially water for supplying a community, irrigating land, furnishing power | WATER TABLE text | WELL a spring or natural source of water

City needs more than prayers

University geologist: It never hurts to think in terms of saving water ETHAN METCALF EDITOR

“I’ve been using sink water in a tub that I rinse dishes in to also water plants. I cut my showers short.”

ROXANNE BYRNE SENIOR, SOCIOLOGY

D

espite the cyclical occurrence of droughts in the arid North Texas region, a great deal of misunderstanding still surrounds the drought and the effect it has on area residents. Wichita Falls officially entered a stage 4 drought disaster on Nov. 16 and city officials are already drafting restrictions for a stage 5 as conditions continue to worsen.

The “Pray for Rain” signs seen decorating lawns throughout the city seem to indicate that once it rains, the drought will end. However, according to Rebecca Dodge, associate professor of geology, the rain simply won’t help until the city sees a significant amount of precipitation for an extended period of time.

“It’s going to take a long time to make up for all of the losses over the past several years because it’s cumulative,” Dodge said.

Dodge said a drought causes the underground water levels, known as aquifers, to drop. This lowers the water table, leading to dried-up and unappealing lakes.

“We’re in a situation now where so many of our drinking water reservoirs–the water table–has dropped,” Dodge said. “The lake levels are really low, and until we can bring up the water table regionally, those lakes won’t refill. Water can pour into the lakes as runoff and rainfall, but it will sink down until it spreads out and gets the water table up.”

Jonathan Price, assistant professor of geology, explained that those underground sources of water have been dry for so long that any rainfall just gets absorbed into the ground before it can even begin to fill the lakes.

“It looks like solid material but you’ve got this big open sponge, if you will, that just needs to be filled with water before you can start releasing it back into the system so it’ll end up in the reservoir,” Price said.

Dodge said the sponge effect described by Price is precisely what has kept the lakes so barren. Wichita Falls needs to play catch up to even begin to see stabilization in the lake levels.

“We need lots and lots of rain to make up for everything that we’ve lost,” Dodge said, “and all this rain that we’ve had recently is going to help, but we’re still at very low lake levels because we’re just playing catch up now trying to replenish the lake levels underground.”

Wichita Falls endured 100 days of 100-degree weather in 2011, breaking the record for most 100-degree days in a year. According to Price, those conditions only worsened the now three year drought.

“When you have 100-degree days, day after day, you’ve removed a lot of the water out of the soil surfaces,” Price said. “So it takes a while to actually see any response from that at all. In fact, I think the last rainfall didn’t really gain us anything in the reservoirs.”

WATER TABLE

Another problem according to Price is that the rain must fall in the right area to benefit the city.

“If it rains here in Wichita Falls but it doesn’t rain to the west and southwest of us, particularly the southwest of us, it doesn’t do us any good,” Price said. “Any water that falls in Wichita Falls is going to end up draining down into the Red River and that helps out Lake Texoma, but it doesn’t do a darn thing for us.”

Due to these issues, conservation has become a hot topic in the region, and for good reason according to Price.

“In a semi-arid region like this, I think water has to be something we should all have on our mind at some point,” Price said. “It never hurts to look at water and think in terms of saving it, and certainly students have an opportunity to engage in that.”

Price said the drought could even have the positive effect of making citizens more aware of their water use.

“I hate to say it, but a lot of stressors like this actually end up with very positive outcomes because people are more aware of what their limitations are and we’re able to plan for it in the future,” Price said.

Dodge said there will always be another drought because of our climate, meaning that learning from

JONATHAN PRICE Price earned his master’s degree from Baylor University and completed his doctorate in geology at the University of Oklahoma. He now teaches upper-level courses on mineralogy, groundwater hydrology and the characterization of nearsurface water and its contaminants among other courses at MSU.

our current predicament will make it easier to cope with the next inevitable drought.

“It’s important to understand that what’s happening now is going to happen again,” Dodge said.

“We can be better prepared next time if we understand how to conserve … our resources better.”

One such aspect citizens may not be aware of until faced with this adversity is that city officials must prioritize water allocations to provide for the most important services such as fire fighting.

“That’s why water conservation right now is so important,” Dodge said. “When the city looks at water resources, they have to be able to fill the water towers around town to a certain level to ensure that the fire department has pressure at the fire hydrants.

That’s one of their cutoffs.”

Dodge said if the water levels in the tower drop closer to that cutoff, city officials will enact tougher restrictions.

“So that’s what has caused the restrictions,” Dodge said. “Not just that the lake levels have gotten low, but that they can’t keep the water towers as full as they need to if they keep letting people use as much water as they want.”

WELLS

Citizens and businesses alike have started using water wells to alleviate some of the demand on municipal water, but using such wells may come at a hefty environmental price.

“What you do when you pump an underground water source is you lower the water table as a function of using the pump,” Price said. “You get a large enough pump and you can lower your neighbor’s water table too, which is not cool but certainly legal.”

According to Price, Texas law permits citizens to tap into underground water sources as long as it’s under their property and it’s for a beneficial use.

“If you put a well on your property you’re welcome to use that water as long as you can demonstrate that you’re using it for something useful,” Price said. “I don’t know exactly where the boundaries are on that. “

REBECCA DODGE Dodge received her bachelor of science in geology from the University of Texas at Arlington before earning her master’s and doctorate at the Colorado School of Mines. Her instruction at MSU focuses on hydrology and energy conservation in environmental science.

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| SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE | Dec. 4, 2013 | 7B

Number of gallons per minute produced by one well used to water athletic fields

Golf courses react to stage 4 restrictions KAYLA SIMS REPORTER

O

fficials at the Wichita Falls Country Club, where the golf team practices, have no qualms about the stage 4 water restrictions, and officials at other courses don’t seem worried either.

Golf coach Jeff Ray said the Wichita Falls Country Club has drilled water wells to help with the watering problem.

The golf team will not have to relocate from the country club to another golf course to practice.

Brenna Moore, junior in nursing, said, “The team and I are very blessed and privileged to get to play out there.

The country club is using well water right now and the greens are still in great shape. In the future, if we don’t get rain, it will be a big problem.”

If it comes down to it and the golf team does have to go to another course, they would be allowed to use Wind Creek Golf Course for as long as necessary.

Wind Creek Golf Course Manager Michael Bessette said, “The MSU golf team would be allowed to practice on the golf course. We would even gladly take them and let them use Wind Creek Golf Course as their home course.”

One golfer doesn’t seem too fond of

the idea.

Moore said, “Personally, I wouldn’t like practicing at Sheppard. It’s a nice course and not bad to play, but it doesn’t compare to the country club.”

Ray said since the golf team only has one tournament in the city, stage 4 restrictions on the golf courses don’t have any effect on tournament play.

The golf team is safe during the colder months because of its indoor golf room on campus.

“We are able to hit, chip and putt, as well as work on our swings with a simulator,” Moore said.

One of the stage 4 restrictions is a total ban of water use for nonessential purposes in addition to a limit on outdoor irrigation. The local golf courses in Wichita Falls are not able to water anything during the drought disaster.

However, Wind Creek Golf Course on Sheppard Air Force Base might have more lenient rules.

Bessette said the water source Wind Creek uses is from a water recycling plant just north of the base.

Since Wind Creek doesn’t use the same water source as other local courses, people in the community are wondering what this will mean in terms of maintaining the greens.

“As long as water is sent to us from the plant, we will have water to use, however, the amount of water that

High-priority facilities work to conserve water COURTNEY BETTS REPORTER

W

ith lake levels declining and the city at the beginning of the stage 4 drought emergency, even high-priority facilities such as United Regional Health Care System are taking steps to conserve water despite the lack of restrictions.

“The City of Wichita Falls has not entered into negotiations with United Regional about restrictions yet simply because in our drought plan, health care is at the very top of the priority list,” Daniel Nix, city public operations manager said.

United Regional partners with educational programs on campus and provides students with an additional learning environment.

“United Regional provides numerous learning opportunities for the respiratory care students,” Jennifer Gresham, department chair of the

respiratory care program, said. “Students can apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired from the hospital in the classroom.”

Students in these health care programs see first-hand how important water use is to everyone in a hospital.

“United Regional shouldn’t have any restrictions put on them because a huge concern in hospitals are bacteria controls,” Hailey McIntosh, senior in respiratory care, said. “Hospitals aren’t the cleanest places — sick people are in and out everyday.”

United Regional also has arrangements with various campus programs.

The students in those programs stressed how important it is to keep health services operating.

Amber Delozier, junior in nursing, said, “Every time {water} is used, it’s for a purpose. It’s either to help save a patient or to help prevent hospital-acquired infections.”

PHOTO BY LAUREN ROBERTS / WICHITAN

Kynze Mann, sophomore in radiology, takes a chip shot during a practice round at the Wichita Falls Country Club Nov. 5. we get will determine the priorities of where we use the water on the course,” Bessette said.

Membership is not a huge concern for Wind Creek Golf Course now that stage 4 is in effect.

“We will most likely see an increase at the beginning due to the fact we

still have water while the other courses will be extremely limited, so the golf course will be able to stay in better shape longer, ” Bessette said.

Bessette also said the base is part of the city, so officials on the base follow the city’s regulations in addition to base regulations.

“I don’t shower regularly.

If I didn’t do anything that day, and didn’t get dirty, then what’s the point in wasting water?”

MARK CAMPBELL SENIOR, MASS COMMUNICATION

PHOTOS BY LAUREN ROBERTS / WICHITAN

Rachael Romero-Maxie, RN at United Regional, uses sanitizer to clean her hands.

“Unless there is a large spill or bodily fluids we typically use sanitizer, otherwise we will wash our hands.”, Romero-Maxie said.

Derrick Pierce loads sheets into a industral sized washing machice in the United Regional laundry facilities Nov. 27.

8B | Dec. 4, 2013 | SPECIAL DROUGHT ISSUE |

DECEMBER 5TH 6 PM - 8 PM

The Shoe Closet • Tangles Salon • Dove Jeweler’s • Jason’s Deli • Gabby’s • Edward Jones • Serendipity • Ganache Cupcake Lounge • Harvest Boutique • Holder’s Jewelry • MacTech • Pure • Annie Jewel and Charlie’s Kids

PARKER SQUARE

WHERE FAMILY AND FASHION COME TOGETHER