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| Lake Wichita, 3/16/14, after rain yesterday |
There is no doubt water is at the top of everyone's mind here in Wichita Falls. Although we did have a nice rain on March 15, it is way too early to declare victory. Even with the soaking we got yesterday, we are still nearly 2 inches below normal this year and still 30 inches behind over the last three years. So our water woes will continue. You can see by looking at the picture of Lake Wichita at the left, things are still looking pretty grim, although there is more water in the lake than there has been lately.
I am glad to see people finally taking water seriously. In spite of the fact we live in a relatively hot and dry part of the country, people have generally taken a ready source of water for granted. We don't have unlimited water resources and what we have isn't of the best quality. The city of Wichita Falls is the water provider for not only the city, but several other municipalities in the area.
With lake levels standing at around 26%, the situation is dire and people have finally awakened to our reality--and one that is likely to become more common as our climate continues to change (whether you agree that humankind has a hand to play or the change is just part of a natural ebb and flow, the results are the same.) We cannot continue to treat water as an inexhaustible resource. The bottom line is, if it doesn't rain, we're in deep doo-doo.
On Saturday, March 1,
River Bend Nature Center hosted a Save Our Trees workshop, sponsored by the county AgriLife Extension office and the local Texas Master Gardeners. The venue was packed. There was a lot of good information shared which essentially focused on proper pruning and mulching.
On the following Thursday, there were two water-related programs. State Representative James Frank hosted a well-attended water town hall at Midwestern State University. I was pleased that he was very factual and gave the city appropriate credit for the steps they have taken over the past several years so that we were better prepared for this drought than we could have been. He also went over some of the difficulties in managing our water supply--evaporation being the main one. Initially the questions were reasonably on point, but fortunately I had to leave for the next program about the time the more partisan rants started.
Following the water town hall, River Bend was once again the venue for a workshop on greywater harvesting, attended primarily by members of the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist chapter, but along with some other hardy citizens. Attending both the water town hall and the greywater program the same night was tiring. Chris Cornman of
Best Exteriors of North Texas and
Greywater Authority provided a lot of details for those interested in installing their own greywater systems.
Chris will be doing a portion of his presentation again on Thursday, April 17 at 7 AM at a business group. However, guests are welcome, so if you would like to attend, email me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com, and I will add you to the list for that day.
These are all good things, but what are some of the things we should be doing going forward? Here's Penny's take:
- We should never come out of Drought Stage 1 restrictions--we don't have the resources to allow people to use all of the water they want to whenever they want to.
- We need to continue to promote water conservation, all the time.
- Put limits on groundwater use. Texas has different rules for surface versus groundwater use. Basically if you can pump it, you can use it. It is ridiculous to curtail outside watering through the municipal water system but those who can find water can pump all they want--your little pocket of groundwater may be attached to my little pocket and you could suck it all out for non-essential use.
- We should actively encourage replacing landscape with native plantings and drought resistant plants. We are going to lose a lot of trees, even if we have a fairly normal year, with the stress they have been under. We do not need to replace Bradford pear trees with more of the same, even though they are pretty in bloom. Whoever landscaped the house we bought a couple of years ago planted nonfruiting mulberry trees. They have nice shade, but are water hogs and destroy water distribution pipes. I am not going to take them out because of their shade, but when they bite the dust, something more drought tolerant is going in their place.
- The city should use native, drought resistant plantings on the medians and in the parks. I personally think the planted medians are worth the time, effort and money, but is the way to go.
- Give incentives for installing water conserving fixtures and appliances.
- Continue to provide information on rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse and ensure they remain permitted within the city limits.
- As the city and Chamber actively recruit new businesses, their water use ought to be a prime consideration.
- No, the city population doesn't need to grow fast or a lot. This is going to be a big problem with Texas' stated philosophy of pulling in all comers. The state only needs to read its own water plan to figure that out--basic math works, unless you are talking about supporting a burgeoning population on water resources that can't keep up with the population we have. I recently read an Edward Abbey quote: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."
- Encourage permaculture and encourage people to convert water-sucking lawns to native plantings and gardens (we might as well tackle food security while we're at it.)
- Continue the water reuse project. Many people are crying about drinking "potty water," but the bottom line is we all drink potty water. The water we pull from the lakes for our water came from someone else's effluent. Our effluent has been going downstream and other people have been drinking it for years.
- Encourage composting and mulching. If people would add just a little bit of compost to their plantings every year, the need for water would decrease significantly (I had a number for this, but of course I can't find it now.) Remember, if you have a compost cart pickup, you can get two loads of compost free each year.
We don't live on Dune (if you never read the book, it's one everyone should read), but we can conserve now or pay later.
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