According to a Greenwire article (available through subscription) the Texas drought has resulted in the Ogallala Aquifer’s biggest decline in 25 years.
The 16-county water district, which stretches across the Texas Panhandle, reported that its wells showed an average decline of 2.56 feet in the Ogallala Aquifer last year, the third-largest decline in the district’s 61-year history and three times the average rate in the last 10 years.
In Oklahoma, a second water district — the eight-county North Plains Groundwater Conservation District — registered a similar large decline in the Ogallala, finding that the average drop was 2.9 feet last year.
Farmers have been restricted on how much water they can take from the aquifer.
San Antonio has a similar situation with the Edwards Aquifer. If the Edwards goes one foot lower, San Antonio will enforce stage three restrictions. While in Uvalde, the City Council will consider doubling the water rates to force people to pay attention and conserve. And private water wells are going dry.
Dry conditions lead to more water woes
Uvalde’s conservation measures might soon hit San Antonio, too, as aquifer nears Stage 3 level.
Farmers are canceling their fall crops because they don’t have enough irrigation rights to make it through the season.
I have not yet seen any restrictions on fracking water.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Typical irrigated section in Oglalla area uses 1000 gallons per MINUTE. 24 HOURS a day. 180 days per year. That’s enough water for 120 45000 barrel cleveland frac jobs a year. Most of the frac area is rough country with no ag use for irrigation. Some people don’t like the fact that all this water is “wasted” on feed grains for cattle and hogs in the first place. At any rate, there is plenty of water to frac in the panhandle.