A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water

[douglas9]

Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime to no effect. But it still did not prepare her for the night last month when she turned on the tap and discovered the tiny town where she had made her home for 35 years was out of water.

"The day that we ran out of water I turned on my faucet and nothing was there and at that moment I knew the whole of Barnhart was down the tubes," she said, blinking back tears. "I went: 'dear God help us. That was the first thought that came to mind."

Across the south-west, residents of small communities like Barnhart are confronting the reality that something as basic as running water, as unthinking as turning on a tap, can no longer be taken for granted.

Three years of drought, decades of overuse and now the oil industry's outsize demands on water for fracking are running down reservoirs and underground aquifers. And climate change is making things worse.

In Texas alone, about 30 communities could run out of water by the end of the year, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/11/texas-tragedy-ample-oil-no-water

[bravenak]

1. This is scary.

By the end of the year no water? They need better government.

[snappyturtle]

3. ..........

[Ed Suspicious]

4. Good god, man.

[fasttense]

5. Really nuclear? Like in Japan?

You have got to be kidding. When sunlight, wind and ocean currents are free with very little contamination issues.

NO, nuclear, like coal, oil and gas are the horse and buggy corporations trying to avoid being wiped out by the car. Nuclear, coal, oil and gas are dinosaurs just waiting for their extinction moment.

[tom_kelly]

6. No worry

the Bushies have plenty of water to sell. They always come through!

[theaocp]

7. Come to Detroit

We've got plenty of space, opportunity, AND water!

[Katashi_itto]

8. What stands out is her response, "I went: 'dear God help us. That was the first thought that came to

mind". That thinking...."God Will Save us..."

Instead of hiring politicians that will defend them. They continue electing the likes of Steve Perry, Stockman, etc.

It's Darwinism at work, and teabaggers call us Sheeple...