Drought is taking toll on Texas aquifers

[white cloud]

Come on Perry........Pray


By Steve Campbell

[e-mail]

The ferocious Texas drought is clobbering crops, thinning out cattle herds, decimating wildlife, and drying up streams and reservoirs, but it's also wreaking havoc deep underground, where the state's aquifers are dropping at a precipitous rate, experts say.

The dip in groundwater levels is forcing many rural homeowners who depend on residential wells to spend $500 to $1,000 to have their pumps lowered or, worse, $7,500 or more to have deeper wells drilled.

Lee Weaver knew he was facing a serious problem when he watched his lawn sprinkler dwindle to a meager squirt at his home south of Fort Worth.



Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/07/24/3241673/drought-is-taking-toll-on-texas.html#ixzz1T3YqgQlM




JIMSPLACE 2 comments collapsed Collapse Expand There are some things that can be controlled, some can't or won't be. When the experts say the gas drilling industry is only responsible for about 10% of the usage of our aquifers, that is a tremendous amount of water. That amounts to 1 gallon out of every 10 for one industry. If 10% of the water is used by the gas drilling industry and that water is contaminated forever, how much is remaining after 10 years?

When we water our yards, the water will evaporate or run off into the storm sewer and back to the rivers where it can be reused. The evaporated water from our yards is pure water and will come back as clean rain water somewhere to replenish the aquifers.

The 1 to 5 million gallons of water used to frack only (1) well by the gas drillers goes underground and is lost forever or comes back out with the gas and so contaminated it must be injected into a disposal well 9000 feet underground where they say it will never be seen again. The water is gone forever. There are few industries that can literally destroy water. The gas drilling is one of them.

HOW MUCH IS WATER WORTH WHEN IT'S GONE?

PRICELESS!!!


Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/07/24/3241673/drought-is-taking-toll-on-texas.html#ixzz1T3YGAorY

[sonias]

1. It's killing us - we need rain so badly

We can't live without water. Electricity and allegedly "cheap natural gas" from fracking isn't going to do us any good if we don't have any water.

[winston65]

2. what's going on down here in Johnson county is

a tragic crime. The gas drillers have full sway. The pad site in my neighborhood is being doubled in size, more wells, more fracking. Constant racket, day and night. The city, county and school district have totally rolled over for the drillers and the damage is being seen. Record heat, drought and water being stolen from us for fracking. And it's true, fracking water is gone forever. No limits on all the at the amount of water. being used. My wife and me tried to tell these people that the drilling was going to destroy our lives, but no one would listen. No, they were too busy drooling over the lousy $100.00 bonus they got for signing a lease, with a promise of a future pittance in 'royalties'. What they did not know was that the city, county and school district had already sold them out. Do not believe the crap you hear on tv and from the governor. Gas drilling is turning Johnson county into a gas producing desert. What are these idiots going to do when there is no more water? Yeah, Texas exceptionalism.

[white cloud]

3. Get the word out

Maybe Sharon Wilson could help. She needs your information.

Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS
txsharon.blogspot.com/ - CachedSimilar
Jul 18, 2011 – Sharon Wilson EARTHWORKS' Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project Organizer. Posted by TXsharon at 8:43 AM 0 comments · Links to this post ...

[ashling]

4. Welcome to DU

good to have another DUer in Johnson County. We moved to Cleburne about a year ago.

[sonias]

5. And pipes and roads too

AAS 7/25/11

Heat, drought taking toll on pipes, roads

(snip)
Though Central Texas might not be having the catastrophic pavement failure reported in some other superheated parts of the country, the region has not been immune to the effects of the drought and steady triple-digit temperatures, said Lowell Choate , district maintenance engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation.

"This year is worse than usual because of the high heat and lack of moisture," Choate said.

The problems are mostly in the eastern half of the 11-county Austin district, where clay soils in Bastrop and Caldwell counties and the eastern half of Travis and Williamson counties are prone to shrinkage in dry weather and expansion when the rains return.

The drought has meant the development of cracks, some as wide as an inch, along roads in those areas. Choate said TxDOT has "forces that fight it every step of the way," sealing up cracks as quickly as it can.

Rain, rain come again. We promise we'll never ask you to go away again. :)

[sonias]

6. And giving us more rabies too

Texas Tribune 7/26/11
Drought May Be Causing Rabies Spike in Texas

The drought is not only scorching lawns and sparking wildfires across Texas. The number of animal rabies cases — particularly among skunks — has more than doubled since this time in 2010 in the Central Texas region, and the increase may be due to the state's nine-month drought, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

During the first six months of 2011, 268 cases of animal rabies were reported in Central Texas, compared to 109 cases reported during the same period last year. And the middle swath of the state is not the only area where animal rabies is on the rise. North Texas, with 151 cases reported since January, also has seen more cases than last year, when the total was 81. Statewide, 591 animal rabies cases were reported during the first six months of this year, compared to 387 cases for the first six months of last year.

"In this time of drought, animals are searching for food and water, which increases the likelihood of interacting with each other and then infecting each other with bites," said DSHS spokeswoman Carrie Williams.

(snip)

No human has been infected with rabies in Texas since 2009, but Williams said that the DSHS is worried about pets that could get bitten by a skunk or other wild animals. She stressed that families with pets need to get their animals vaccinated. "A rabid skunk will display very strange behavior and might wander into the backyard, where the family dog is playing," Williams said.

I think Rick Perry's potential bid for the presidency is also driving all kinds of critters to become rabid for various reasons. Either way, watch out for skunks.

:evilgrin: