Water Problems in Texas Essay

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

The Texas Constitution clearly states that investment in a water storage project is necessary “to encourage the optimum regional development of systems built for the filtration, treatment, and transmission of water and wastewater”. This statement gives justification for spending tax revenue on this project, as water is a basic human necessity. In addition, the Texas Constitution provides grounds for reasonable expenditure on the needy or disabled in Article 3, Section 51. These provisions directly impact citizen’s daily lives and leave little room for interpretation.

With 1,400 miles of water and 9 states using it- water is running out fast. Farmers that use the water are saying that they have more legal rights to use the water since they are growing food to give to everyone. Although, cities are needing water to keep their people alive as well.

Texas sits on the Mexican border to the United States so some may argue that immigration is an issue in the state. Mostly, it is the Republicans that bring up the cons of immigration, listing safety as a prime example. But, the biggest fear to them should be the voice of the immigrants. Immigration is booming in Texas and it shows no means of slowing down. Texas will become state but it will take some time because it will take sometime for the newer generation of voters to truly understand the importance of civil engagement. Texas has 4 of the 11 major growing cities in the United States as of 2015 where 85% of the growth is concentrated in urban cities. (Will, 1) Houston being one of the major cities is especially important because their population is 69.2% minority. So, when the minorities realize the importance of civil and political engagement, they’ll start to vote and Texas will see the change it so desperately

On March 27, 2014, Wade Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle reported “The Water Revolution California needs.” California is having a severe drought. Wade Graham tells his readers that California is in a serious water crisis. The state of California needs to make strict changes to how water is being distributed amongst farmers and residents. Before all of California’s ecological system is destroyed. Wade Graham believes that water should be priced higher; that way people aren’t wasting water. Water is a limited resource that should never be wasted, and is probably California’s most valuable resource. Unfortunately, many people waste water; instead of conserve water especially when we live in the state of California where we are subject to

Cobler, P. (2018, January 24). Drought returns to Texas. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/24/texas-drought-ravages-panhandle/

Currently California is facing a water shortage. The issue has been addressed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. He called for all state agencies to find the way to help in the statewide water shortage. This is California’s third consecutive year of drought and last spring and summer was the worst of the season because it had the lowest amount of water recorded and California’s reservoirs were at their lowest point as well which did not help in the water shortage. Many agencies have been acquired to find possible solutions to the water shortage, the Department of Water Resources has been directed to find solutions to the problem as well as asking people to conserve water.

Over thousands of years water has been a very valuable element in our everyday lives. Now we are being faced with a shortage of water affecting not only us, but future generations as well. The drought has become an extreme issue that has affected the United States. For example, in Texas the dry spell has had an impact in families, politics and law, religion, health care, and mass media.

Scarcity occurs when the amount people desire exceeds the amount available at a zero price according to William McEachern (5). Therefore, the state of Texas is in need of developing a solution to the issue of water scarcity. Texas has had its share of droughts throughout the years however, with those droughts a reduction of water consumption hinders communities and especially large-acreage crops. So, some suggestions will be addressed in order to encourage further water management plans in order to avoid, Texas from drying up.

Imagine walking into your house after being outside on a scorching summer’s day. Beads of sweat drip down your face, and you are completely parched. You turn on your faucet for a glass of water, but nothing comes out. This may sound like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie scene, but it can soon become a reality for those living on the west coast. Decades of unsustainable water practices have led to record low levels of water resources across the western states of the United States. Michelle Nijhuis of National Geographic reports that the western states of California, Nevada, and Arizona face a great deal of issues, due to the fact that their past system of water irrigation has become unsustainable. The first main factor behind this

In 2011 Texas entered into a drought that was the worst the state had seen since modern record keeping began 1895. During the driest months of this drought, the water level of two of the largest water resources for two-thirds of the state were measured at 28 percent less than the average water level. In summer of 2013 central Texas received numerous rains, and many people believed it was a sign that the drought had eased, Unfortunately Texas was far from out of the drought. Today Texas water levels barley sit above one-third full. This is a big problem for Texans everywhere because, Texas uses water for everything from its drinking water, to its agriculture, to its recreational activities. According to the TWDB by 2060 the drought will have cost Texas $116 billion dollars in income loses, 1.1 million job losses, and a decrease in population of about 1.4 million people.

When referring to Arizona’s water Kris Mayes, chairwoman of the state’s utility regulatory panel once said, “How do you say just how valuable water is in an arid state like Arizona?” she said. “It’s like the credit-card commercial-it’s priceless” (McKinnon). She was right, because in a dry state like Arizona, water is pretty important. To say water is ‘pretty important’ for the world is an understatement. We use water to function. And when we think of water we think of saving it. Keep the faucets from dripping or turn off the water while brushing your teeth. There are numerous tips for water conservation, but people don’t often think of the damage that is already done. Damages like ‘dead zones’. Dead zones in the ocean have been around for

The use of water has become increasingly contentious due to an increase in the population that shares a decreasing amount of water (Schaible & Aillery, 2012). Water remains Florida’s most plentiful natural resource (Roper & Lamm, 2014) but is at risk as the agriculture industry and Floridians demand increases for a variety of uses including landscape irrigation, commerce, recreation, and agriculture (Odera et al., 2013). While there is a need to share this vital resource, without appropriate water resources the agricultural industry will be unable to increase or even sustain current production (Lamm, Owens, Telg, & Lamm, 2015).

Water covers approximately seventy percent of the Earth surface, but less than one percent of that is available for human use. The world must share this small amount for agricultural, domestic, commercial industrial and environment needs. Across the globe, water consumption has tripled in the last fifty years. Managing the supply and availability of water is one of the most critical natural resource issues facing the United States and

We saw the hottest March on record in the contiguous US and July was the hottest single month ever recorded in those lower 48 states…the frequency and intensity of some very costly types of extreme events are likely to worsen with climate change, as temperatures continue to rise and affect weather patterns…” was stated by the NRDC. With the geographical image (See figure 3) one can see the record braking heat and snow here within Texas. The urgency of taking action becomes clearer with every new scientific study made. I can personally support the dramatic weather changes throughout the seasons in Texas. I first moved into San Antonio a few years ago and immediately noticed the warm Texas weather. I begin to perceive the warm summer days commence to feel hotter than usual as for the winter season only last for a month and jump right into summer again. Throughout the seasons one does feel the weather as it should be during the season, but here in Texas one day the weather is extremely hot and jumps into low temperatures the next day.