For the past 4 summers, the city of Austin has been dealing with a serious drought, and although this summer we have been blessed by a couple of rainstorms, we are nowhere near full recovery from the drought. An article on the Dallas News explains the history of water management and it shines a light on riverside industries’ damage to our environment and water needs.
Over the years the quantity as well as the quality of water has decreased due to businesses’ “Prior Appropriation System” which provides water rights and access determined on seniority. Companies’ as well as farms’ ability to draw large quantities of water is dooming the environment even more than we know. Rice farms have also drained large amounts of water from the lakes. Unfortunately we rely solely on mother nature to provide water for all the bodies of water in central Texas, and thankfully this finally caught the eye of city leaders and has caused them to start acting towards creating better water reservoirs. Smaller cities in central Texas, especially in the west, have started to look for other solutions including recycling treated sewage water because they are so concerned about what the future holds for them in terms of water supply.
The fact that the courts are concentrating on establishing fair usage standards will help out the state overall in my opinion. I agree with DeLuca’s editorial and I’m also really glad I found it to help me understand the history as well as the causes of water supply issues in central Texas.
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