The New Oil?

It is amazing how things just happen to fall into place for Mr. Pickens. Yup, the laws just changed in his favor. So now he gets to draw down sections of the Ogallala aquifer so the thirsty citizens of Dallas will get their water. The Ogallala is huge. Look at the map with the attached article. By law, he can only draw down 50% of the water in his area. The Ogallala is a big area and it is roughly a huge gravel and sand formation under three states. The aquifer is interconnected. So if his straw is in Roberts County, TX, eventually it sucks down water from Nebraska. That state relies on the water for irrigation. A lot. Ever fly over western Nebraska and see all the circles of green from center pivot irrigation over what is essentially semi-arid desert. Yes, all that could be drained. In fact, Colorado farmers, some cities and some trailer courts had to shut down their wells two years ago because the wells were draining the Platte river and tributaries water delivery to Kansas and Nebraska. The river bottoms were gravel and the upper aquifers around the rivers were basically being drained by the wells as they pulled water and chanelized the ground water aquifers, taking basically river water. In Colorado, it was not great water because of high nitrate content. Too much fertilizer (anhydrous ammonia) had been applied over the years and the nitrate content of the water was at times over three times the drinking water standard. (Not that anyone living in a mobile home park could be pregnant or have children under one year old where the drinking water standard was set up to prevent “blue baby syndrome”, where the fetus or young child cannot metabolize oxygen. Nope, never happen. Keep in mind in Colorado these mobile home parks are almost always immigrant farm workers and I am sure the owners will always provide the Hispanic workers with drinking water warnings in Spanish.) Anyhow, basically, T. Boone Pickens can pull water in Texas that actually came from river drainage in Colorado that Coloradoans can’t use because it interferes with water rights in Kansas and Nebraska.

As if an aquifer cannot be pulled down faster than thought. In Douglas County, CO, the aquifer was supposed to a multi-generational water supply. South Denver has grown so much and so many palatial McMansions, with their huge lawns have been built, that the aquifer is dropping almost 50 feet per year. At that rate it will be dry in 50-75 years. Nothing like owning a home and not being able to have water. Now the State is scrambling to find water so homeowners can have water. Just imagine a drought in South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska and maybe Oklahoma. The Ogallala requires recharge from rain. It replenishes 0.1% of its volume per year from rainwater drainage. That’s maybe 100,000,000 gallons per year. With Texas water law, El Paso can buy water from North Texas is they can pump it there. Houston can by water. How long before the aquifer cannot keep up with domestic water supply needs? An average family uses 326,000 gallons per year. You do the math and then consider that agricultural pumping in Nebraska has already lowered the aquifer. When you pit even thousands of farmers against thirsty cities, who can afford the best lawyers? Who will get the water? Eventually state water codes will have to be made standard federally. When that happens, who can best afford lobbyists?

Just wait, in less than 100 years, this will be very significant for the food chain in this country. No water = no corn = no beef. Maybe we can change our eating habits, maybe not. I can’t see the general populace trading burgers for goat or vegetarian diets. Georgia is already trying to get Great Lakes water. Whew!

rojo