Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
if it dries up his neighbors' wells, too bad for his neighbors. There
actually is some support for that in Texas law, but that's a law that
cries out to be changed.”
Pickens likely understands the ramifi cations of such an approach
to water, says Dellapenna. However, he adds, beyond the West, that's
not the case, as illustrated by some farmers in Arkansas and Georgia
who have notions of selling their water rights. “They don't seem to
grasp it all. They say, 'It's my land, my water; I can do whatever I want.'
But they don't think it through. Whether water is a property right or
not—that's another whole layer of argument—at the very least, they
need to realize their neighbor can do the same thing to them.”
Lone Star Sierra Club's Ken Kramer doesn't cotton to Pickens's
plans, either. “I don't think it is a viable plan economically in terms
of some of Pickens's potential customers, like the Dallas-Fort Worth
area,” says Kramer. “Water managers from various utilities have said
privately the cost of the water Pickens would provide is so far above
what they would pay for water from other sources that it's just not
economically feasible.
“The larger . . . picture is that it's yet another example of an
effort to . . . deplete a groundwater resource,” Kramer adds. “The
Ogallala aquifer is being massively overpumped in Texas. Four mil-
lion to 5 million acre-feet of groundwater are being pumped out
of the Ogallala each year, and the recharge to the aquifer is only at
best 400,000 to 500,000 acre-feet a year.
“As the water levels decline, the energy costs to pump that water
will make it prohibitive for many agriculture enterprises to continue
pumping,” Kramer adds.
Pickens's basic argument is that if he doesn't pump out the
water, someone else will, Kramer says. And Pickens is correct,
given current groundwater management in Texas, which is based
largely on the right to capture—if you own land, you can pump out
what's under it, says Kramer. “Nevertheless, from an environmental
standpoint of pushing for sustainable groundwater resources, that's
not the appropriate approach.”
Whether an individual does or doesn't like Pickens's plans to
sell water, the basic concept of the haves selling water rights to the
have-nots is here to stay, says Tuthill. Projects such as Pickens's are
symptoms of the lack of water in some locations and the ability to
