Texas residents voted overwhelmingly to fund water projects for the next 20 years, but the state’s water supply and the looming crisis is not likely to end.
Most of the state’s water usage is either for municipal purposes or for irrigation, though the growing number of data centers demand a 24/7 supply of billions of water to cool the massive number of computers.
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has projected water demand and existing supply for water users in each county, and a recurring, record-breaking drought could take a devastating toll on many, with some scary estimates.
The TWDB projects in the state’s 2022 water plan that towns and cities could be on a path toward a severe shortage of water by 2030. This means everything, from drinking water to wastewater, and water for agricultural uses, could run low in the next few years.
Hockley County gets 0.4% of its water from surface water , 0.4% from a lake or reservoir, 1.0% from reuse, a process that treats and recycles water, and 98.6% coming from an aquifer which is a ground water source.
Water quality in Hockley County is generally good, with the Katy Hockley Regional Water Plant’s tap water being in compliance with federal standards as of the second quarter of 2024. However, the city of Opdyke West was fined by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for water quality issues in 2022, indicating that some smaller systems may have problems.
Hockley County has 16,406 residents who are served by seven different water systems. Combined, these systems have detected 126 total contaminants, with nine above EPA standards.
The City of Levelland has a drought contingency plan which can be found on their website. The city monitors conditions on weekly basis to determine to warrant initiation or termination of each stage of the plan.
There are five stages in the contingency plan which include Stage 1- Mild Water Shortage Conditions. Voluntary water conservation; Stage 2, 3, 4 Moderate, severe, critical shortage conditions. Customers shall be required to comply with the requirements and restrictions on certain nonessential water uses; Stage 5 - Emergency Water Shortage Conditions. Customers shall be required to comply with the requirements and restrictions. The plan also addresses water rationing in which customers are required to comply with the water allocation plan which includes many restrictions and prohibitions of normal use.
State wide, other estimates offer a little more time, but are still not hopeful. The state water plan projects that groundwater availability, which is found underground in aquifers, makes up half of the state’s water supply, will drop by 25% by 2070.
The total water supply — groundwater paired with surface water — is estimated to decline by 18% by the same year, in part because of how many people are expected to live in Texas by then and what the state puts in place to secure water supplies – which includes desalination, conservation and aquifer storage and recovery to fixing the failing infrastructure.
Texas has 16 regions for water planning with each facing unique challenges and tasked with managing their own water supply.
While East Texas is more lush and water-rich, West Texas is dry and has been plagued with by an ongoing drought, as has South Texas. Additionally, the dispute with Mexico over water hasn’t helped the region. All of Texas is impacted by limited supplies, population growth and climate challenges.
Ninety-eight groundwater districts cover nearly 70% of Texas’ land area.These districts implement various management strategies, including developing and enforcing rules and balancing property rights with preservation goals. A key aspect of this is using groundwater modeling, monitoring wells and data to make decisions about groundwater quantity and quality.
Each groundwater district sets goals that describe how much water can be pumped without depleting aquifers for future generations. These “desired future conditions” are key for understanding and managing groundwater availability long-term. To set such goals, districts monitor wells and get water level measurements to track changes and trends in aquifers, a body of rock or sediment underground that holds groundwater. The districts then review model results and set their goals.
The Texas Water Development Board independently reviews the models to ensure the projected extractions are feasible and will achieve the goals as well. The water board then calculates the amount of water that can be pumped annually while staying within the goals set by the districts. W a t e r quality varies throughout the state.