"Funds are scarce for Texas’ water conservation plans" by Ramit Plushnick-Masti Associated Press / October 16, 2011
SANFORD, Texas - On paper, at least, Texas is amply prepared to meet the water needs of its rapidly expanding population - even during a harsh and lengthy drought.
But the plan calls for $53 billion in infrastructure improvements, and the state has allocated $1.4 billion.
If funds were available, Texas would be able to build the dams, reservoirs, pipelines, wells, and other infrastructure that would ideally avoid tight water-use restrictions imposed on residents, farmers, and ranchers during times of drought. The improvements would also guarantee that there would be enough water for the state’s population - even in 2060.
Instead, more than four years after the latest blueprint was published, deadlines have passed with some work barely begun and many projects never started. Meanwhile, lakes are shrinking, rivers are drying up, and temperatures are rising....
The United States, and Texas in particular, need to find water for a growing population. Unusually high temperatures and dry weather recently have highlighted the urgency.
Three years of dry winters that started in 2008 left populous Southern California and the agriculturally rich Central Valley desperate. Officials could not deliver more than 50 percent of the water needed by cities and farmers. Since the 1990s in the Midwest, water levels have dropped at times on lakes Huron and Michigan, causing millions of dollars in losses. The arid Southwest has struggled for decades....
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