Tag Archives: Water
Shafter without water after a fire burns down local pumphouse
Over the weekend, Shafter residents lost running water after an electrical fire burned down a pump house that provided the majority of the town’s water. Officials are working to restore the supply, but that might not happen for at least … Continue reading
From Toilet To Tap: How Big Spring Fights The Effects Of Drought
By Kristen Cabrera, Texas Standard Despite its name, water in the West Texas town of Big Spring is scarce. The town’s namesake spring dried up decades ago, and droughts in recent years have made the water situation there even worse. So, … Continue reading
Dr. Ron Green on Understanding West Texas Water
In the early 1950s, over-pumping water in Pecos County led to Comanche Springs drying out. In an effort to not repeat history, researchers are now trying to better understand West Texas’ water systems and how to properly manage them. This … Continue reading
U.T. Arlington’s C.L.E.A.R. is Researching Produced Water Recycling
The upswing of oil and gas production has spurred scientists and researchers to look at ways to diminish the potential impact of oil and gas production on water resources. In West Texas, part of the solution could mean finding effective ways to recycle … Continue reading
For El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Managing Scarce Water is Critical
The cities share a border, and the Rio Grande as a source of drinking water.
Federal government may fight alongside Texas in water dispute, U.S. Supreme Court rules
The ruling is an apparent victory for Texas in a legal battle that has dragged on for more than five years. The states are bickering over the distribution of water from the Rio Grande. Those allocations are laid out in … Continue reading
Study Shows Arsenic in Rio Grande Aquifer System
A study released earlier this month by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found that water in the Rio Grande Aquifer System—which runs through Colorado, New Mexico, and West Texas—has high concentrations of some harmful minerals. The mineral found in the … Continue reading
A market solution to Texas’ groundwater woes?
Fracking has dramatically increased the demand for water in the nation’s most productive oil field, Texas’ Permian Basin. Water usage has already risen sixfold since 2011, and according to research firm IHS Markit, demand will double again by the end … Continue reading
New Demand, Same Old Story: West Texans And Their Water
In arid west Texas, where rain is infrequent and rivers and lakes are few, groundwater – water from sources beneath the surface of the earth – is key to survival. And as the oil and gas industry in the Permian … Continue reading
Permit Granted to Export Water from Fort Stockton
Almost a decade after filing its first application, the family of oilman Clayton Williams has been granted a permit to pump millions of gallons of water out of Pecos County. The permit was granted by the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation … Continue reading