Terrence Henry reports on energy and the environment for StateImpact Texas. His radio, print and television work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, The Texas Tribune, The History Channel and other outlets.
He has previously worked at The Washington Post and The Atlantic. He earned a Bachelorās Degree in International Relations from Brigham Young University.
As Texas legislators continue to grapple with how to identify and fund water project priorities for the state, Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) makes the argument that Texans don’t value water enough. His comments came at StateImpact Texas’ panel: The Texas Water Crisis: Finding and Funding a Solution.
As a representative of a district that has struggled during the state’s dry years, Darby said, his region’s problem wasn’t as much not having enough reservoirs but that there’s not enough water in them. The large O.H. Ivie reservoir, which serves San Angelo, a city of nearly 100,000 people, is only 14 percent full. And the other reservoirs the city relies on, like Twin Buttes and O.C. Fisher, are sitting empty.
We’reĀ “reservoir-rich, but water-poor,” Darby said. His solution? For one, he says Texans — especially those living in the very dry parts of the state — will need to value water higher, and in turn pay more for it. You can watch his remarks in the video above, produced by Filipa Rodrigues of KUT News.
The former Vice President's new book goes beyond climate change to look at how current trends will shape a future he believes will be radically different from today.
We’re sitting on the edge of a massive global transformation, where robots, globalization, consumption and pollution will all intersect to create a world that’s unlike anything humanity has every known,Ā Former Vice President Al Gore argues in his new book, the aptly-titled ‘The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change.’
We spoke with the former Vice President Tuesday by phone to get his thoughts on the oil and gas fracking boom, the ticking clock of climate change, and some of the positive developments that may await us.
Q: We are both enjoying, and in part stressing about, a domestic drilling boom that we have right now, especially here in Texas. And weāre seeing a lot more natural gas and oil coming from our own shores, which is already having an effect on power plant emissions. Just the other week in Texas we saw one of the last remaining coal plants in the works for the state get suspended because the company went out of business. Right after that, a different company announced a new natural-gas-fired plant. But in your book, you argue thereās a downside to the fracking boom thatās allowing us to move from coal to natural gas.
A: Yes, so there are benefits because natural gas has approximately half of the Co2 content produced, compared to coal. So, in theory, it can be a bridge to a future dominated by renewable energy, but there are several problems. First of all, there are parts of Texas that are short on water, and each new fracking well, on average, needs about six million gallons of water. There have been, unfortunately, examples of underground water aquifers being poisoned in the process; the industry says that itās safe, and minimizes those problems, but George P. Mitchell of Texas, who really invented the whole technology over decades, has called for very strict regulation.
Robert Lee Mayor John Jacobs looking out over the dry EV Spence reservoir in West Texas in Spring 2011. His town built a pipeline to avoid running out of water.
If you happened to be in Austin last Monday, you may have noticed a sight that would have been strangely unfamiliar just two years ago: three Republican state lawmakers, calling in unison for more spending, higher prices and more restrictions for water.
It represents a real about-face for the Republican majority in Texas. Last legislative session, the focus was on cutting spending andĀ abortion and immigration, but not water. Despite dry times in 2009, with extreme drought in parts of the state, and the onset of the record one-year drought in the fall of 2010, in the last legislative session, lawmakers took little action on building new water supplies and encouraging conservation. It wasn’t for the want of trying by some legislators, like State Representative* Allan Ritter (R-Nederland), who pushed to get money for the state’s Water Plan.Ā But that bill didn’t pass.Ā The only major water bill that passed last session, on groundwater rights for private property owners,Ā may have actually made things worse.
In the meantime, the state’s de facto water policy became ‘Pray for Rain.’
Texas lawmakers appear to be ready to start seriously funding water development and conservation in the state. They’re looking at creating a state-run program, with billions of dollars, that would pick projects based on need and efficacy, administered by an oversight board appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House.
But it all sounds awfully similar to another state-run grant program that has come under harsh review for a lack of oversight and accountability: the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (CPRIT).
If you live in the East Texas town of Timpson, or nearby, chances are you’ve had a shaky week. It all started last Friday, very early in the morning, when an earthquakeĀ measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale struck just north of town, causing minor damage. Then on Tuesday, again, very early in the morning, a smaller 2.8 quake struck. Then yesterday afternoon another quake occurred, just south of town, with a strength of 2.7. That’s three earthquakes within a week.
So what’s going on? We put that question to Dr. Cliff Frohlich, a seismologist that studies manmade earthquakes at the University of Texas at Austin. Yes, manmade.
The Texas Water Plan is a road map for the state to meet its current and future water needs over the next fifty years. It’s known in part for having a high price tag ($53 billion, with about half of that coming from state funds). It’s also known for being un-prioritized. It’s a wishlist of projects submitted by regional groups, with over 500 projects involved.
Now that it looks like the plan could see real funding during this legislative session, how will it play out? Which projects will get funding first, and which will be deemed unnecessary? At a StateImpact Texas panel on water issuesĀ this week, three legislators (State Sen. Glenn Hegar, Rep. Drew Darby and Rep. Lyle Larson) offered up some ideas. You can watch the segment in the video above, produced by Filipa Rodrigues of KUT News.
The Texas Governor said "none of us can deny the need" for improved water supplies and roads.
In his biennial ‘State of the State‘ speech today, Texas Governor Rick Perry called for spending billions to fund water projects and build and repair roads, advocating for taking $3.7 billion from the Rainy Day Fund “for a one-time investment in infrastructure programs.”
Current proposalsĀ in the Texas House and Senate that appear to haveĀ growing supportĀ call for takingĀ $2 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to start a water bank. That bank would offer low-interest loans and grants to prioritized projects in theĀ State Water Plan, with 20 percent dedicated to funding water conservation projects.
It wasn’t clear from Perry’s speech how that $3.7 billion would be split between water and roads projects. (We’ve asked the Governor’s office to elaborate, and will update when they do.) Update: a spokesperson for the Governor’s office tells StateImpact Texas how that $3.7 billion would be divided is something “we will be working with theĀ legislatureĀ on, to identify the best and most efficient ways to use that money.”
Texas’ roads are also suffering, some from congestion and others from a massive boom in drilling-related trafficĀ thanks to the advent of the drilling techniques of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Perry said today that “none of us can deny the need for these improvements. Water and roads add to the quality of life for all Texans – anyone stuck in traffic at rush hour in our cities can speak to that.”
A smallĀ 2.8 earthquake struck near Timpson, Texas, very early this morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It’s the second earthquake in less than a week in the area. On January 25, a 4.1 quake struck some two miles Northwest of town, around the same time of the morning. That quake reportedlyĀ caused one chimney to topple over. A smaller earthquake like the one this morning is unlikely to cause damage.
You can see where both quakes occurred in the interactive map above.
Scientists are linking a growing number of quakes in Texas to wells used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling, including earthquakes in East Texas and around Dallas-Fort Worth. There was even a 4.8 quake in Timpson last May that caused some damage and one reported injury.
āAt the moment, we are actually linking them [earthquakes] to injection wells that are located close to where the earthquakes are in the Timpson area,āĀ Dr. Wesley Brown, an Associate Professor in the Department of Geology at Stephen F. Austin University told the regional newspaperĀ Light and ChampionĀ in December. āWe have one a little bit to the north, and [the wells] are north and south of each other,ā said Dr. Brown. āThe volume, especially for the one in the south, is up over 200,000 barrels of water per month.ā
Update, Jan. 29: On January 29, very early in the morning, another quake struck Timpson, measuring 2.8, according to the USGS.
Original story, Jan. 25:Ā A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck about two miles Northwest of Timpson,Texas at around 1:00 AM this morning, shaking doors open, knocking pictures off walls, and causing at least one chimney to reportedly collapse in the small East Texas community. You can see where the quake struck in the interactive map above. It occurred three miles below the surface.
“It was like a rumbling, shaking, knocking-you-out-of-the-bed type feeling. It was very, very intense,” Timpson Municipal Court Clerk Paula Mullins told StateImpact Texas by phone. Mullins said she had heard of a neighbor’s chimney falling over, but no reports of injuries.
Quakes have become a semi-regular feature of life in the area lately. The strongest recent quake registered a 4.8 in May.
Researchers say previous quakes in the area have been caused by the use of disposal wells to store waste form oil and gas drilling. Timpson sits in the drilling area of the Haynesville Shale, one of several areas in Texas experiencing a drilling boom.
āAt the moment, we are actually linking them [earthquakes] to injection wells that are located close to where the earthquakes are in the Timpson area,” Dr. Wesley Brown, an Associate Professor in the Department of Geology at Stephen F. Austin University told the regional newspaper Light and Champion in December. “We have one a little bit to the north, and [the wells] are north and south of each other,ā said Dr. Brown. āThe volume, especially for the one in the south, is up over 200,000 barrels of water per month.ā
At a Texas Tribune event this morning in Austin, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst talked with Tribune Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith about a whole host of issues facing the state, such as public education. And of course, they also talked about water.
On Wednesday, State Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) announced his support of a plan to take $2 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to start funding water projects. That’s a whole billion more than Dewhurst had proposed in November. Asked today which number he believes is right, Dewhurst said they’re looking into it, but what matters most is that new water projects get the funding they need. “There’s no other option,” Dewhurst said. “We’re going to provide the funds necessary.” Dewhurst also advocated for prioritizing which projects get funding first.
But, Smith asked, does Dewhurst have the votes to get the conservative Senate to withdraw money from the Rainy Day Fund? You can hear Dewhurst’s answer in the video above. And be sure to join StateImpact Texas in Austin Monday for a special panel, āThe Texas Water Crisis: Finding and Funding a Solution.ā Youāll have the opportunity to hear from lawmakers firsthand and ask your own questions. Weāll haveĀ State Rep. Lyle LarsonĀ and others on hand to discuss the issues. We’ll be at theĀ Cactus CafeĀ at UT Austin Monday, January 28th. Doors open at 5:30 pm and the event begins at 6 pm. You canĀ RSVP on Facebook here.
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