Aquaponics Key to Central Texas Water Woes?

Aquaponics farms awash in promise – and, farmers hope, profits photo

Photo by Ashley Landis, c/o Statesman

The Statesman has a really in-depth article today about aquaponics, which (wiki definition) is “a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fishcrayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics(cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment.”  According to the article, aquaponics is about 90 percent more water efficient than conventional agriculture, and three local farms are trying it out.  Here’s an except:

In addition to Lily Pad, Ten Acre Organics and Agua Dulce have each staked a claim in the burgeoning practice of aquaponics, which may yield real environmental advantages for a dry climate like Austin’s. That’s because unlike conventional farming, plants aren’t rooted in soil, which dries out quickly. They’re planted in long, shallow pools of water, with fertilization coming not from soil nutrients, but fish waste.

“This is basically a really old practice of using fish in concert with plants,” says Jack Waite, owner/operator of Agua Dulce Farm, located in Dove Springs just across from a large apartment complex. Driving by, you can’t miss the colorful murals splashed across Waite’s food storage tanks: On one, a hand-painted sun spills forth a cornucopia of vegetables, which is, after all, the goal.

“Ancient Egyptians were doing this; Aztecs were doing this. The idea is that fish produce waste, mostly ammonia, which is toxic for most living things. But nitrogen-converting bacteria that exist in nature take that ammonia, convert it into nitrite, and then more nitrogen-converting bacteria turn that into nitrate. And nitrate, essentially, is super-charged plant food.”

So what does that look like in practice?

There are two chief structures on an aquaponics farm: fish tanks and greenhouses. The water from the fish tank is filtered for solids (e.g., fish poop), and that ammonia-spiked water is introduced into the greenhouse waters. To get a visual idea of these greenhouses, picture shallow, Olympic-sized swimming pool-length lanes with plastic foam rafts of plants floating on top, their roots dangling into the water from cut-out holes. Though there are various methods for nitrogen conversion, a farm like Agua Dulce’s encourages this process to happen all in the water — water that will eventually be cleaned and introduced back into the fish tanks.

“You lose 10 to 15 percent water from evaporation and transportation,” says Waite, “but that’s still better than traditional farming.”

How much better?

“Aquaponics is about 90 percent more water efficient than conventional agriculture,” says Lloyd Minick, co-owner of Ten Acre Organics.

“You can also grow plants much more densely, since the roots aren’t competing for soil nutrients. The fish offer a nearly endless supply.”

It all sounds pretty logical — even idyllic. More food, less water? Why aren’t more people doing this?

For one, the city of Austin doesn’t always know how to handle permitting requests like these. But Jake Stewart, who recently stepped down as the city’s Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Community Garden Program manager, says he thinks that’s changing.

“New is new, so when an inspector shows up, they don’t always know what they’re looking for in order to approve a project,” Stewart says.

“But we’re also one of the first cities to have urban agriculture and community gardens as an official approved use in almost every zone of the city, so momentum is moving in this direction. One where we encourage innovation around water. Water is our biggest challenge.”

There’s also the question of money. It takes significant capital to start up an aquaponics operation — just ask Harwood.

“Before I was doing this, I sold vintage cars in San Antonio and made plenty of money doing it. But I was looking for something more, you know? So I invested my life savings into this farm,” says Harwood.

check out the whole article here!

State Impact Article: “5 Things You Might Not Know About The State Water Plan”

State Impact has a informative article today:

The Texas legislature got underway this week, and one bit of spending that many seem to agree on, regardless of their political stripes, is water. Several proposals call for funding the 2012 State Water Plan, a bottom-up approach to Texas’ water needs. It relies on regional districts to come up with a wish list of projects that will provide the growing state with enough water for the next 50 years.

The water plan calls for a variety of techniques to harness more water in the coming decades, from new reservoirs to conservation, and some of the ideas are more offbeat than others. We’ve culled a handful of the more novel and obscure methods outlined in the plan.

  1. Weather Modification: Cloud seeding involves blasting silver iodide, a chemical with similar composition to ice, into a thunderstorm, thereby increasing the cloud’s ability to produce rain. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s already being done around the world, particularly in China (and even here in Texas). Starting in 2020, the water plan earmarks about 15,000 acre-feet (or 4,8 billion gallons) of water to be procured each year through weather modification or cloud seeding. Most cloud seeding taking place in Texas today is done East of the Interstate-35 corridor. There’s just one (fairly significant) drawback: if there aren’t any rain clouds to seed, like much of the summer of 2011, there’s not much seeding can accomplish.
  2. Brush Control: The water plan calls for the targeted removal of water-hoarding brush and trees, namely the widely-ridiculed and famously-allergenic Ashe Juniper, or cedar. By culling cedars and other water-gulping plants, the water plan says Texas could gain another 19,000 acre-feet of water per year. Problem is, not everyone agrees native cedar trees are such a water-sucking problem. Also, while it might help increase runoff into creeks and hasten the recharge of aquifers, brush control only works when it rains. The water plan recommends brush control mainly in the western half of Texas where cedars are more prevalent.
  3. Aquifer Storage and Recovery: Aquifer storage and recovery (also known as ASR) turns the notion of how to use an aquifer on its ears. Instead of pumping water out of aquifers, we’re going to start pumping it in. By injecting potable water into viable underground formations, the water remains safe from the ravages of evaporation and contamination that can occur on the earth’s surface. The water plan says storage and recovery could account for about 81,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2060. That’s about half the water that the entire City of Austin used in a year from the Highland Lakes during the record drought year of 2011. That same year, more water evaporated from the Lakes than the City used. Not just any aquifer will work for ASR. The aquifer being used cannot be used or accessed by anyone other than the utility doing ASR.
  4. Rainwater Harvesting: It’s a technique as old as mankind. Rainwater collection systems run the gamut, from a barrel beneath a gutter to Texas A&M University’s multimillion-dollar Agriculture and Life Sciences Facility, equipped with rain canopies and a 40,000 gallon underground tank. And the Texas Water Development Board has researched implementation of neighborhood-wide harvesting schemes. The City of Austin, and several other Texas towns, offer rebates on rainwater collection equipment. Unfortunately, you can only harvest as much rain as the weather affords. Roofs are prime harvesting locations, so the highest concentration of rainwater harvesting will likely occur in municipalities and urban areas, though it has seen use in less-developed parts of Texas where drilling a well can be costly, like the Hill Country.
  5. Conservation: A drop of water saved is a drop of water earned. Water conservation occurs on all levels, from low-flow toilets to government programs promoting water-friendly power generation. Urban conservation could account for up to 650,000 acre-feet of water saved by 2060. Total conservation could account for up to 1.5 million acre-feet, according to the water plan. In all, conservation makes up 34 percent of the state’s new water supplies by 2060. A significant portion of conservation will be irrigation conservation (17 percent), which means agriculture and farmers will be able to grow more while using less water.

Hopefully rainwater harvesting and conservation will be seriously considered as reasonable options!

Greenists: “If it Doesn’t Smell, Don’t Wash it”

Fleece jackets and sweatshirts

I saw this fun tip from the Greenists today:

According to Real Simple, if every American made an effort to launder less — cutting out just one load of laundry a week per household — we’d save enough water to fill seven million swimming pools each year.

So if it looks clean, and it smells clean, call it clean and wear it again. Consider hanging worn clothes out on your clothesline to freshen them up between wearings.

Interesting! I for sure do this with sweaters in the winter, especially cardigans I wear an undershirt with.  It isn’t necessary and it will keep your clothes looking new for longer. And check out these clothes caring tips for winter duds from Real Simple so your clothes can have a long life.

LCRA Approves Water Plan for Next Year: Less Stringent than Last Year

StateImpact has a nice article about the water plan approved by LCRA today.  Under the plan, whether rice farmers in southern Texas will get any water depends on how much it rains by January 2013 and by march 2013:

Here’s the new plan: If on January 1, 2013, Lakes Buchanan and Travis have less than 775,000 acre-feet of water in them (or are roughly 39 percent full), then water will not be sent downstream to three of the four irrigation districts serving rice farmers downstream in South Texas. (An acre-foot is a unit of measurement for water: how much water it would take to fill up an acre of land one feet deep, equal to 325,851 gallons.)

But rice farmers get a second chance in March.

If the rains fall between January and March and the lakes rise to 775,000 acre-feet or above, a limited amount of water relative to the standard plan (121,500 acre-feet, or 39.5 billion gallons) would go downstream. (By means of comparison, the city of Austin used 106,622 acre-feet of water, or 34.7 billion gallons, from the Highland Lakes in all of 2011, three times less than rice farmers downstream used from the lakes that year.)

As we reported Tuesday, if the lakes are deemed full enough under the emergency plan and water does go downstream, it doesn’t guarantee that there will be enough water left for the City of Austin and other “firm” customers if drought conditions persist. Under the LCRA’s current long-term projections, in the worst-case scenario there will likely be enough water in the lakes under the emergency plan to send downstream to rice farmers. (That latest update is from September 30, and may not reflect their current forecasts. At that time the LCRA was not seeking an emergency plan.)

In 2011, the LCRA was widely criticized for sending 367,985 acre-feet of water (or roughly 120 billion gallons) downstream to rice farmers during the record drought.

The article goes on to explain a little about rice farming and its water use:

Rice uses so much water for several reasons. Flooding the fields kills weeds (rice is one of the few crops that can stand essentially drowning), eliminating the need for pesticides. And it thrives in wet conditions. But its staggering water use in a growing state that faces dwindling water supplies has come under criticism.

A 2004 report by the UN found that conventional rice farming is often less than 50 percent efficient in its water use, and only a quarter of the water used actually goes directly to rice cultivation. Rice farmers in South Texas say they’re working on ways to use less water, in some cases by laser-leveling their fields and in others by looking to genetically-modified strains that require less water. And the LCRA is at work on building 100,000 acre-feet of downstream water storage that will catch excess water during wet periods for irrigation use later and ease the strain on the Highland Lakes.

Check out the whole article here!

Austin Enters Stage 2 Watering Restrictions

After a brief respite,  Austin is back in stage 2 watering restrictions.   What that means for residential customers with automatic sprinklers is that you must go back to only having your system run once a week.   However, the city has made some good modifications to Stage 2, including allowing an exemption for tree soakers and vegetable garden watering systems, and also allowing an additional day of lawn watering by hose end sprinklers.  Here’s a handy chart:

While returning to Stage 2 restrictions, the city is easing some rules on hand watering and sprinkler use. Image courtesy Austin Water Utility

KUT explains:

The City of Austin is implementing Stage 2 water restrictions starting Tuesday because of declining lake levels, but the rules will be slightly different than before.

“The combined lake levels between Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis has been the trigger,” Austin Water Utility spokesperson Jason Hill said. “It looks as if those two lakes combined will hit that 900,000 acre-foot trigger or go below it in the next week or so.”

The Lower Colorado River Authority says the lakes are currently 45 percent full and contain about 905,499 acre-feet of water. One acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre one-foot-deep in water. It amounts to 325,851 gallons, or enough to supply two to three households for a year….

Environmentalists Concerned that City is Using Drinking Water to Clean Streets During Drought

KUT had this interesting story last week that I had missed about street cleaning in Austin.  Here’s an excerpt:

Recent rains might make you think otherwise, but the city of Austin is still in “moderate drought.” That’s why we are currently under Stage I watering restrictions. But When it comes to cleaning the streets of downtown Austin, the rules do not apply to the city itself, says Jill Mayfield, spokesperson from the Austin Water Utility Department.

“There is an exemption for water that’s used to protect health, safety or welfare for the public,” Mayfield explained. “One example is street cleaning. We have so much pedestrian traffic and vehicle traffic, that it is important to keep our streets clean and healthy.”

That means public cleaning trucks can technically use as much water as they want. Last week, for example, the city’s cleaning trucks used 24,000 gallons of water, according to the City’s Resource Recovery Department. That’s about half the size of a swimming pool….

While the amount of water used might not be the biggest problem, the kind of water that is used for cleaning the streets could be controversial. City cleaners use fire hydrants to charge their trucks, meaning they use drinkable water to clean the streets. Austin used to use recycled water for street cleaning, but that was scaled back when some of those responsibilities were shifted from Austin Resource Recovery to Public Works. The City is now only using recycled water for cleaning sidewalks downtown.

“Amid one of the worst droughts in Texas history they should use reclaimed water for that,” criticizes Luke Metzger. He is the director of the advocacy group Environment Texas. “It’s a no-brainer that they stopped doing that.”

Some Environmental Groups Upset About Relaxing of Watering Schedule

The Statesman has this article today which states:

Three Austin environmental groups said Monday the city should not have relaxed its watering restrictions last week because the region’s water situation is still precarious.

In allowing twice-a-week watering to resume on July 16, city officials pointed to a wetter-than-expected winter and spring that partially replenished lakes Buchanan and Travis. But in a collective statement, the Save Our Springs Alliance, Austin chapter of the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action cite government forecasts in saying the city is too optimistic about the fate of the lakes, which supply much of the water for Austin and its neighbors. They say the lakes could hit crisis levels again in a month or two, meaning a quick return to once-a-week watering.

“This on-again, off-again, on-again message will confuse the public, and mixed messages are bad public policy,” said David Foster, the state director of Clean Water Action.

Check out the whole article here!  Also check out this Statesman article “Drought Not The Only Factor in Tree Deaths, Report Says.”

Watering Restrictions Eased; Homes and Businesses Allowed to Water Twice a Week Again, But Only Before 5 a.m. and After 7 p.m

The Statesman has this article today about the watering restrictions being eased in Austin so homes and businesses can go back to watering twice a week rather than once.  It seems that concerns about Austin trees, which provide much needed shade to lower electricity costs, were struggling too much under the only once a week watering schedule.  However, under the new schedule, to try and limit wasteful evaporation, the time frame watering can be done has been limited to before 5 a.m. and after 7 p.m.   Check out the whole article for more info.

Rainwater Harvesting Rebate

I don’t think I realized before that Austin had a rebate program for buying rain barrels, but came across it here.  The Austin Water webpage explains:

Rebates of $0.50 per gallon (non-pressurized) and $1.00 per gallon (pressurized) are available to customers of Austin Water or a qualifying water provider for installing rainwater harvesting systems. The maximum lifetime rebate amount is $5,000, not to exceed 50 percent of the project cost. Participation is limited to once every 12 months until the maximum rebate amount is reached. Systems of 500 gallons or more require approval prior to purchase and installation. For tax purposes, commercial and multi-family properties must submit a completed IRS Form W-9.

This is pretty helpful, as most non-pressurized barrels you can buy online seem to be about $100 for a 50 gallon barrel, so you would be getting a $25 rebate on that.   Here is a link to the rebate form if you are interested.

These re-purposed barrels from RK Re-purposing are a great local choice at around $45 before the rebate http://rkrepurposing.com/

2012 Watering Restrictions

Just a reminder we are still in Stage 2 watering restrictions. This means that residents may only water outdoors once a week with automatic systems.  Here’s all the info:

Set your automatic sprinkler system to follow the Stage 2 watering schedule. To ensure you are not wasting water, be mindful of leaking faucets, pipes, and irrigation systems operating with misdirected or broken sprinkler heads.  Wasting water is prohibited year round in Austin, and there is much you can do to conserve water and detect water-wasting leaks. Our detailed Frequently Asked Questionscan give you more details.

Stage 2 Water Use Guidelines

  • Residents may only water outdoors once a week. Homes with odd-numbered addresses can water on Saturday, even-numbered on Sunday.
  • Businesses and multifamily units may only water outdoors once a week. Those with odd numbered-addresses can water on Tuesday and those with even-numbered addresses can water on Friday.
  • Automatic sprinklers can only operate before 10 a.m. on your watering day. Hose-end sprinklers can be used before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.
  • Hand watering can be done at any time on any day of the week.
  • If you wash your car at home, do it on your watering day before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.
  • You must use a hand-held bucket or a hose equipped with a shutoff nozzle; you may use a waterless cleaning product or a commercial carwash to wash your car on any day at any time.
  • No charity carwashes are permitted unless a waterless cleaning product is used instead of water.
  • No ornamental fountains may be operated except to provide aeration for aquatic life. Automatic fill valves for pools and ponds must be turned off as well.

Watering Schedule Variances

In some limited situations, we may grant a variance from the outdoor watering schedule during Stage 2 restrictions, which take effect September 6, 2011. All variances must be specifically requested on the form provided by Austin Water. Please note that applicants must follow the watering schedule in effect until a variance application is approved.

Violations

Violations of mandatory watering restrictions will result in an official warning followed by a citation if the violation is not corrected. Citations will be issued in Municipal Court with fines starting at $475. Report any violations by calling 3-1-1.

Green Tip: Turn the Water Off While Brushing Your Teeth

Here’s a quick tip if you’re not already doing so: turn your water faucet off while brushing your teeth.  I’ve done some Google-ing and found that the average faucet in a bathroom uses 2 – 2.5 gallons of water a minute.  Sources online vary and are generally too disgusting to think about when averaging how much time the average American spends brushing their teeth (under 30 seconds a day seems to be the consensus) but if you are brushing the dentist-recommended 3-4 minutes two times a day while your faucet is running, you could be wasting up to 9 gallons of water a day.  That’s a lot of water! So the lesson is to just turn off your faucet while you brush, and you should also probably be brushing for longer each day.

Gabi Lungu / OkapiStudio

How to Install a Water-Saving Shower Head (Cutting Water Use Up to 30%)

About a week ago I decided to try and change the shower head in our guest bathroom to a more water-saving head.  Turns out, it’s super easy to do and quickly cuts down on water waste! All I did to prepare was watch this short video I found on Youtube and the whole process probably took 10 minutes or less.  If I had known how easy it was ahead of time I wouldn’t have waited so long to do it.

Just unscrew the old shower head, using some pliers and old towels if necessary, then remove any old pieces of teflon tape, using your fingers or an old toothbrush:  The wind some new Teflon tape onto the threaded pipe (wrapping clockwise):

Then screw on the new shower head. Easy!

A low-flow shower head can cut the amount of water you use in your shower by 30%!  If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, you may want to replace the showerhead with a water-efficient model.

Here are 100 other water-saving tips.

Drought in Central Texas Now Considered Moderate Rather than Exceptional

Just wanted to quickly share this article from the Statesman.  It serves as a reminder that we are still in a drought and some parts of Texas still have the most severe ranking of drought, but at least in Central Texas, the drought has eased up slightly:

For the first time in nearly a year, parts of Central Texas are now considered to be in “moderate drought,” improved from the highest level of “exceptional drought” of just a few months ago.

The easing of drought conditions comes after several soaking rains. But a wide swath of the Hill Country has seen less rain and is still among the state’s most parched areas….

Still, area lakes, which provide most of Central Texas with drinking water, remain far below normal levels.

The latest drought monitor report, released Thursday by the National Drought Mitigation Center and drawn from data recorded on Tuesday morning, shows that about 14 percent of the state — and no areas in Central Texas — remains in exceptional drought.

Almost 88 percent of the state was in exceptional drought as recently as early October….

Central Texas needs about 10 to 13 inches of rain in the next three months and at least 19 inches of rain in the next six months to be out of drought…”

Drought Continues Despite Rain

The Statesman had this article today that states that last night’s rain had little effect on the drought in Texas:

Last night’s storms brought much-needed rain to Central Texas but did little to ease an ongoing drought or to raise lake levels.

The rains overnight helped replenish streams and helped ease fire concerns, but a long-term period of showers and storms will be needed to break the drought.

“If we go through another three weeks of no rain, it’ll all go away,” said Pat McDonald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Central Texas needs as much as 13 inches of rain to reach normal rainfall levels, McDonald said.

The article also noted:

Lake Buchanan is currently about 23 feet below normal January levels and about 30 feet below its full level …[we need] 10 to 20 inches of rain … to return the lakes to normal levels.

Conflicting Studies on Contamination of Groundwater by Fracking

You may have heard recently about fracking, a method of extracting natural gas from shale using large amounts of water mixed with sand and chimicals, which is being increasingly used in the U.S, specifically in Texas.  There’s been some controversy about it because of claims that the process of extracting the gas can contaminate groundwater, which people end up drinking.  Below are two stories, each about a different report (one by the Texas’ Energy Institute, and one by the EPA), which came to different conclusions about the contamination possibilities.

From the Statesman:

Preliminary findings from the [Texas] Energy Institute’s study released Wednesday suggest there is no link between the extraction operations and groundwater contamination, said the study’s leader, Charles “Chip” Groat, a UT geology professor.

He noted that the dangers associated with shale gas drilling — which is accomplished by hydraulic fracturing, a process commonly known as fracking — are largely the same as other oil-drilling operations.

“Hydraulic fracturing doesn’t seem to be of concern to groundwater,” Groat said. “If there has been water contaminated related to shale gas development let’s not look at fracturing, let’s look at surface processes.”

As in other types of drilling operations, poor casing or shoddy cement jobs have often been to blame for regulatory violations or contamination in shale gas drilling, Groat said…

Surface spills of the hazardous chemicals across the country have killed livestock and contaminated waterways, the Houston Chronicle has reported.

Texas is home to one of the nation’s largest shale gas deposits, the Barnett Shale. The Fort Worth area is a hotbed for fracking that shale, and there have been many questions surrounding the process.

Democratic state Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth told The Associated Press in September that in the past five years, air pollution in North Texas has steadily increased, which he said is related to the drilling in the Barnett Shale.

Groat downplayed the problems associated with fracking.

“The violations that we’ve seen are of no, minor or small impact,” Groat said. “The impact on groundwater, the impact on the surface is not of anything substantial, certainly not compared to coal mines or metal mines.”

However, spills have come under closer scrutiny as shale gas drilling occurs in urban and suburban areas, Groat said.

“Fort Worth is the poster child for this,” Groat said. “They are drilling under subdivisions, and those people are asking questions.”

Shale deposits are spread out over broad areas, and drilling operations could easily move out of densely populated areas and stay in the fracking game, Groat said.

Groat briefed government officials, regulators, energy company executives, community group representatives and reporters in Fort Worth about the Energy Institute’s preliminary findings.

Researchers expect to present their final report early next year, looking not only at the environmental effects of fracking but also at policy and regulatory issues as well as media coverage of the controversial technique of capturing natural gas.

The yearlong $330,000 study was paid for entirely by the University of Texas, Groat said.

The study’s early stages have looked at regulatory violations and frameworks in states with major shale drilling operations, including Texas, Louisiana, New York and Pennsylvania, Groat said.

And from NPR

In a draft report (pdf) released today, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed what many residents of Pavilion, Wyoming have been complaining about for some time now: Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is responsible for polluting the area’s drinking water.

Fracking is a controversial method used to make it easier to extract natural gas, petroleum and other substances. As the AP explains, this is the first time the EPA has linked the practice to the contamination of drinking water. The gas industry has denied any responsibility.

The wire service adds:

“The EPA’s found that compounds likely associated with fracking chemicals had been detected in the groundwater beneath a Wyoming community where residents say their well water reeks of chemicals.

Health officials advised them not to drink their water after the EPA found hydrocarbons in their wells.

The EPA announcement has major implications for the vast increase in gas drilling in the U.S. in recent years. Fracking has played a large role in opening up many reserves.

The industry has long contended that fracking is safe, but environmentalists and some residents who live near drilling sites say it has poisoned groundwater.”

Before issuing this report, the EPA had advised residents not to drink their water, because, as MSNBC says, the EPA “said it had found benzene and other hydrocarbons in wells it tested.”

MSNBC adds that Pavillion residents welcomed the report.

Northwest Austin to Get Green Car Wash; Able to Recycle 100% of Its’ Water Use

Community Impact has an article I saw today that says about  a new car wash going in in Northwest Austin:

Once it opens in April 2012, the new Palms Car Wash will have the ability to recycle 100 percent of the water it uses.

Austin’s second full-service Palms Car Wash is under construction at 13695 US 183, next door to the former Hooters of Austin, which is being transformed into Cover 2 restaurant and bar. The car wash will feature an exterior drive-thru express wash and interior and detail services. Customers may also use 12 vacuum stations free of charge.

“We want to be as eco-friendly we can,” said David Beseda, co-owner of Palms Car Wash with Russel Moore. “We use non-toxic, biodegradable cleaners. It is a complicated, expensive process [to recycle water].”Beseda and Moore own the Palms Car Wash at 6811 Brodie Lane. Alone, Moore owns several car wash locations in Austin, but this is the second location the pair will have opened.

Experts Expect Texas Drought to Continue into Spring

The Tribune had this sobering article today which states that “The drought that has plagued Texas is virtually certain to continue at least until early summer, climate experts said on Tuesday at a conference in Fort Worth. But what happens after that is anyone’s guess. The main cause of the drought, the most intense in recorded Texas history, is back-to-back episodes of La Niña, a Pacific Ocean phenomenon that almost always brings dry conditions to the state. The bad news is that, based on the historical record, there is a 40 percent chance of La Niña returning for a third consecutive year, according to Klaus Wolter, a research associate with the Earth Research Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”

Tribune Says Texas Congressman a Top Water User During Drought

The Texas Tribune had this article today that states that U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul’ property from October 2010 through September 2011 was the sixth-largest water user among all Austin residential customers and that “The McCauls’ water consumption, 1.4 million gallons over those 12 months, comes to about 15 times the consumption of the average Austin home over that time.” This is not the first time he has made the list of top 10 water users in Austin, which in the past he has blamed on undetected leaks.  Wouldn’t it bother you though if your water bill was unusually high for several years? Hmm… Check out the whole article, and the comments are pretty funny too.

Drought Affecting Local Farming in Serious Ways

The Statesman today has an article about how the drought has been affecting local farmers and will continue to affect those consumers who try to support locally grown food.  For example, the article says that “The Del Valle farm is selling Wheatsville about nine dozen eggs per week, compared with the normal 75 to 100 dozen” and that “Boggy Creek Farms has provided produce to Whole Foods since 1991, but this year they couldn’t grow enough vegetables to do so” as they had to commit what they were able to grow this year to their farm stand.

And with a shortage of local food, the concern is that prices for consumers will go up and drive some consumers away. Says Peg McCoy, owner of Farm to Market Grocery on South Congress, “When calories are so cheap, people aren’t willing or able to spend more for local food.”

Hopefully Austin has enough of a base dedicated to locally grown food that these farmers will still be able to make something off what they are able to grow in these conditions.

Electricity Production Planning in Texas During Drought

KUT had this article, which is fairly short and informative about how Texas may have to reconsider its electricity production in that face of increasing water shortage.  We get a lot of our power from goal, natural gas, and nuclear plants, which can require a lot of water to produce energy and stay cool.

Slightly cooler fall temperatures are putting less strain on power plants to generate energy, but the persistent drought isn’t. Most of Texas’ energy comes from plants that are coal, natural gas, or nuclear. All three types depend on large amounts of water to generate electricity and cool down. If weather experts are correct in predicting a prolonged drought, power plants will need to figure out how to operate with less water.

The water that power plants use is often drawn from rivers that have been drying up since the beginning of the drought last fall. Unless Texas gets at least half of its normal rainfall between now and spring, which isn’t in the forecast, Kent Saathoff said the situation could get worse.

There’s some hope though in new technology:

Michael Webber, an energy policy expert at the University of Texas at Austin, recently published a report on the potential benefits of power plants installing more efficient technology. According to his data, the water that would be saved could equal the amount consumed yearly by 1.3 million people.

“You could switch to dry-cooling power plants or hybrid wet-cooling systems that build in some resiliency against drought, so that’s another approach. You can also look at advanced nanotechnologies to improve the heat capacity of water, so you need less water for cooling. So, there are a lot of options but we have to try them and see what works best,” said Webber.