Don't we have enough Bowl Games as it is, already?
See my tagline :(
No real precip. in 6 months, thank god we have a very good well.
So, why don’t we build desalienation plants and refill the aquifier?
The biggest cause of the dust bowl was the depletion of the soil—that was supposed to have been fixed with more modern agricultural processes (such as rotating crops).
He also seems to have a sizable anti-Texas bias, but that could be just me.
Happy is about 35 miles from Amarillo, not 75. It does not take an hour to get from Happy to Amarillo.
Lubbock is not the next town south on I-27. If you count the small towns- and those of us who live here do- there are six towns between Happy and Lubbock.
Happy is not the only town that is not as large nor prosperous as it once was. Changes in agriculture do not totally account for that, however. It's much easier now to travel a few miles to a larger town to shop a larger, less expensive stores, see a movie at a cinema complex, eat out with a variety of restaurants to choose from, and so forth. Agriculture may have changed- irrigation methods do conserve more water, and crops being grown now demand less water than previously grown crops- but there is still agriculture and cattle ranching. (Texas produces more cotton than any other state, and the Lubbock/South Plains area is the largest contiguous cotton producing area in Texas). Another change in agriculture that has affected population numbers: it is less labor intensive than it was some years ago. More can be grown with the help of fewer people.
I don't believe that the decline in population, particularly in small towns, is unique to West Texas. Young people tend to grow up and move away. I don't hear many say "I want to live in Dallas or Austin because we are running out of water." I hear them say that they are looking for fun, excitement, opportunity, etc.
When a writer gets some of the most basic facts in the article wrong, I have to question how accurate the rest of his information is, as well. Worth checking into, at any rate.
Ain’t gonna happen.
The Dust Bowl had two causes, only one of which was drought. The other, more serious, cause of the Dust Bowl was the idiotic US government telling prospective farmers “Rain follows the plow!” when they were selling them land that they stole from the Indians.
Well, immigrants from places like Germany, the Ukraine, Russia, Poland et al believed the government land agents and they plowed the Plains, then plowed them again and again and again and again. Pretty soon, the soil was turned into a powdery silt that is more like talcum powder than soil.
Today, we no longer have Federal employees telling farmers on the plains that they should plow the ground to make it rain.
Happy, TX is one sad scene. There is nothing left. Looks like a town in a 3rd world country.. with thrown up shanty houses... no siding, no shingles... you can see them as you pass by on the interstate. It’s sad to see the small towns in the Panhandle and South Plains of Texas .. many of them are just falling apart...it’s hard to describe how much they have changed in 20 years....and it has nothing to do with water
You will see dairy cows and calves in places on the South Plains. Those places are called "dairies." A number of them have moved to West Texas and New Mexico over the last few years, from California. They were being taxed into oblivion there.
I have not noticed any local feed lots feeding out dairy cattle. They are not limited to buying locally; they can buy from anywhere, have the cattle brought in, and feed them out. I notice the writer did not talk with any feed lot owners to confirm that particular assertion. He did not talk with any meat packing plants either, and there are at least three in a fairly short drive of where he supposedly was. While culled dairy cows do get processed into meat, beef plants are not going to be eager to do that any more than they have to; the meat is not of the same quality as that of a beef animal and thus is less profitable.
Why not fill the aquifer back up.
All that snow melt is just flowing down the Mississippi and into the ocean..
Pump it back into the aquifer.
The National Academy of Sciences 2008 - The Implications of Biofuel Production for United States Water Supplies
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3285
Existing and planned ethanol facilities (2007) and their estimated total water use mapped
with the principal bedrock aquifers of the United States and total water use in year 2000.(Source USGS) Click to enlarge.
http://www.theoildrum.com/files/ethanol_and_water.JPG
