drought – Pedernales River Alliance

Recently, I saw a phrase on a t-shirt: Save it, Don’t Pave it! (https://aquiferalliance.org). The Aquifer Alliance is attempting to raise awareness of how detrimental concrete can be to the Edwards Aquifer.

We here in Gillespie County need your help with our own aquifer, the Ellenburger Aquifer, which provides most of the drinking water for Gillespie County. It is in trouble. Recently, a Hill Country Critical Groundwater Depletion Area 1 was declared for the Ellenburger. The drought and normal usage of water has reduced the aquifer’s levels to a point where we must all take efforts to cutback our water usage.

But it rained! And we expect more!! But if there is one thing we all know, the weather is not consistent. Just when you think rain is coming, it doesn’t. Just when you think it will be cooler, it won’t be. The only thing we know with certainty about the weather seems to be that it seems to have a mind of its own. This means we should all consider how best to make cutbacks to our water usage permanent.

One way is to not put down concrete. For years, we have been paving parking lots, walkways and driveways using caliche topped with crushed granite. This construction allows for rainwater to soak into the ground. When water soaks into the ground, it has a much better chance of recharging our aquifer. Concrete, on the other hand, just helps to create runoff which is, by definition, pollution.

Water that falls on lawns tends to run off to roads carrying excess fertilizer and even dog poo. The runoff hits concrete roads and picks up oils, residue from tires, dirt, debris, trash and more. Short or light rains do not always push this runoff down to the river but a frog floater (colloquial term for a whole lot of rain at one time) will. When a lot of water from a heavy rain hits the seasonal creek beds, everything, including the now concentrated pollution, goes downstream to the Pedernales River.

I watch the river and see people fishing, wading, swimming and kayaking in it. Even when you think the River is too low for these activities, folks find a low water crossing and they play in the Pedernales…and, if we’ve had a recent frog floater, they unknowingly play in the polluted water.

More importantly, when you understand that all water in the Hill Country is connected–streams, creeks, river, springs and aquifers, then you know that any pollution anywhere in the Pedernales Watershed is too much. (See “The Journey of Groundwater” https://youtu.be/52Ln-LBr5ZU)

We all need to conserve water in any and every way that we are able for the benefit of all. If you are building a new home or business or upgrading your own property, please put in a permeable surface for your parking areas, walkways and patios. Save it, Don’t pave it!

Deborah Youngblood
Pedernales River Alliance
https://pedernalesriveralliance.org

What does it mean for the Texas Hill Country, specifically Gillespie County, to be in “Exceptional Drought?”

First, look down. The soil has become dry and hard with large cracks. Because soil moisture is low, dust or sand storms can occur. Hard dry soil makes it difficult to plant crops.

Look to your neighbors’ pastures and notice that forage is stunted and dry. Pasture conditions have become poor. Some are having to purchase supplemental feed for their livestock because hay production is reduced, crops are stunted. Irrigation is required but, even for irrigated crops, yields are down. Pastures become empty as producers sell off livestock. Entire herds are sold.

Reach down and touch the bits of grass that still cling to the soil. See how brittle and dry it is and know that this is now fuel for grass fires. As the afternoon winds pick up, sucking all remaining moisture from the air, wildfire danger becomes severe. Burn bans were instituted months ago but now, violators are fined and we are cautioned against fire pits and bbq’s and parking cars on grass. We know that our entire world can change with one careless flick of a cigarette.

With each passing day, our water table drops. The city of Fredericksburg restricts lawn watering. Surcharges on excessive water use begins and rationing of water begins to be considered a viable course of action. Fountains cease jetting water. Bulk sales of potable water will be prohibited next.

This is where we are right now-we are in an “Exceptional Drought.”

For those living outside of the city limits, water rationing is self-imposed. Most of our wells are not metered. Times like these make water rationing with the use of metered wells seem like not such an unreasonable method of reducing water usage.

In this county, we depend on our wells to see us through the summer. At the rate we are going, many wells won’t make it. Residential wells, especially the more shallow wells, are extremely vulnerable. The aquifer seems like a mysterious water-filled place but in reality, an aquifer is not just an underground pool of water. Instead, water flows through the limestone in rivulets and channels. As the water table drops and the underground channels go dry, wells begin to dry up. The only recourse is to drill deeper but how deep is too deep? We do not know.

Pedernales River @ Jung Lane. Exceptional Drought. 7-03-2022 — Pedernales River @ Jung Lane

The geology of the Texas Hill Country is limestone with lots of holes and channels. It is called karst geology and it has taken millions of years of erosion to create this underground drainage system. We know that as surface water, in rivers, creeks and lakes, dries up, groundwater-the water that flows through the karst, our only remaining source of water, is drying up, too.

We look for every person, every family, every tourist and every company to conserve water. Right. Now. What can YOU do to conserve water?

Fix those leaky faucets
Put a brick in your toilet tank
Water only when you are allowed to by the city
If outside city limits, water only once a week in the morning
Limit the length of showers
Take a bath instead of a shower – only the shortest of showers uses less water than a partially filled bathtub
Install low-flow shower heads
Don’t just let the water run while you are brushing teeth, shaving, doing dishes or anything else!
Wash only full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine
Proudly drive your dirty car
Mulch trees and plants
Plant native plants
Think positive-get a rain barrel hooked up to your gutter system
Restaurants-only serve water on request
Businesses-turn on your sprinkler systems and check to see if they water the street. If they do, fix them.

Pedernales River @ Goehmann Lane. picture taken 6-19-2022 — Pedernales River @ Goehmann Lane

Sources:

National Drought Mitigation Center https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?TX

NOAA
https://www.drought.gov/states/texas

Hill Country Underground Water District
https://hcuwcd.org/

Texas Water Development Board
https://www.twdb.texas.gov/newsmedia/drought/doc/weekly_drought_report.pdf

Ways to Use Water Wisely: 100+ Ways to Conserve Water
https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve-water/?view=list

Tag: drought

Let’s “Save it, Don’t Pave it!”

Exceptional Drought