Texas: Future Home of the Dehydration
One issue I am very concerned with is the lack of water we have and the rate in which it is dwindling. The regulations that are set as far a watering restrictions help but they need to be more firm on what they call "commercial" watering. When I think of something being commercial, things such as construction projects or things of that nature come to mind. I recently found out that apartment complexes are under the commercial category. These apartments are watering their property so the grass stays nice and green, why is that??? Who cares if their property looks great when we don't have enough water to drink?
There are also problems with our agricultural system and water use. Farming takes up a ton of water and I understand that it is necessary but again would any of that matter if we don't have water to drink?? I know that we shouldn't stop growing crops but maybe we should be a little choosier on which crops we grow. To ensure the growth of successful rice it has to be flooded and needs a high amount of rainfall. Why would we think that is the best thing to plant here in Texas? Since someone does think it is so a lot of water goes to keeping those alive even though other fruits or vegetables can be grown instead that are not so demanding on the diminishing water supply.
Farmers have also gotten so desperate to get their federal crop insurance they even admitted to watering crops they knew would not grow as was written in a recent article in the Texas Tribune. I understand that times are tough for everyone but there has to be some kind of bail out system for farmers just like we do for huge businesses that don't really need it instead of forcing them to waste water. One of these men said they spent $25000 to water 175 acres.
We don't have much time before we are in serious trouble so all I can say to do is to start doing a better job of conserving. Tickets are handed out constantly for speeding or traffic offenses so maybe when people decide that their lawn should be the most plush on the block, they should get fined. Once citations were given out more regularly some people would get the hint that it is serious and stop being so damn selfish. There is a solution to every problem and this is a very big one that is in serious need of immediate attention so I hope that we can do a better job of regulating residential, commercial and agriculture water use.
I absolutely agree with Ms. Stephanie Thomas on the ideas of being selective about our crops in order to conserve water. At the moment we are at the beginning of a 10 year drought. The truth is Texas cannot keep up with our demands of water for our crops and green grass. This has me wondering if there is an alternative to our situation. An Example that Ms. Thomas used, a farmer was forced to water crops that wouldn’t grow just so he could get federal crop insurance. This farmer had spent $25,000 just to water his 175 acres on crops that couldn’t really benefit anyone. This has me puzzled why the government is forcing commercials to water unsuccessful crops, because if you really look at it. It seems like what used to be a profitable field, had now become a money pit. I can see this problem growing more than just an agricultural watering problem but an economic problem as well. Business and corporations will definitely strafe away from Texas if we can’t stop wasting water because they will spend more money buying water, thus reducing their profits.
ReplyDeleteI think handing out citations is a great start to make people more aware of Texas current water situation. A technique that telephone service provider use are caps, they put caps to limit a certain amount of traffic on their data service lines, and if one were to go over that cap then they are charged for overages. What if Texas started capping people for usage? Could this solve our water crisis? But then the idea of putting a cap on water seems wrong, because we would also be limiting on drinking able water. Like Ms. Thomas said, we are limited on time and we need to act fast.
I agree with the points that Ms.Thomas came up with. We should do more for water in our state because really we are in a desert and to think we can keep green lawns is incredible selfish. I especially agree with the re-thinking of what crops we grow, to grow something like you said rice witch would mean using a lot of water is absolutely ridicules. Also to mandate farmers to use up money for absolutely nothing is something I can not really believe. I know what you are saying is true, but it feels like the state of Texas is doing all that it can to use up the water, and help no one in the process.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your argument it is something that must be done and you put up some great ideas of how to do it, you also show where you get it from and use good logic to show that what we have and are tying to do it not really the most reasonable thing we could be doing. I really think that was great, but I would like to see maybe something substantial. Like if there was any bill or government program that was starting to move to that goal of regulating water in Texas. This is only my preference the argument is still solid with out this. I just think it would of added something nice that would of stayed with the reader.