TWCA Fall Conference 2015

1. Big Ideas for a Big State:
The History (and Recent Past…) of
Water Importation to Texas
Robert E. Mace, Ph.D., P.G.
Texas Water Development Board
presented to
Texas Water Conservation Association
San Antonio, Texas, October 16, 2015

2. The following presentation is based upon
professional research and analysis within the
scope of the Texas Water Development
Board’s statutory responsibilities and
priorities but, unless specifically noted, does
not necessarily reflect official Board positions
or decisions.

3. October 4, 2011
100% in drought
88% exceptional

5. • Letter from LBJ to U.S.
Department of Interior in 1949
• Bureau of Reclamation
completed study in 1952
• Webb “translated” the report
in 1954

6. • 367 miles
• 200-feet wide, 15-feet deep
• 12.3 million acre-feet
• $1.1 billion
• $9.8 billion in 2015

7. That plan
sucks

8. Where is there a lot of
water we can tap into?

10. • 1,151,000 square miles
• 593,000 cfs on average
– 430 million acre-feet per year
• 3,065,000 cfs for a high
• 159,000 cfs for a low
The Mighty Mississippi
Texas: 270,000 square miles
cfs = cubic feet per second
Texas: 61,000 cfs

12. • 5.8 million acre-feet per year
• 1,400 miles; 71 pumping stations
• $6.3 billion in 1968
• $43 billion in 2015
• $300 per acre-foot in 1968
• $2,000 per acre-foot in 2015

15. • Bond proposal of $3.5 billion was placed
before voters in 1969 [$24b in 2015 $s]
• Would bring East Texas water to San Antonio
and Houston for municipal and industrial
needs
• Failed 315,793 to 309,516
– Houston voted against it 66,719 to 13,431

18. • 5.8 million acre-feet per year
• >1,000 miles
• >14,000 miles of laterals
• $20.5 billion in 1968
• $140 billion in 2015
• ~$330 per acre-foot in 1968
• $2,200 per acre-foot in 2015

20. • ~1,000 miles
• 1.3 to 8.7 million acre-feet per year
• $5 to 28 billion in 1982
• $13 to 70 billion in 2015
• $570 to 430 per acre-foot in 1968
• $1,400 to $1,000 per acre-foot in 2015

21. Billboard art by Mark Heckman, posted by Citizens for Michigan’s Future

23. Where else is there a lot
of water we can tap into?

26. (from Sewell 1967)
J.M. Parsons and Co.
1965
• Catchment of 1.3 million square miles
• 158 million acre-feet (80 for U.S.)
• One lake in the plan would be 500 miles
long and hold 500 million acre-feet
• One dam would be 1,700 feet tall
• Would irrigate an additional 40 million
acres in the U.S.; triple irrigation in Mexico
• $100 billion in 1965
• $760 billion in 2015
Senator Moss: “This is a plan that will not roll
over and die. It may be fifty years or it may be
a hundred years, but something like it will be
built.”

27. (from Kirsch 2013)

28. (from Tinney 1967)
• 150 million acre-feet
• No constructed storage
• $33 billion in 1967
• $252 billion in 2015

29. • 0.5 to 60 million acre-feet per year
• 3,200 miles
• $82 billion in 2009
• $90 billion in 2015
2009

32. editor of “Texas Water”, publication of
the Texas Water Conservation
Association, in 1966:
“Texas is going to have to get
along on the water resources
within its own borders for a
long time to come.”

33. Why it’s so hard to import water…
• “You want to do what?!?!?”
• Permitting
• Property rights
• Cost
• Big water requires big customers
• Environmental impacts
• Local (and more affordable) solutions

35. Big Ideas for a Big State:
The History (and Recent Past…) of
Water Importation to Texas
Robert E. Mace, Ph.D., P.G.
Texas Water Development Board
(512)936-0861
robert.mace@twdb.texas.gov
www.linkedin.com/in/robertemace