What say you

http://www.texastribune.org/plus/water/vol-2/no-19/new-plan-adopted-colorado-river-cumbaya-meeting/

should have built big reservoirs in Wharton 50 years ago to catch the run off after it floods

Too many people in Texas sucking us dry. Everybody that is not at least 3rd generation should be limited to 3 gallons of water a day for all uses.

I dare you to try and enforce that around my house. I guarantee you there will be one less "3rd generation Texan" to worry about keeping hydrated...

Those lakes were built for flood control, and water supply for downstream. (and some of them for hydro electricity, which always stay full, so the lower lakes are affected even worse when they don't get inflow)

Then rich folks decide to build multi million dollar homes on lakes like Travis where levels always go up and down, and are surprised and mad that it is low and can't park their $100,000 ski boat beside their dock?

It is sad...the lake will rise again and be "normal" for the lake folks someday. However, if they shut down water resources to rice farmers, those rice farms will convert to rangeland, and likely eventually developed. Never to return as rice again. Not only will that area decrease for waterfowl and other coastal ecosystems, but many peoples livelihood.

My

LBJ and Marble Falls are always full...guess it pays being a Horseshoe Bay fat cat.

Bottom line...too many people , not enough water to go around...it'll get worse too

I think it sucks to put water restrictions on the farmers.

Yup. Just shows you people do not know where the food they eat comes from.

Nobody mentions the amount of water that the computer chip companies in Austin use to cool their machinery. It is always the same lake house owner vs the farmer. These large corporations moving to central Texas combined with the massive amount of people projected to move into the area will put a great stress on the water resources that are already limited. The Wilcox-Carrizo idea is another short term solution. Time to start looking at desalination plants along the coast. The cost of living in Texas will rise dramatically in the future as water becomes the most sought after resource instead of oil.

he is at least a 3rd generation, therefore I bet he could take you

Outlaw sprinkler systems and see residential water usage fall by over 50%

Rich folks will beoch tho. Its amazing how little water you use in a month if your not spraying it on your yard.

Your probably right. Them 3rd geners are some bad sons of beeches...lol

As long as those golf courses stay green 365 days a year....

curious about the chip companies that someone mentinoed and also power plants. I always assumed that most of the water that got pumped in for cooling got pumped back into the lakes or streams when done. Is this water being absorbed?

Don't know which I want to choose, the no water, or the no food option. As stated, rice farmers who can afford switching to groundwater have been doing just that, impacting the Gulf Coast aquifer. Nearby residents have accused the farmers' pumping of causing their wells to go dry.

Put a wall on the northern, eastern, western and southern border. Austin and all the cities to the coast are a problem, everybody here contributes to the problem and no easy fix if we want to continue with a good economy with good jobs we need water.

You guys do realize that domestic water usage accounts for less than 10% total water usage? If you want to go after someone about excessive water usage go after the major companies fracking or these thermoelectric plants. Agriculture and energy account for well over half of water usage. By no means is any surface water legally yours, with the exception of smaller tanks etc, it belongs to the State of Texas and recreation is on the bottom of the tolem pole. Groundwater is a different story and although the rule of capture is still in effect, it would not suprise me to see it taken out of effect soon with the situation we are facing.

I am not sure where you are getting your figures
http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2013/06...-central-texas/

http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/water_use_today.html and about 90 credit hours of water related classes. Percentages will vary across region to region but I was referring to an overall aspect of water usage. It does make sense that domestic usage would be higher in an area such as austin as the article you linked suggests. Higher population=higher domestic usage. But in an overall collection of data around the state domestic usage is a fraction compared to what agriculture and energy sectors use.

Tarletons state-water resources degree
Texas A&M-water quality and management. (In progress)

Its not completely no water vs no food. Its no food vs no green yards, dry boat docks/ramps, ect.

There is plenty of water to drink but, that's not enough for the cities that also like their creature comforts.