The drought that has gripped much of Texas since the fall of 2010 shows few signs of abating soon. The latest forecasts say that parched West and South Texas will remain dry, and that the state is likely to see above-average temperatures this spring, increasing evaporation from already strained reservoirs. The conditions could lead to severe water restrictions in some parts of the state.
The implications have finally sunk in among lawmakers and business leaders here, who like to boast about the economic appeal of Texas’ low taxes and relaxed regulatory environment: No water equals no business.
Notice that its being tied into business. Conservation - on its own - goes nowhere in the state, but if it is essential for business interests, then the state starts taking it seriously:
Officials from Gov. Rick Perry on down are focused on expanding water supplies. Doing nothing could create “a reputation that Texas is not a business-friendly state,” state Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, warned fellow lawmakers last month. Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business, agrees. “Clearly, not having an adequate water supply will harm us in terms of bringing jobs to Texas and is doing so now, already,” he said recently.
Cargill, the giant food producer, idled a beef-processing plant in Plainview in the Panhandle this year after ranchers thinned their herds because of dry pastures and soaring hay prices. Some 2,000 people lost their jobs in the town of 22,000. Power plants and other industrial operations that depend on water are also worried. One community close to Austin nearly ran out of water last year and had to truck in supplies. That’s a public relations disaster for a state that brags that it does things better than other places.
. . . Wes Perry, an oilman who doubles as Midland’s mayor, put it this way recently: As valuable as oil and gas are, he said, “we are worthless without water.”
