By Ed Sterling.
State Comptroller Susan Combs on Jan. 14 released “Texas Water Report: Going Deeper For The Solution,” a study of water issues Texas faces, and a set of recommendations.
“Texas has been prone to cycles of drought for centuries and there is no reason to expect that basic pattern to change,” Combs said in bringing attention to the report. “Yet our state has changed and its booming population and economy are creating an increasingly unquenchable demand for water,” she added.
Available now at the comptroller’s web site (cpa.state.tx.us) the report also explains the $2 billion in new funding for water projects approved Nov. 5 by voters in a constitutional amendment. Voter approval was a positive step, Combs said, adding, “We need a revolution in water technology. We need a breakthrough in this field, and some of our state funding should be used for innovative technologies which increase conservation.”
In the report, Combs recommends:
• A “prize framework” to be established by the Legislature, “to reward those who develop proven new, cheap sources of drinking water.”
• Cost-effective supplements to reservoirs and aquifers.
• A grant program to provide assistance to local water authorities “including but not limited to” cities, counties, river authorities, water conservation districts and municipal utility districts that achieve “meaningful and verifiable increases in water efficiency due to conservation activities.”
“Although we tend to point to the historic drought as a singular cause for our water problems today, we’re not blameless,” said state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, in quoted material included in Combs’ release.
“Moreover, there exists no single silver bullet solution. To make matters more complicated, Texas is so geographically and meteorologically diverse, that what may work in one part of the state would be ineffective in another. That is why it is so critical that the Legislature continue to promote conservation and innovation for municipal, industrial and agricultural water uses,” Duncan said.
Drought disaster continues
Gov. Rick Perry on Jan. 16 renewed his July 5, 2011 drought disaster proclamation certifying that exceptional drought conditions posed a threat in 120 counties in Texas.
“State rules and regulations that may inhibit or prevent prompt response to this threat are suspended for the duration of the state of disaster,” according to the document.
Get flu shot, says first lady
With medical providers seeing an increase in flu across Texas, Anita Perry, first lady of Texas, on Jan. 9 said it’s not too late for Texans to get immunized.
“As a nurse, I know how safe and effective the flu vaccine is, and how easy it is to get. I’m urging all Texans to protect themselves and their fellow Texans from this potentially deadly disease by getting vaccinated,” she said in a Jan. 9 announcement along with state Health and Human Services Commissioner Kyle Janek.
Flu kills an average of 23,600 Americans a year, say statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ed Sterling works for the Texas Press Association and follows the Legislature for the organization.
