Texas Water Utilities hydrogeologist says conserving water is essential

HAYS COUNTY — More than 20 million Texans are currently in areas of drought and 100% of people in Hays County are being affected by drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Texas Water Utilities Hydrogeologist Carly Peach spoke about the lack of rainfall and unprecedented high temperatures causing drought conditions and putting the state’s water supply under immense pressure.

Effects of drought on aquifers

Aquifers are recharged through surface water, which has to go underground. These sources include rain, streams, rivers and wetlands.

There are two types of aquifers. Unconfined aquifers, such as the Edwards Aquifer, are exposed to the Earth’s surface, whereas confined aquifers have a layer of dense geologic material, which are typically clays, that prevents water from seeping into the aquifer from land surface, according to Peach. Unconfined aquifers are typically more responsive to drought, meaning that water level changes are seen here first rather than in a confined aquifer.

“The unconfined can be recharged by direct precipitation, so rain soaks into the ground. The confined aquifers are a little bit different. [They] are much deeper, overlain by several layers of geologic material … They're typically recharged by streams and rivers and there's conduits and cracks in the rock to get into those confined aquifers,” Peach said. “Levels decline basically when more is withdrawn from the aquifers than is recharged. It's just a basic mass balance, if you will. So, if you're taking more than you're putting in, water levels go down.”

While there is a severe drought happening right now across the state of Texas, Peach said that aquifers are recharged seasonally.

“It's very normal for water levels and aquifers to go up and down seasonally. We call that a water year; a water year is different than a calendar year. It's kind of like fiscal years are different than calendar years. We go from wet to wet and there's usually a dry period in there,” she said. “Water levels are always gonna fluctuate seasonally. We'll just notice them more, of course, during drought because the fluctuations can be more extreme.”

Peach reiterated that droughts are only temporary, even when it may feel like they are lasting a long time.

“[Jacob’s Well and Blue Hole Regional Park] are very drought responsive because of the structure of the aquifer in that area. What I mean by drought responsive is that we see the effects of drought on them very quickly. So, we also see the same effects in lakes, rivers [and] streams. We see lack of flow, we see lake levels going down. And the same thing is happening underground in our wells,” she explained. “I totally understand how difficult it is to see precious places like this under dry conditions. Places like these are areas where we make memories and lots of generations have stories to tell about them or we like to take our kids there. But I think a really important thing to remember, in the midst of a drought, is that it is temporary. Droughts are temporary. Droughts end and water levels rise. We will see these places respond as we recover from the drought. So, just like we see them go down, that drought responsiveness, they also respond to recovery. It's not forever.”

Conservation & being considerate in a drought

Small changes in daily water conservation habits can make a big and lasting impact in the communities that people live in.

“Conservation is a big buzz word, but I wonder how much of us really stop to consider all that it entails. Small efforts by a great group of people add up to really big positive effects,” Peach said.

People can do their part in conserving water by doing the following:

• Don’t water the lawn if local restrictions advise against it

• Use car washes because they use less water than the garden hose at home

• Only running the dishwasher and washing machine when there is a full load in it

• Turn off the sink when brushing teeth

“The way I think about it is, if it's a choice between me watering that brown spot on my grass or my neighbors having a shower, I try to think about which activity is most important … If you don't turn off the sink when you brush your teeth, the average person is going to use about four gallons. If you just wet your toothbrush, brush your teeth [and] rinse your toothbrush off, you use like a tenth of a gallon. I mean, it's a huge difference. And if you think about your entire household brushing your teeth twice a day, you can save a lot of water,” Peach said. “It's all those little things. It's the cumulative effect of lots of people just doing little actions every day. Pretty soon, you won't even think about it. It'll just be habit. So that's the best thing you can do to help conserve our water resources during drought.”

More information about the drought conditions in Hays County can be found at www.drought.gov/states/texas/county/Hays or www.bseacd.org/regulatory/droughtinformation. Water conservation resources can be found at www.swwc.com/h2ome-old/water-conservation.