O.C. Fisher Reservoir Depleted, Nasworthy Water Sent Downstream

 

O.C. Fisher Reservoir, which had been supplementing the City of San Angelo’s water supply, has been depleted. At the same time, the City is increasing the amount of water it must release from Lake Nasworthy to downstream water rights holders, as required by the Concho Water Master Program.

The convergence of Fisher’s depletion and the necessary release of water downstream will dramatically affect the level of Lake Nasworthy, which is currently at 70 percent of its capacity. The City’s Water Utilities Department continues to monitor the lake’s level to advise citizens who live around the lake and those who use the reservoir for recreational activities of the changing conditions.

Without replenishing rainfall, Nasworthy’s level will continue to decline. To date this year, San Angelo has recorded only 0.06 inches of rainfall compared to 1.43 inches last year and a year-to-date average of 1.01 inches.

During the fall and winter months, Nasworthy’s decline has been minimal – about 1 percentage point of its capacity per week. Water usage is lowest in the winter – about 9 million gallons per day – as are evaporation rates. Summertime usage can be two to three times that amount, depending upon the watering restrictions in place. Without adequate rainfall, Lake Nasworthy’s water level will see even more dramatic changes in the spring and summer.

The City is currently relying upon O.H. Ivie Reservoir for most of its raw water needs. Ivie is at 13 percent of its capacity. San Angelo has less than 15 months of available water supply, assuming no rainfall or runoff during that span. That supply will be supplemented this fall by up to 9 million gallons from the Hickory Aquifer. A facility to treat the Hickory’s groundwater is under construction.

The City urges lakefront homeowners to monitor the lake for changing conditions.

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That is a sad, sad picture! Thank you, Chelsea Schmid, for some great writing and reporting, everyday! As for our water shortages, you'd think that these things would have been planned for MANY years before now. We should be shipping in water instead of oil, and we should be conserving water instead using millions of gallons on oil production practices. And how many of the new buidings in San Angelo and Tom Green County are required to have gray water recycling? Oh to have hindsight! But we still have foresight, so I say studies and planning far ahead is the way to go!

Thanks for the compliment, but I can't take credit for this one. This is a press release written and issued from Anthony Wilson, the City's Pulbic Information Officer. 

My dad, who passed away 14 years ago, was a long time rancher and farmer in this area. He always said that "the real wars and conflicts were not going to be over oil, it was going to be over water". Alternative energy can and has been accomplished. I haven't seen much advancement in the areas of "alternative water" technologies. 10 years ago I had a beautiful and low water usage landscape installed on my property in the college hills area. The uproar about me not having the green yard was overwhelming, even though all of their yards were brown by the middle of July, the neighbors hated me. Well, having no water will force the people to conserve. The motto has always been, "that's a great idea, but not in my house".
The city had a contingency plan several years ago by purchasing the rights to the Hickory Aquifer. Now, they are cashing in on those bets and we should see the results sometime this fall (inshala). So, while there may be complaints abound, I think the city did/is doing its best within the limitations it faces (corruption, greed, lack of foresightedness, city growth, etc.) I'm sure the city is considering the next contingency, but it will take time, money, resources and access. These are all based on personal, and political agendas, from the city council member to the farmers who own the land. Regardless, I'm still left with one nagging question that I just can't seem to get off my back. Why can't the city/count/ystate collaborate with those states to the east of us to develop a runoff pipeline to divert excess water from the mighty Miss or excess rainfall?. I understand this effort was attempted many years ago but ran into political opposition (imagine that!). Honestly, I find it rather disturbing, every time I travel through Louisiana and Mississippi, to see towns suffering from flooding ro excess water. While I'm no rocket scientist, I'd be wiling to bet we can redirect some of their excess. I mean, if we can build pipelines that traverses a continent for oil, why can't we build one for water? Perhaps we could begin a petition? I'm not sure how that works. I'm gonna go fill up my pool and then take a 1/2 hour long shower so I can ponder on this a bit...

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