SAN ANGELO, TX -- Lake water from the Twin Buttes reservoir is flowing through Lake Nasworthy and down the irrigation canal to thirsty cotton fields near Veribest for the first time in about ten years.
Farmers in the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District #1 use all the City of San Angelo's waste water to irrigate 10,000 acres of cotton fields each year and since Twin Buttes now has 138,165 acre feet, farmers in the district have the right to 10,000 acre feet this irrigation season.
The farmers have the right to water in Twin Buttes because in the early 1960's, 120 farmers put up their farms as collateral so the Bureau of Reclamation would build Twin Buttes dam and the 65 miles of concrete lined irrigation canals east of San Angelo.
The City of San Angelo had requested the Bureau of Reclamation build the dam for municipal water use. Federal law required the reservoir to have more than one use; municipal, irrigation or electricity production. The farmers agreed to repay the Bureau for canal construction while the City agreed to repay the Bureau for dam construction and Twin Buttes was built.
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Twin Buttes Reservoir was completed in 1962 but didn't fill up until 1972 when the first water was gravity fed down the canal to the cotton fields.
The irrigation canal begins at the Lake Nasworthy dam and goes east. The boundaries of the District are FM 765 and Loop 306, the Concho River, and FM 1692.
Over 40 percent of irrigated cotton raised in Tom Green County are in the District.
Farmers in the District continue to repay the Bureau of Reclamation until 2031.
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Comments
Now that Twin Buttes has water the farmers want it. I say NO. In fact, I thought our Mayor had stopped this. For the farmers drill wells for water. Do not take the water from the only Lake here that's worth fishing in. When I lived in a place that did not have a lake we all had wells and they never ran out of water. Twin Buttes will be a wonderful fishing lake again if they leave the water there. If all of us could vote on them taking water I bet the they would have to stop. I would vote no everytime. FIND YOU ON WATER ON YOUR LAND.
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PermalinkThe farmers have a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation and the county water control district. If you read the article, 120 farmers put their farms up for collateral to build the 65 miles of irrigation canals and are still repaying the B of R until the year 2031. If these are indeed the facts, these farms are entitled to every drop they are promised. As stated, they are entitled to 10,000 acre ft, or about 7% of the current stockpile of water. It is entirely possible that they might not even use their entire allotment, as cotton doesn't require much water when the bolls are "popping".
The contract seals the deal, and any other argument is mute.
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PermalinkDrought stopped the irrigation. 10,000 to 15,000 acres of farm land prosper when the farmers have access to this irrigation channel full of water. Never heard about the mayor stopping the farmers from using it. That much water will put money into the farmers pocket, that money usually gets spent locally. Not sure our licensing fees for fishing puts back into our community half as much, although T.P.W.D. does put it to good use. When there's no drought, the water they have RIGHTS to use for irrigation doesn't adversely affect the level of T.B.R.
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