Danny Frank's Blog

Published February 20, 2007

If suddenly oil disappeared and we were forced to find alternatives to energy, we could adapt in short order simply by placing greater urgency on options already in development. It’s understood crude is a finite resource.

That would not be true of another finite resource, one which is required for human existence to continue — water. In fact, potable water is one of the world’s most sought-after commodities, something we in the United States often take for granted.

That’s not the case anymore as development continues to pull at the amount of available water in big cities and small towns alike, including Brazoria County. We rely on our local leaders to safeguard our supply of drinking water from being taken by outside sources.

Our county commissioners are doing just that with their opposition to a plan by the Texas City-based Gulf Coast Water Authority, which serves customers in Brazoria, Fort Bend and Galveston counties, to divert 55,000 acre-feet of water per day destined for Chocolate Bayou from the Brazos River. The majority of that water is intended to serve Pearland, the water authority says, with 13,000 acre-feet destined for Galveston County customers.

If the proposal is not approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, it would mean that the 55,000 acre-feet conveyance would remain in Chocolate Bayou and the water authority would have to build pump stations and a pipeline to move the water to Pearland, said Robert Istre, general manager for the Gulf Coast Water Authority.

Water authority officials emphasize that they don’t believe the diversion will significantly affect Brazoria County’s water capacity, but county officials, farmers and industry are not so sure.

Farmers rely on Chocolate Bayou to help irrigate their field, and Dow Texas Operations used the bayou for some of its operations. And those are just the existing customers, not accounting for the growth creeping south through the county — homes and people that will require water service down the line.

“I think the water needs to stay in Brazoria County,” County Judge E.J. “Joe” King said last week. “I think it’s going to hurt the farmers and eventually, it’s going to hurt our development.”

County officials are wise to have a long-term concern for the limited supply of water for southern Brazoria County. What might not be a significant drain on water capacity now could be in years to come, when it will be too late to act.

This editorial was written by Michael Morris, assistant managing editor of The Facts.

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