In Drought, Abbott [Texas (R) Gov Candidate] Keeps Lawn Green by Drilling
Source: Texas Tribune
With what has been described as the worst drought in recorded history punishing parts of Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott found a way to keep watering his yard without risking fines or incurring huge monthly bills: He drilled his own well.
Now his lawn is green, and there are no pesky city watering restrictions to worry about.
He is not alone. Abbott, the leading 2014 candidate for Texas governor, has joined an exclusive and growing list of Austin residents. That list includes Ben Crenshaw, the golfing legend, and Mack Brown, the University of Texas football coach residents who are coping with the drought and rising water bills by procuring their own private water supply underneath their land.
* * *
Abbott installed his well a few months before the city began aggressively enforcing its lawn-watering restrictions, issuing at least $11,000 in fines since August. In Abbotts upscale West Austin neighborhood of Pemberton Heights, where lawns are remarkably green, some residents have put up signs that read Watering by Private Well to avoid reproach at a time when most of Austin can water grass only once a week.
Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2013/11/10/drought-abbott-keeps-his-lawn-green-drilling/
Nice to know that the Texas AG is being conscious of drought conditions by being creative in avoiding drought restrictions.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)by drilling, a city could also, but it would probably be cost prohibitive and the water dept couldn't get sky high profit. I'm probably missing the mark but people will starve or die of thirst before any concern would forego profit.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Then it doesn't matter how deep you drill.
Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)It's the same here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Lots of people irrigate their lawns and gardens with private wells. If anything the runoff flows back into streams and rivers where it winds up contributing to the source. What pisses me off is they initiate water restrictions for residents while allowing commercial operators to water all they want. Year round I see them watering the streets along with their property, sometimes even in the rain. On the few days when we get freezing conditions it creates unpredictable ice sheets that cause frequent accidents.
Hestia
(3,818 posts)I thought they were starting to issue major fines that type of behavior - watering concrete instead of your lawn.
Also, I think this article misses a bigger issue. Watering lawns in a drought, period. In Texas, I can definitely see watering your foundation because of the soil composition, and if any bushes or grass benefit, so be it. But to flaunt watering grass in times of drought? No. Food, yes. (Food Not Lawns Movement) Try Xeriscaping. It will look so much better and require about 1/10 of the water.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)Most of them are using recycled water, though I suppose some could be using well water
Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)I live in an area that is ruled by the chamber of commerce. Most businesses have bright green lawns so you know they aren't complying. It's also against the rules for them to water the pavement and to water between 10am-6pm, but that's very common as well.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)those restrictions don't apply. But I could be wrong, I'll call my friend who lives in Austin, he get incensed over these types of things
Nac Mac Feegle
(969 posts)All it would take is just one idiot to toss out a lit cigarette butt, and ..........
Instant Karma????
Snake Plissken
(4,103 posts)mc51tc
(219 posts)The small community of Barnhart, Texas west of San Angelo is in the heart of the "fracking" area occurring all over much of Texas now. Last July, the wells in town went dry because the oil companies were pumping all the water for fracking needs. The city of San Angelo with a population over 100,000 has less than a years supply of water. That is not stopping people who own water wells there from selling the precious commodity for fracking needs. Can you spell DUMB! Try to drink that oil to live!
rurallib
(62,387 posts)as the city? If they are they are simply taking more than their share in a different way.
gopiscrap
(23,726 posts)Major Nikon
(36,818 posts)That's why they let you water all you want if you have a well.
rurallib
(62,387 posts)Stuart G
(38,414 posts)I couldn't have thought this one up....He defines himself a year before the election...no way around this one..
gopiscrap
(23,726 posts)Stuart G
(38,414 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Oh the privileged have it so tough.
Botany
(70,449 posts)He can plant his lawn in Buffalo Grass and Texas Bluebonnets* and skip the watering
for an unneeded and unnatural lawn. This is a perfect example of a republican who
doesn't "get it" and doesn't care who effects as long as he "gets his."
Guaranteed he is pumping the water @ a rate greater then the rate it is being recharged
at. This should help Wendy Davis get some votes because a lot of people understand
what it is to be dewatered by a neighbor's well.
* Buffalo Grass lawn
Texas Bluebonnets
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Those bluebonnets must be like our California poppies, which thrive in dry conditions. Thanks for sharing
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)I've never seen such a healthy uncontaminated swath of buffalo grass except maybe at the Natural Gardener. It's certainly no miracle grass, sually weeds creep in, requiring either hand pulling or spraying with herbicides and still requires fertilizer to look good. And buffalo is drought tolerant because it turns brown when water stress sets in, like most other drought tolerant grasses. There are some bermudas that have performed better than buffalo.
http://itc.tamu.edu/documents/2008FinalReportSAWS&TPT_s.pdf
In Austin the big trend seems to be using sedge lawns in shade or small patches of grass surrounded by gravel, mulch or decomposed granite. Pam Penick (penick.net) wrote a book called Lawn Gone, which has a number of alternatives to traditional lawns. Personally my favorite choices are either to use small patches of whatever kind of grass you like best (soft zoysias are very nice) or use large flat rocks with grass only between the rocks - when it rains the water runs off the rocks to the grass, enhancing the amount of water they get in a shower.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)hatrack
(59,578 posts)And under the Law of Capture (basic water law doctrine) he can pump as much as he wants, even if it depletes his neighbors' supplies, provided he's not doing it with intentional malice or wastefulness.
How a shiny green How-Many-Kinds-Of-Sweet-Flowers-Grow-In-An-English-Country-Garden lawn can be viewed as anything but wasteful when it's deep in the heart of Texas is beyond me, but then, I'm not the chief law enforcement office for the state.
Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)Since most of Texas can't afford to building their own well due to draconian employment policy here.
dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)this fascination with picture-perfect green lawns....