TX Response To Prospect Of New Climate In Which Rain Doesn't Come; New Reservoirs, Lots Of Them [View all]

[hatrack]

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Nonetheless, Texas’ interest in reservoirs is reviving as the drought persists and growing cities scramble for new water supplies. The state’s water planners envision 26 large new reservoirs over the next half-century, at a cost of $13.6 billion. Though few analysts think all of them will be built, a handful of proposals are inching forward, according to the Texas Water Development Board.

Reservoirs are an “efficient way to capture storm water,” said Thomas E. Taylor, the executive director of the Upper Trinity Regional Water District, which wants to build a $270 million reservoir known as Lake Ralph Hall northeast of Dallas. Mr. Taylor said that reservoirs provide a reliable water supply, and added that many farmers have built minireservoirs on their land.

But environmentalists say reservoirs are unnecessary, expensive and damaging to the land. “If we build this huge infrastructure and that demand isn’t there, that can be a really poor investment,” said Myron Hess, the manager of Texas water programs for the National Wildlife Federation. He said that climate change would bring warmer temperatures and make reservoirs even less worthwhile.

Already, analysts say, more water evaporates out of some major West Texas reservoirs than people use.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/us/with-lingering-drought-comes-plans-for-new-reservoirs.html?ref=earth&_r=0