Water Program FAQs

A: The state of Texas is one of the most privately owned jurisdictions in the world. Approximately 95 percent of the state’s land is privately held.

The implications for the environment and water resources are profound. Texas has become one of the most urbanized states in the United States, and, as a result, large tracts of agricultural and rural land are lost every year to development and sprawl. With increasing tax burdens passed from one generation to the next, more inherited rural land is sold for development than ever before.

As the size of tracts of land in Texas diminishes, wildlife habitat is lost, open space disappears, and, most noteworthy for the future of the state, the function of watersheds is irrevocably impaired.

In fact, the issues associated with ensuring sufficient clean water for both economic growth and the environment is the most significant and urgent environmental concern facing Texas in this generation.

The recent record droughts of 2008-2009 and 2011—one that The New York Times reported as the “worst one-year drought since Texas began keeping rainfall records in 1895” with the “real fear that this may not be a one- or two-year drought, but the kind that lasts for 30 or 40 years…”—highlight Texas’s water resource challenge.

A: In response to the 1950s drought-of-record, the Texas Water Development Board instituted a process for adopting a state water plan. The State Water Plan is updated every five years, and a new $53.1 billion plan was approved in December 2011. (link here)

The plan’s primary message is that, in serious drought conditions, Texas DOES NOT and WILL NOT have enough water to meet the needs of its people, its businesses, and its agricultural enterprises. It emphasizes that not implementing the plan could have dire economic consequences; economic losses could soar to $116 billion by 2060.

A: The population in Texas is expected to increase by 82 percent by 2060. Texas’s water supplies are simply not adequate to support growing demand.

The good news is that, during this same time period, water demand will increase by only 22 percent. The not-so-good news is that current water supplies will decrease about 10. This means Texas will need an additional 8.3 million acre-feet of water supply by 2060. Not meeting this need could result in the loss of more than one million jobs and a reduction in state revenue of approximately $116 billion by 2060.

A: This is an important observation. Demand for municipal and industrial uses will INCREASE significantly; however, demand for agricultural irrigation water is expected to DECREASE during this same period.

A:On February 24, 2012, after two years of deliberation, the Court ruled on the case Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day (link)—one of the most significant water law cases in decades. In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled that a landowner owns the groundwater under his or her land “in place” as a property right that cannot be taken for public use without adequate compensation guaranteed by the Takings Clause of the Texas Constitution. (link)?

The decision is likely to have wide-ranging effects for landowners’ rights, as well as impact on the regulation of groundwater by the state’s 96 established groundwater conservation districts.

A: Water is, arguably, the most important long-term issue facing the state of Texas. The foundation has the ability to take a centrist position so as to be able to ask hard questions and to look for solution-based answers in a non-politically charged environment.

Water issues are controversial, and it is often difficult for policymakers to address the deeply rooted systemic issues, such as?

1. the disconnect in policy between groundwater and surface water;
2. agricultural inefficiencies;
3. infrastructure leakage;
4. tradeoffs between the environment and the economy;
5. the growing disconnect between competing users of water such as agricultural vs. urban, recreational vs. agricultural, and environmental vs. municipal.

A: A lot of hard work went into developing Texas’s State Water Plan, and there is no doubt that it’s a strong plan with well-intentioned practices.

The process for developing a state water plan was put in place in response to the 1950s drought of record—a process that placed Texas as a leader among states in water planning. The planning process is a bottom-up approach, designed so communities may contribute input into their water future.

However, the current plan does not take into consideration a number of items, including

1. the plan’s list of desired infrastructure projects does not rank the projects by priority;
2. the plan does not contain strategies for conservation, although 25 percent of futurewater supplies are projected to come from conservation;
3. the plan does not take into consideration water for the environment;
4. the plan does not take into consideration new demands for water by hydraulic fracturing;
5. the plan does not take into consideration climate trends;
6. importantly, there is no funding mechanism in place to pay for the plan’s infrastructure and conservation strategies.

A: Consistent with the sustainability science approach that characterizes the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation’s grantmaking, the foundation’s Water Program aims to increase the scientific understanding of water issues in Texas, which informs the design of effective policy approaches to ensure that water quantity and quality needs of both humans and the environment are met. ?

To address the dysfunction of water management in Texas, the Water Program’s resources are deployed to

1. define the Grand Challenges of water management and the scientific investigations necessary to address intractable questions;
2. increase understanding of the real but non-quantifiable value of Texas’s water resources and associated ecosystem services;
3. effectively and innovatively highlight and educate the public about water challenges and solutions;
4. educate leaders and decision-makers about feasible, enforceable measures to strategically target the identified Grand Challenges.

A: There are three (3) parts to the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation’s Water Program, including:

1. Science and convening: CGMF is convening the best thinkers on science and water policy in Texas to better understand the major challenges (referred to as “Grand Challenges”) so as to better figure out sustainable solutions for water in the state.
2. Valuing water: CGMF is investing in understanding the value of water beyond its economic uses. For example, the foundation is working to understand the role and value of water in preserving habitat and species, recreational purposes, preserving fresh water needed in the Gulf of Mexico, and keeping Texas beautiful.
3. Educating: Through a series of public events, the foundation is highlighting Texas’s critical water situation.