Texas’ population is estimated to increase by more than 70% over the next 50 years, from over 29 million people in 2020 to more than 51 million by 2070.
With that population increase comes the need for more water, and about 45% of the water needed to sustain that population will need to come from conservation and reuse.
How will the state accommodate the influx of people and businesses moving in and have enough water for them and for those of us already here?
“Before you make a decision to move your new headquarters to Texas and to take advantage of the various tax benefits that are associated, the question you should be asking is, ‘Is there sufficient water for my industry to keep working?’” Sarah Schlessinger, CEO of Texas Water Foundation, told a crowd of over 200 at Southern Methodist University in November.
A conservation summit put on by Texan by Nature, a nonprofit organization started by Laura Bush, informed business leaders that the time to conserve the state’s natural resources, including water, is now.
Schlessinger said businesses and nonprofits need to consider water security in their Texas relocation plans, especially as the state continues to see rapid economic growth.
Many experts are calling on cities to start preparing for the growth to come.
Becky Grubbs-Bowling, assistant professor and extension lead at Texas A&M’s AgriLife Dallas urban water innovation and sustainability hub, said the demand is affecting our existing resources. Water conservation is at the forefront of researchers’ minds in educating the public.
“We are not going to have enough water to support the number of people that are living here,” Grubbs-Bowling said.
Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country. Collin County had the second-largest population growth of any U.S. county in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Whatever industry you’re from, whatever sector, you can see here that there is a challenge and it should concern every single one of you,” Schlessinger told business leaders.
But she said Texas is ahead of the curve just by having a water plan that looks at supply and demand.
Surging growth imperils sustainability
The Texas Water Development Board breaks down the state by regions to show the demand. The region that most of D-FW sits in is projected to continue to grow to over 8 million people by the year 2030, with demand surging in the same direction.
The state’s 50-year water plan addresses the needs of all user groups in the state — municipal, irrigation, manufacturing, livestock, mining and steam-electric power — during a repeat of the drought of record, according to the website.
The Texas Water Development Board says the capital cost to design, construct and implement its 2,400 recommended water management strategy projects by 2070 is $80 billion in 2018 dollars, without accounting for future inflation.
As millions of people move to North Texas over the next decade, water development boards have started planning for infrastructure improvements.
Considering the number of companies that relocated to D-FW in 2022, the largest relocation was industrial giant Caterpillar Inc. which moved its headquarters from suburban Chicago to Irving. The corporate move made D-FW home to 24 Fortune 500 companies.
In Caterpillar’s 2021 sustainability report, the firm created goals to reach by 2030, including the implementation of water management strategies at all of the company’s facilities in water high-risk areas.
Robert Horton, vice president of environmental and affairs at DFW International Airport, said the airport has monitored the critical dependencies it has on water. DFW is often cited as one of the main reasons firms relocate here.
“We have to look at our consumption and be responsible in how we consume water, but at the same time, the quality of water is also important,” Horton said.
Horton has seen a lot of attention being placed on development practices in the area, noting the location where DFW Airport resides.
“At the airport, we have to look at our landscape,” Horton said. “We have to look at the areas that are vulnerable and that are susceptible to flooding. We have to make sure that, in terms of our land development practices, we don’t compromise the natural systems ability to absorb some of those floods or that excessive rainfall event and trigger flooding that would damage infrastructure.”
He said the airport uses drought tolerant landscaping and fixtures that minimize water usage. The airport also purchased recycled and reclaimed water from Fort Worth for irrigation and the airport’s thermal energy system.
Abraham Tueme, director of sustainability at Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, said its D-FW facility is one of the most efficient for water usage in the firm. The company has seven production facilities, six of which are in Texas. Water is used from municipal water sources in manufacturing processes. The Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages plant uses water from the city of Fort Worth, which receives its raw water from the Tarrant Regional Water District.
In 2020, Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages partnered with the Coca-Cola Foundation, to pledge $2 million in support of The Nature Conservancy’s efforts to meet water needs across our region.
The firm works with cities for different alternatives to source water, sometimes using rainwater for usage such as washing Coca-Cola’s big rigs.
“It’s a very robust process and ideology on conservation, ensuring that we are able to operate in an efficient way that also protects generations of the future,” Tueme said.
Grocery store chain Kroger, which recently announced a mega-merger with Albertsons, has a “Zero Hunger, Zero Waste” social and environmental impact plan. Stores have implemented a five-point water-reduction retrofit program, which includes retrofitting pre-rinse spray valves, restroom faucet aerators, urinal flush valves, commodes and flush valves.
Outside the stores, the company retrofitted irrigation sprinkler systems to reduce water consumption and installed more drought-tolerant landscaping to further conserve.
There are many ways to try to prepare for that influx of people who will need water.
Schlessinger pointed business leaders to a new statewide initiative, “Texas Runs on Water.” It’s modeled to have the same impact as the slogan that made waves for anti-littering in Texas in 1986, “Don’t Mess with Texas.”
“Texas Runs on Water” launched last year in Houston, the Texas Hill Country and the Panhandle. This year, it plans to expand into West Texas, San Antonio and South Texas to continue to spread the message about water conservation.
“No water, no everything,” Schlessinger said. “We are one of the fastest growing states in the nation. We have one of the strongest economies in the world and it should be no surprise to you that we are also challenged with water insecurity.”
The state is looking at different ways to mitigate the problem.
Infrastructure takes years
The first new major reservoir in Texas in nearly 30 years is the Bois d’Arc Lake, a 16,641-acre lake northeast of Bonham in Fannin County. It took approximately 15 years of planning and permitting for construction to begin in May 2018.
The lake began to hold water in April 2021, according to the reservoir website. By spring 2023, water delivery is scheduled to begin.
When it is fully operational, it will provide water to over 2 million North Texans, providing up to 82 million gallons of water a day.
After last summer’s record drought, it was clear that water concerns are very real. The state is no longer under drought conditions, but droughts are unpredictable and can extend well beyond the summer. This year, Texas experienced its worst drought since 2011, when the a drought cost the state’s economy nearly $7.62 billion in direct agricultural losses and nearly $17 billion in total losses, according to the Texas Water Development Board.
“This present drought has spelled disaster for the state’s cotton industry,” Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in a statement earlier this year. Texas produces about 40% of the nation’s cotton, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates.
Grubbs-Bowling said people don’t connect with these sorts of problems until it happens to them.
Hegar visited with organizations that are involved in water planning and management.
“With the population ballooning and businesses booming, it comes as no surprise that Texas will need a lot of water to stay afloat,” Hegar said in a statement. “But planning for Texas’ future water needs requires the dedication and resourcefulness of organizations and passionate individuals.”
In 2021, Texan by Nature launched the Texas Water Action Collaborative, which matches companies with conservation projects to benefit Texas’ water resources. The program is doing a pilot project in the Trinity River basin and expanding to another river basin in Texas by the fourth quarter of this year to accelerate investments in water conservation.
Joni Carswell, president and CEO of Texan by Nature, said the group is encouraging companies to work with schools and scientists on conservation projects to satisfy their ESG goals. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) refers to standards for a company’s behavior.
Ambika Chandra, a professor at the University of Texas A&M, said she’s paying attention to the problem of the growing freshwater resources needed for human consumption. One of the solutions, and a bulk of Chandra’s research, involves turf-grass breeding.
Turf-grass breeding can be one solution to solving water usage. These holistic systems of turf grass can be used in lawns or athletic fields, and they need less water, Chandra said.
“We can breed the best drought-resistant variety of grass,” Chandra said. “But if our consumers are not educated enough to know how to reduce watering in their home lawns and other places, then you don’t see the impact as much as you wish to.”
It’s a challenge to educate Dallas residents about water quantity, Grubbs-Bowling said.
One of the quickest ways to shift behavior, Grubbs-Bowling said, is to channel education through kids. Agrilife creates community events to engage all ages.
“If you can get kids excited about something, they’re going to take it home and share it with their home and with their parents,” Grubbs-Bowling said.
