Water is LIFE, and Torrance County’s dwindling water supply threatens the well-being of not only its human residents, but also that of the livestock and crops that our farmers and ranchers rely on. Our water issue isn’t just a single issue. It’s really three separate, but obviously closely related issues. We have a water conservation issue, an acquisition issue and a distribution issue.
CONSERVATION: There appears to be no organized effort, at the county level, to deal with the obvious waste of our precious and scarce water supply. Why not? While it’s important that farmers be able to water their crops, the concept of throwing water up into the air in hopes that enough makes it to the ground and soaks in to nourish the crops is obvious waste. A certain percentage of the water used, depending on the air’s humidity and the wind, will evaporate before it ever lands on the leaves of the plants. Once it’s sitting on the leaves, even more will evaporate. Then the remainder will sit on the ground, with more evaporating while the balance gradually seeps into the soil. This waste is especially obvious where the large center-pivot irrigations systems are in use. Other governments have required the use of “drag hoses” to minimize the evaporation. Why not Torrance County?
Waste through evaporation and run-off isn’t restricted to large-scale agriculture. While it’s not as obvious in Torrance County as it is in places like Albuquerque, sprinklers for grass lawns at private homes and in front of businesses also contribute to the problem through run-off down the roads and streets. We need to do our best to minimize the amount of water we waste on unnecessary decor and promote xeriscaping instead of grass lawns.
Finally, we need to be aware of invasive non-native wild plant growth and reduce the amount of water that particularly “thirsty” trees and shrubs consume, and minimize or eradicate certain non-native species of plants.
ACQUISITION: Torrance County groundwater is being pumped up from the underground aquifer at an unsustainable rate. Moreover, much of the groundwater that’s available isn’t suitable for agriculture or human/livestock consumption because of its high levels of salt. Reports indicate that the line between unsuitably brackish groundwater and potable groundwater is currently 3-5 miles east of Route 41 and gradually moving west. If the brackish water begins to hit the water supplies of the municipalities along 41, we’ll have a disaster on our hands, yet the Torrance County Board of Commissioners has not gotten integrally involved in projects by similarly threatened communities to find ways to treat and utilize brackish water. The time for that attitude to change is NOW!
DISTRIBUTION: With private wells for individual homes and ranches running dry or going brackish, we frequently see people filling up water 5-gallon bottles of water at water stations in towns and even more frequently see pickup trucks with 275-gallon, 330-gallon and even 450-gallon water tanks in the bed of the truck. Bottled water is great for drinking and cooking, but that doesn’t solve the problems of taking a shower or bath. Filling a livestock watering trough from a truck-based water tank is at best inconvenient, and sometimes prohibitively expensive for smaller ranchers. While it would take many years, and be very expensive, to build a comprehensive water distributions system, Continuing to ignore the problem because it’s too big won’t make the problem go away. Solutions need to be proposed and discussed as soon as possible.