The facts are stark. During the 2011-2012 period of drought, Texas experienced:
- 10 percent or 500 million trees lost (Texas Forest Service, Jan. 2012)
- Drop to 58 percent reservoir storage, lowest since 1974 (TWDB, Feb. 2012)
- $7.62 billion in crop and livestock losses (AgriLife, Mar. 2012)
- On June 25, 2012, record peak electricity use average 65,047 mw (ERCOT)
- Highest percentage population growth of any state (Census Bureau)
Leading into that period of drought, in 2010-2011, Texas suffered its driest August–July (12-month) period on record, according to State of the Climate Global Hazards August 2011 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center. And in August 2011, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) officials warned power users that the electric grid could experience a "high probability" of rolling blackouts during the extended period of 100-plus degree temperatures and urged conservation.
Collectively, the cumulative effect of these extraordinary occurrences represent a perfect storm taking shape in Texas - a storm that could be devastating to the economy and human needs if the state fails to act to effectively mitigate both drought- and power-related issues. The question is simple, but frightening: Can Texas provide sufficient supplies of water and power not only for future generations, but for this generation?
ERCOT, a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature, manages the flow of electric power to 23 million Texas customers, representing 85 percent of the state's electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects 40,500 miles of transmission lines and more than 550 generation units.
Water planning in Texas is divided into 16 regional groups that identify water needs, assess potential water supplies and recommend strategies for meeting those needs. The plans developed by these regional planning groups will be adopted by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) as the 2012 State Water Plan. GBRA is a member of the South Central Texas group, also called Region L.
In the 2011 State Water Plan, conservation is a "recommended" water management strategy, along with a variety of projects proposed by the regional groups that would utilize existing surface water supplies, groundwater, aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), brackish groundwater and/or any combination of those sources. Most of these projects are proposed to commence between now and the next 30 to 40 years. They range in size, with some potentially yielding supplies of up to 50,000 acre-feet of water.
Projects that produce higher yields of water, such as seawater desalination (or "desal"), are not included among recommended strategies in the State Water Plan, but are listed in the category of "requiring further study and funding," with actual development as far off as 2060. Data from the TWDB indicate about 44 desalination plants have been built for public water supplies in Texas, but none using seawater.
"If the droughts of recent years have taught us anything, they should have taught us that shelving seawater desalination in the state water plan for the next 50 years is absolute folly," W.E. "Bill" West, Jr., GBRA general manager, said.
"In the Guadalupe watershed, we have one of the highest growth areas in the state - the I-35 and Texas 130 corridors in Comal, Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe counties," West said, adding, "I really don't see how this area of the state is going to manage without a substantial source of new water in the next 10 to 20 years. It is not enough to simply acknowledge there is a water crisis; we must do something about it, and soon."
Desalination refers to processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water in order to produce fresh water that is suitable for human consumption or irrigation.
Brine results from the desalination process and is a mixture of water saturated with or containing large amounts of a salt. Disposal of seawater brine certainly will present challenges.
But, desalinated seawater from the Gulf of Mexico represents an untapped, unlimited resource for the state of Texas. While the practice is fairly new to the U.S., many countries around the world have amassed an extensive track record for its costeffective implementation.
At least one entity in the state, Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB), has been taking serious steps toward pursuing a seawater desalination plant.
And, while the Brownsville project can have a significant local impact, the larger opportunity is to find a way to develop an integrated power-water project that not only provides huge amounts of water, but also adds to the Texas power grid. Power is the key to a large desal plant - power to remove the salt and minerals from the water and more power to pump the water where
it is needed.
A series of new gas-fired power plants could be hooked to a desal water-processing facility, using one power plant for the desal operation and the others to generate new capacity for the grid. Certainly, such a flagship facility - if it makes operational, economic and environmental sense - could make a big dent in the dual power-water problem.
In order to flesh out the concept, GBRA is leading the effort to commission a feasibility study, led by Les Shephard, Ph.D., director of the Sustainable Energy Research Institute at the University of Texas at San Antonio. "We have to answer all the key questions about such a project," West said. "First, can it be done? Second, how much will it cost? Third, where should it be located? Fourth, what are the possible environmental impacts and how can they be dealt with?"
(May 2009) A desalination plant in the Lanzarote, a Spanish island in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of
Africa.
On April 13, 2012, GBRA released a "request for qualifications (RFQ)," inviting engineering firms to submit qualifications for preparing a feasibility study for the new regional water supply and power generation project. According to the RFQ, the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute and the Center for Water Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio will serve as the Project Manager for this project. The deadline for firms to submit qualifications is 2 p.m. Sept. 12, 2012.
Given the scope of such a study, it will not be inexpensive, West said. "Eventually, we are going to need additional funding. Feasibility is just the first part of the puzzle."
Since 2002, the TWDB has been required to submit a Biennial Report on Seawater Desalination as part of a seawater desalination initiative begun in April 2002. In the most recent report, submitted to the Governor's Office in December 2010, the TWDB indicated it had awarded about $3.3 million to fund eight studies directly related to advancing seawater desalination in Texas.
Two feasibility and pilot plant studies conducted by the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) in 2004 and 2008 provided sufficient data to prepare a preliminary design for a 25 million gallon-per-day plant to be installed at the Brownsville ship channel. The estimated cost for that project was $182.4 million. A more recent proposal from BPUB is to implement a 2.5-million-gallon-per-day production plant at the Brownsville ship channel without provisions for future expansion. The estimated cost for this plant is $22.5 million. In its role as an electric power utility, the BPUB is considering a $6 million investment in renewable energy to be developed in conjunction with the seawater desalination project, according to the Biennial Report.
In an article in the April 5, 2012, Houston Chronicle, State Rep. Bill Callegari (R-Katy) wrote, "More than 6,000 desalination plants worldwide transform seawater into a potable resource. Some countries, such as Israel, Australia and India, have aggressively pursued desalination as a water supply strategy. Texas, with its extensive Gulf coastline, has not."
Callegari also noted, "Although desalination promises a reliable new water supply, it's not predicted to become a major part of our water portfolio. According to the state water plan, by year 2060 only 3.4 percent of our water will come from desalinated sources. Of that amount, 1.4 percent will be desalinated seawater and the other 2 percent treated brackish groundwater."
He said that the linchpin to making desalination work involves developing and using newer, innovative technologies that reduce energy consumption and help dispose of saline brine.
Water and power conversations are continuing and building momentum around the state, as the continuing drought and its accompanying hot weather have highlighted both energy and water shortfalls. As for a big integrated power-water desalination project for Texas, only a thorough, extensive study can answer the big questions.
