River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado

Notes

Notes Chapter 1 1. The USGS officially locates the source of the Colorado River at Latitude 32° 40’ 47” N, Longitude 101° 43’ 51” W, which puts it at the foot of the Caprock Escarpment. Because maps of the Colorado River Basin, or watershed, extend across the Panhandle and into New Mexico, some writers have mistakenly reported the Colorado’s source as near the New Mexico–Texas state line. 2.While there is considerable confusion over the difference between the terms, I refer to plains as primarily flat expanses of grasslands that are practically treeless. I use prairies to describe areas with a fusion of grasslands and forests. The proportion of forest to grassland varies; a prairie can have grasslands with scattered single trees or small clusters, like the oak mottes found on the Edwards Plateau, or a prairie can also be bottomland forests along rivers interspersed with small meadows. Chapter 2 1. Texas is divided into ten distinct ecoregions, or ecological regions . Each ecoregion contains characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities (plants and animals) and is de- fined by its environmental conditions, especially climate, landforms, and soil characteristics. The ecoregions are the High Plains, the Rolling Plains, the Cross Timbers and Prairies, the Edwards Plateau, the Blackland Prairies, the Post Oak Savannah, the Gulf Prairies and Marshes, the South Texas Plains, the Piney Woods, and the TransPecos . The Colorado River flows through seven of the ten ecoregions. 2. As of October 31, 2011, Lake J. B. Thomas is 1.64 percent full. The CRMWD stopped pulling water from the reservoir in 2008. 3. When water is stored in open lakes, a significant portion is lost to evaporation. The estimated 72 inches per year is the average that takes temperatures, wind, and rainfall into account. 4. The other Superfund sites in the Colorado River Basin are Rogers Delinted Cottonseed Co., also in Colorado City; Bailey Metal Processors in Brady; contaminated groundwater in Kingsland ; and Hu-Mar Chemicals in Palacios. 5. In 2008, as part of the delisting process, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CRMWD to provide for minimum flow releases from Spence and Ivie in perpetuity to ensure habitat for the Concho water snake. 6. The CRMWD ceased pumping water from E. V. Spence Reservoir in July 2011. By October 31, 2011, the reservoir measured less than .05 percent full. 7. The use of acre-feet as a measurement standard reflects the historical agricultural basis of our water rights system. An acre-foot of water is enough to cover one acre of land with one foot of water, or 325,851 gallons. One acre-foot of water is enough water to last a family of four for up to two years. 8. CRMWD General Manager John Grant predicts that by December 2012 the CRMWD will have pumped all the water out of O. H. Ivie Reservoir. Conditions on October 31, 2011 gauge the reservoir at less than 20 percent full. 9. The extreme drought conditions of 2010–2011, including the record heat and evaporation rates have spelled disaster for the CRMWD. The District is in the process of expanding its groundwater supplies with up to twenty-one additional wells in their Ward County well field. A $140 million pipeline to deliver the water to customers is under construction. Additionally, a water reclamation place (for processing wastewater for reuse) is being built in Big Spring. General Manager John Grant continues to advise customers to conserve water. 208 Notes Chapter 4 1. The Vanishing Texas River Cruises operate from the dock of the LCRA’s Canyon of the Eagles Nature Park. Approximately 800 of the 940 acres of the park are a nature preserve and managed for endangered black-capped vireos and golden-cheeked warblers. There is a privately managed resort and lodge along with RV and tent campgrounds. 2. Paraphrased from LCRA promotional materials including “Ready for the Next Flood” video; “The Water Never Got This High Before” (promotional DVD); and Buchanan Dam Museum displays. 3. The Insulls’ Middle West Utilities Company also surveyed the Rio Grande River with an eye to developing hydroelectric power . Potential dam sites included Santa Elena Canyon and Boquillas Canyon in the Big Bend region. 4. The official appraisal of the property was $3,798,058. After the debts were settled, some $1.2 million remained as profit for the Colorado River Company. What happened to the profits...