Mace s BIZARRE TEXAS GROUNDWATER FACTS!
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- Derrick Casey
- 5 years ago
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1 Mace s BIZARRE TEXAS GROUNDWATER FACTS! Robert E. Mace, Ph.D., P.G. Texas Water Development Board presented to Milam & Burleson Counties Ground Water Summit August 11, 2016
2 The following presentation is based upon professional research and analysis within the scope of the Texas Water Development Board s statutory responsibilities and priorities but, unless specifically noted, does not necessarily reflect official Board positions or decisions. Believe it or Not!
3 Waco used to be known as Geyser City!
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6 Bell s Well destroyed the school!
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8 Dr Pepper used to be called the Artesian Mfg and Bottling Co!
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10 Folks once proposed drilling 270 artesian wells to turn Dallas into a seaport town!
11 Dallas: 1887 Drilled first well in 1887 The Dallas Geyser : 1,000,000 gallons per day Well, I swar: I d rather go to see that than a hanging!
12 You can still visit the wellhead at Big Red!
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16 The discovery of artesian water in Texas led directly to the development of large breweries in Texas!
17 Texas Brewing Company, Fort Worth, circa 1900
18 Fort Worth attempted to circumvent declining water levels in the Trinity Aquifer by following the water!
19 13-feet in diameter, 172 feet deep shaft Over a mile in tunnels 13 wells Abandoned by , Dallas Morning News
20 Pitless pumps are called pitless pumps because them pumps don t have pits!
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22 The first pitless pump was invented in Texas when Mahlon Layne crawled out of a well pit for a Texas rice well! Layne Bowler Pump Company Inc. (1903)
23 Mahlon E. Layne 1902
24 1,000 feet of drawdown in the Trinity, but no measured declines in the recharge zone!
25 Total water level declines in the major aquifers
26 The deepest water well in Texas is over a mile deep!
27 *deepest in our database Deepest* fresh groundwater in Texas: LaSalle County 5,518 ft
28 The water in Dallas was once so salty discerning Dallasites drank water from Glen Rose!
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30 Gary Westbrook s favorite use of water is for cattle and baptisms!
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32 The number of groundwater districts is growing exponentially!
33 Number of groundwater 97 conservation districts through the decades currently 99 districts (+ two subsidence districts)
34 3,136.4 districts by
35 You can still dip your toes in the mineral water in Marlin!
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42 Sam Houston spent a month soaking in the springs at Sour Lake shortly before he died!
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44 You can still pony up to the water bar in Mineral Wells!
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48 You can assess total dissolved solids of your mineral water by how long it takes you to go!
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50 My bookshelf of groundwater references is organized by color!
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52 The 61 Stater Water Plan noted the importance of groundwater during nuclear war!
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54 World s largest freshwater shrimp was fed by springs from the Edwards Aquifer! Giant Freshwater Prawn Big Claw River Shrimp
55 Caught in the Devil s River!
56 Yum!
57 You can go fishing in the Edwards Aquifer!
58 The DNA of these critters can be traced back to ~Cretaceous times!
59 There used to be a stump well near Glen Rose!
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61 Houston has sunk upwards of 10 feet due (in part) to groundwater pumping!
62 º 3 º 3 5º Measured Land-Surface Subsidence HOUSTON º BAY BAY GALVESTON GALVESTON N 1.0 MEXICO OF GULF from USGS
63 land subsidence photos from USGS s Circular 1182
64 El Paso has sunk too!
65 2.5 to 5 inches along the Rio Grande
66 40% of all water used in Texas comes from the Ogallala Aquifer! *and it used to be 50%!
67 Water levels are rising in parts of the Ogallala!
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69 The longest transport of water in Texas is by the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority! (if you don t count Shiner Bock )
70 Canadian River Municipal Water Authority Ogallala Aquifer (+ Lake Meredith when available ) 322 miles
71 There s more recharge to the Ogallala than the Edwards!
72 Ogallala: ~1,100,000 AFY Edwards: ~640,000 AFY but
73 The water table is dropping faster in the Ogallala aquifer than recharge!
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75 Texas almost brought the Mississippi River to Texas to solve the Ogallala Problem!
76 Texas Water Development Board 1968
77 Others wanted to bring water from Alaska and Canada to Texas!
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79 And some still want to!
80 (from Kirsch 2013)
81 The Seymour Aquifer is a man-made aquifer
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83 Groundwater flow follows the same equations as those of electricity and heat!
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85 The town of Burkburnett (near Wichita Falls) uses 93 wells for water supply!
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87 Dell City had Texas first (and the nation s fifth) desalination plant in 1967!
88 1961
89 One of the first things I dealt with at the TWDB was a drive-by water witching!
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91 The first artesian well drilled in Texas was in Corpus Christi!
92 First artesian well in Texas: Corpus Christi, 1845 Manifest Destiny John O Sullivan General Zachary Taylor Ulysses Grant Franklin Pierce The Artesian Well Camp
93 First municipal park in Texas!
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95 The Brazos River Alluvium used to be a major aquifer!
96 1968 State Water Plan
97 There s about a 40,000 acre-feet per year swing in the gain-loss in the Rio Grande where it flows over the Hueco Bolson!
98 Rio Grande-Hueco Bolson
99 Mace s Robert E. Mace, Ph.D., P.G. Texas Water Development Board presented to American Ground Water Trust s Texas Aquifer Conference June 8, 2016
100 This is what the Southern High Plains used to look like!
101 C.E. Williams first house
102 Ole McDonald had a farm and a well!
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