Conflicts and Cooperation: Water Resources Planning in Far West Texas

As one of the sixteen regions in the Texas state water plan (Senate Bill 1), the Far West Texas Region, which is comprised of seven counties, engaged in a "bottom up" approach to develop a 50-year drought-contingency and water-supply management plan based on the general consensus of all the parties responsible for water resources management in the region. Work on the Far West Texas Regional Water Plan (FWTRWP) was originally divided between two teams: urban and rural, and water planning was conducted simultaneously because of their different interests and potential conflicts. This paper presents two major findings in terms of conflicts and opportunities for cooperation between the urban and rural teams in water resources planning in the Region. One concept is the groundwater transfer from rural areas into the larger urban area of El Paso. The hydrologic challenge is to assess whether groundwater pumping can be sustained by those aquifers, what impact will be imposed on those aquifers by the groundwater transfer mechanism, and what level of impact is accepted. The other issue to be addressed is the fact that the Far West Texas Region is located on the Chihuahuan Desert, and continuously experiences prolonged periods of drought according to traditional precipitation standards. Because the State Water Plan requires that supplies be identified to meet demands for the drought of record, the challenge is to determine what parameters should be used for drought trigger criteria to initiate drought contingences. With the cooperation of all the affected parties, a consensus in the general concept for water resources sharing was reached and reflected in the final regional water plan. However, some conflicts still remain unresolved, and should be addressed in future water resources plans.