Notes from Pharr: Regional solutions to avoid “Day Zero”
The unspoken premise of state and local water planning is to avoid the realization of “Day Zero.” This occurs when the lack of water supplies results in taps running dry. In 2022, the city of Monterrey, just 100 miles south of the Texas border, ran out of water for homes and businesses. That same year, several Texas counties along the border came perilously close to Day Zero as the water levels in Falcon reservoir became perilously low.
Once again, Texas’ Rio Grande Valley edges closer toward a Day Zero fate. The region largely depends on the Rio Grande. A seemingly perpetual drubbing from severe drought conditions, combined with the lack of water deliveries from Mexico, has diminished the Rio Grande from the literal translation of its Spanish name — “Big River” — into a trickle. As of this writing, the two major reservoirs on the Rio Grande, Amistad and Falcon, respectively hover at 24.9% and 11.7% full.
“Crisis” was a word that I heard often at the Deep South Texas Water Summit in Pharr last week. Local leaders and water managers were acutely aware that the ongoing drought, and diminishing water supplies, were imperiling the region. The fact that a major employer in the region, the Santa Rosa sugar mill, shuttered earlier this year because of the lack of water, was frequently discussed. Many pointed out that the region’s citrus growers were nearing catastrophe.
I spoke as part of a panel discussion on water infrastructure and funding. Certainly, the state water planning process, technical assistance for small and rural communities, and additional state funding — including a dedicated funding stream — for water infrastructure are all part of the basket of solutions that the Rio Grande region needs.
What struck me the most from the day’s discussions was the shared realization that business as usual would no longer work for the region’s water needs. Different water management strategies and, more critically, regional solutions were key to the region’s hydrologic salvation from a Day Zero.
In one panel discussion, the managers for several area water districts described their efforts to expand their water supply portfolios while managing the limited resources at hand. One noted that the cutbacks to the region’s agricultural sector work to help cities survive. Over the past few years, the proportion of water use within the region shifted from an 80%-20% agricultural-to-municipal mix toward one that’s currently 65%-35%.
Others pointed toward the need to replace aging water pipes and meters to improve use and conservation. Some were considering desalination — including brackish groundwater and seawater desalination — as a viable alternative, although one that could be expensive for low-income families.
The bigger solution lies within regional cooperation. Several panelists, including some elected officials, noted that the region suffers from excessive fragmentation. A proliferation of water districts with competing interests precludes the realization of needed efficiencies for funding and water management. There’s no small irony in the fact that too many districts working separately to avoid a Day Zero could, in fact, hasten its arrival.
As I pointed out, regional solutions offer significant benefits, including better source water utilization, efficient utility rates, and even needed workforce utilization. One constructive example of communities working together recently emerged in the Texas Panhandle. State Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) pointed out that just as regional solutions leveraged better funding for the area’s transportation infrastructure, the same could be done for water.
I left the Valley feeling hopeful — partly for the region’s brutal drought to break, and mostly for the opportunities that regional cooperation may provide. If anything, they represent the last, best hope for the Valley to avoid the horrors of Day Zero.