One of the positive outcomes
of the AI data center coming to Richland Parish has been the attention drawn
once again to the woeful state of some of Louisiana’s underground aquifers,
which many homes, industries, farmers, and others rely on as their primary
water sources. The Sparta Aquifer, as we
mentioned in a past
essay, continues to be depleted, and this has been confirmed again very
recently by Kaitlin Maness in The
Ouachita Citizen.
But this problem extends
beyond Louisiana into other Southern States.
Arkansas has recently acknowledged the dire straits some of their
counties are in, specifically those served by the Sparta and the Mississippi
River Valley Alluvial Aquifers:
‘The general trend in
Arkansas’s long-term water level change is that the groundwater levels are declining
in response to continued withdrawals at rates which are not sustainable. Based
on 2015 water use data, only approximately 44.2 percent of the current alluvial
aquifer withdrawal of 7,636.08 million gallons per day, and approximately 55
percent of the Sparta aquifer withdrawal of 160 million gallons per day is
sustainable. At these pumping rates, water level declines and the adverse
impacts on the state’s groundwater system will continue to be observed’
(Arkansas Dept of Agriculture, ‘2022 Arkansas Groundwater Protection and
Management Report’, p. i, agriculture.arkansas.gov).
Miss Maness clarified in her
article linked above that it is this same Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer
that will feed the Meta data center in Richland Parish rather than the Sparta
Aquifer. This is good news for folks
depending on the Sparta, but it is likely the beginning of a nightmare for the
folks who depend on the MS River Alluvial Aquifer in Richland. Thus far, aquifer levels have held steady there,
thanks to sparser population levels and a lack of heavy industrial demand. If the Meta center and the adjoining power
plant become operational, residents will have to monitor those levels
diligently. The experience of parishes
and counties in north Louisiana and south Arkansas are clear evidence that sustained
use without any plan to replenish the aquifers will damage the long-term
viability of them.
But let’s turn our attention
to another Southern State, one where things usually work fairly smoothly: Texas.
Yet even here, groundwater depletion has become a major issue:
‘Texas cities and suburbs are
growing rapidly: The state now boasts six of the 10 fastest growing counties in the U.S., and it gained more residents than any other state in 2023.
‘However, that growth puts
the state’s population centers on a collision course with looming shortages in
water and, potentially, electricity. Texas’s agriculture commissioner has
warned that large swaths of the state are “out of water,” and grid managers have warned that a
2021-style freeze would lead to blackouts like those that left millions of
homes and businesses without power that year and contributed to the deaths of
hundreds of Texans.
‘The rapid rise in
demand for water and electricity coupled with straitened supplies is
perhaps the biggest long-term problem facing Texas’s infrastructure and
governance, and it’s likely to be of prime importance when the state’s 2025
legislative session begins next month.
‘When it comes to water, all
eyes are on forthcoming legislation from Lubbock-area state Sen. Charles Perry
(R), who has warned that the state is short about 10 to 11 million
acre-feet of water — about twice the amount currently used by its cities — and
proposed the creation of a state “water grid” modeled on the electric grid’
(Saul Elbein , ‘What’s next for Texas? 4 major questions looming for the divided
state in 2025’, thehill.com).
Other regions are also
threatened by the loss of groundwater resources. The Ogallala Aquifer in the Great Plains has
been under strain for decades now:
. . .
The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2025/01/garlington-the-groundwater-crisis-isnt-coming-its-here/.
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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