Water Quality & Quantity Issues in the Nueces River Basin

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Water Quality & Quantity Issues in the Nueces River Basin Nueces River Basin • 1,084 stream miles • 16,950 mi2 (10,848,000 acres) • 23 Counties • Atascosa, Frio, & Sabinal rivers included Private Lands • Hunting • Fishing • Livestock Grazing • Water rights • Other issues? Recreational Use • Choke Canyon Lake • Lake Corpus Christi • Garner State Park • Lost Maples State Natural Area • Others Texas Land Trends Texas Land Trends Texas Land Trends Year 1-100 100-500 500-1000 1000-2000 2000+ 1997 89,861 684,746 714,803 1,023,695 7,528,766 2002 96,637 709,805 734,946 983,103 7,373,542 2007 129,893 757,763 711,372 944,634 7,298,734 Texas Land Trends Water Quantity • Nueces River Flow (539,700 acre-feet-per-year) • Groundwater o Edwards Aquifer (north) o Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer (south) o 3 others • Reservoirs o Choke Canyon (695,000 acre feet) o Lake Corpus Christi (257,000 acre feet) Water Use • Municipal o 500,000 people rely on the reservoirs as primary water source (Corpus Christi) • Livestock • Irrigation • Mining • Manufacturing • Stream Electric • Oil & Gas Future State Water Demands Water Quality • 11 of 17 segments listed as impaired o TDS, Low DO, Bacteria, Chloride, Nitrates, • 11 of 17 segments listed with concerns o Chlorophyll-a, Low DO, Impaired habitat, Nitrates, & Bacteria • 3 of 17 segments with no concerns or impairments o Upper segments with little flow Oil and Gas – Eagle Ford Shale • Landsat 1993- 2014 - CDA • Estimated increase: o 23,000 well pads o 84,000 acres o 65% of construction occurred 2011-2014 13 Oil & Gas Night Time Illumination The Scenario • The Nueces River Basin is over 90% native rangeland • There are early signs of loss and fragmentation of private rural working lands • Market value of these lands is skyrocketing, making it increasingly difficult to keep rural lands rural • The majority of the water bodies have some form of impairment • The Eagle Ford Shale has “changed the game” The Response • How do we address water quality and quantity concerns in the Nueces River Basin from a conservation finance perspective? 1. What is the program structure? • Who are the players? • How does the money flow? 2. What policy changes are needed,? • Local, state, federal, none? 3. What is the implementation plan? • Who implements? • When does implementation occur? 4. How can we scale these ideas up? • Can the program be scaled up from river basin “Funding Plan” to state or national? 5. What science and analyses is needed? .

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