Texas needs statewide conservation guidelines. A shortage of water in one part of the state will eventually affect another. We're all in this together. Attention should be given to unproductive plants and trees like mesquites that suck up moisture from watersheds. Zoning regulations need to be examined in light of what hindrances they might cause for crucial runoff areas.
Desalination is only a huge water-reclamation project.
Surely, it would be considerably less expensive and much more efficient to recycle the water Texans throw away every day before it wanders off and spills into the Gulf and becomes further contaminated. Unlike cloud seeding, water recycling would guarantee a sizable increase in our water supply, an increase that's bound to be cheaper than desalinating the distant Gulf. By the time the Texas Legislature collects and collates the 16 regional water plans into a coherent state water policy, it may recommend the study and development of new regional reservoirs like O.H. Ivie or the apportionment of currently unused reservoirs like Possum Kingdom. Such long-range planning is an essential part of providing Texas' future water needs, particularly as those needs relate to the hopes for continued economic expansion. Although the state Constitution gives the governor no direct input into the legislative process, the prominence of the position Perry now occupies means his leadership could not be brushed aside.