Day 1: Food & water
John Jacob, Bruce McCarl, Bob Randall, Dan Hardin, and Jim Holway discussed water and food challenges facing Texas. The speakers said that Texas imports much of its food supply, and that a growing population and dwindling water resources will strain the system over the next 50 years.
Video will be posted soon.
John Jacob on Texas Soil and Water Issues (.pptx, 4.4 MB)
John Jacob of Texas Sea Grant provided an overview of soil and water issues in Texas. He noted that the Texas Triangle has very good soil, and said that the megaregion is at an “ecotome,” a major transition point between ecosystems across a continent. For instance, he noted that Houston’s climate is much more similar to New Orleans or Atlanta than to Dallas or Austin.
Bruce McCarl on Climate Change and its Effects on Food & Water Availability (.ppt, 2.8 MB)
Bruce McCarl, a Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University, said that Texas faces a food deficit, meaning that it must import food and agricultural products to meet local demand. In fact, he said, the population of Texas is so large – and growing – that the state will never produce enough food locally. Climate change will probably reduce the number of arable acres in Texas, he said, but it will probably not significantly affect the state’s food situation, since much of its food is already imported.
Bob Randall on Shifting to Locally Produced Food (.ppt, 532 KB)
Bob Randall, a co-founder of Urban Harvest, said that an enormous amount of food is distributed each day in the Texas Triangle, which requires a large amount of energy. However, although most of the area’s food is imported, he said that almost any kind of food can be grown locally due to the subtropical climate and rare freezes, and he said that there are many benefits to local farming. The best-tasting food is locally-produced and freshly-picked, he said, and it comes without all the salt, sugar, and fats necessary to preserve foods and ship them long-distance. Urban farming can also help low-income communities by providing nutritious food and decent wages, he said. Local farming also requires far less energy than importing food.
Dan Hardin on Texas Water Supply (.ppt, 9 MB)
Dan Hardin, Director of the Water Resources Planning & Information Division of the Texas Water Development Board, told the audience that he expects the state’s water needs to rise 27 percent in the next 50 years, from roughly 17 million acre-feet to 21.6 million acre feet. However, he expects the available water supply to dwindle from 17.9 million acre-feet to approximately 14 million acre-feet over the same time frame. As a result, he said that residents can expect to see more water efficiency, and he said that large-scale irrigation will not remain profitable, which could increase food prices. The state needs more reservoirs, he said, and by 2060 it will cost the state almost $31 billion total to get enough water to meet its needs. However, without that investment he said that the state will lose almost $100 billion, as well as over $5 billion in tax revenue.
Jim Holway on Water Shortages in the Western U.S. (.pptx, 3.1 MB)
Jim Holway, Joint Venture Program Director at the Sonoran Institute and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, discussed Western water supplies to provide an example of current water shortages. Holway formerly served as assistant director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, where he oversaw regulatory programs and developed water management policy. He said that Western states overallocated the Colorado River by 10 to 15 percent early in the 20th century because the allocation happened during an unusually wet period. Agriculture uses 75 to 85 percent of the water supply in the Southwest, he said, and energy production uses a sizeable amount as well. The states have benefited from increasing water efficiency, but he said that it is unclear where future supplies will come from, and it could lead to a significant decrease in agriculture in coming decades. The tradeoffs between water and agriculture must be examined thoroughly, he said.