New Demand, Same Old Story: West Texans And Their Water

Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon/KUT NEWS

This piece is Part 4 of KUT’s Untapped series about the new West Texas.

In arid West Texas, where rain is infrequent and rivers and lakes are few, groundwater – water from sources beneath the surface of the earth – is key to survival. And as the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin demands more of this resource from the surrounding area, researchers are scrambling to study the systems of webbed aquifers that feed households, farms, ranches and industry in the region.

But for residents there’s a familiar tension over who gets to decide the fate of their water.

Read more and listen to the story on the Austin NPR station’s website >>