Wildlife Co-ops and Groundwater Management in Texas?
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Wildlife Co-ops and Groundwater Management in
Texas?
Matt Wagner, Urs Kreuter and Ronald Kaiser
Texas A&M University, Institute for Renewable Natural Resources
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Common-Pool Resources
• Air
• Marine Fisheries
• Wildlife
• Groundwater (in Texas)
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“ In the commons…..nothing belongs to anyone, yet everything belongs to
everyone. When people make use of things, they use what everyone else
owns.”
Tibor Machan, 2001
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Primary Recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Conservation, 2000
• Provide for private land incentives, partnerships, and stewardship to reduce habitat fragmentation
• Ensure adequate water quantity and quality for conservation while meeting urban demand
• Prepare a comprehensive plan for public land development and repair
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Strategies for Reducing Habitat Fragmentation
• Technical assistance through wildlife management planning
• Hunting and nature tourism businesses• Encourage Wildlife Management Associations or Co-
ops. • Wildlife management property tax valuation• Conservation easements• Repeal federal estate tax• Others
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Strategies for Reducing Habitat Fragmentation
• Hunting and nature tourism businesses– Hunting income surpasses agriculture on many
Texas properties– In 1998, over 33 M acres of rural land was
classified by TPW for lease hunting– Lands under wildlife management are 73%,
103%, and 230% more valuable than irrigated cropland, dryland cropland, and native range respectively (Wilkins et al., 2000).
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Strategies for Reducing Habitat Fragmentation
• Encourage Wildlife Management Associations or Co-ops. – Voluntary multi-landowner groups working
together to improve wildlife habitat.– More than 100 formed in Texas– Encompass more than 1.4 M acres– Landscape approach to conservation
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Benefits of Wildlife Co-ops
• Habitat improvement on a landscape scale
• Information and education to members
• Improved deer populations
• Name recognition/public awareness
• Social interaction
• Locally controlled resource use
• Collective action
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Primary Recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Conservation, 2000
• Provide for private land incentives, partnerships, and stewardship to reduce habitat fragmentation
• Ensure adequate water quantity and quality for conservation while meeting urban demand
• Prepare a comprehensive plan for public land development and repair
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Texas Population and Water Demand Through 2050
• The number of Texas residents will nearly double to almost 40 million.
• Water use will increase from 17 million acre feet today, to 20 million acre feet.
• Irrigation and municipal will continue to be the largest uses at about 57 and 25 percent respectively.
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Recommended Strategies of Texas
Regional Water Plans, 2001 • Expand distribution from existing surface water
supplies
• Improve water conservation
• Develop groundwater supplies
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Groundwater in Texas is a Common-Pool Resource
• Texas groundwater law is based on the “rule of capture”, allowing landowners to pump water with no restrictions as long as it is not ‘wasted.’
• Unrestricted pumping leads to a “tragedy of the commons scenario”
• Approximately 65 groundwater districts exist in Texas, but few actually regulate pumping (Edwards Aquifer Authority).
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From : Fipps, G. 2002. Texas Cooperative Extension. B-1612
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Cooperative Groundwater Management
• Determine sustainable yield of water from hydrologic model.
• Landowners within a district may self-impose pumping restrictions based on the model.
• A property right is then assigned to the landowners.
• All, or part of the property right is transferable.
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Groundwater Transfer Examples
• Arizona water farms since 1980• Edwards Aquifer Irrigation Suspension Program
1997. Agriculture vs. San Antonio.• Amarillo and the Ogallala. 70,000 acres of water
rights sold in 2000. • Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Brazos, Burleson,and
Robertson Counties. Metropolitan Water Company and Brazos Valley Water Alliance have secured a total of 900 agreements on 450,000 acres.
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Groundwater Transfer Scenario
• Enforcement of pumping limits is mandatory.
• Sell/lease pumping right to off-site buyer (5-15+ year leases being offered).
• Revenue distributed equitably among landowners may provide an economic incentive to protect aquifer and maintain recharge (10% monthly royalty and/or a portion of net profits based on acreage?)
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Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer
• Recharge is approximately 2.7% of annual rainfall (TWDB 1991).
• Approximately 266,100 ac-ft/yr of sustained yield is available in Trinity River Basin.
• The estimated value of water at point of delivery is $700 per acre-foot.
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The Value of Water
• 157,000 ac-ft/yr of Brazos River water was recently acquired by the North Harris County Regional Water Authority for $100 M. A $1 B pipeline is being planned (Houston Chronicle, April 12,2001).
• Ogallala water could be worth from $675-$1,400 per ac-ft annually (Leslie, 2001).
• Deep wells in the Carrizo-Wilcox could cost over $500,000.
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Case Study - Middle Trinity Basin Conservation Cooperative (MTBCC)
• A 100,000-acre wildlife cooperative in Anderson and Freestone Counties.
• A public/private partnership for wildlife management and land conservation.
• Lease hunting for deer, waterfowl, and hogs.• Is groundwater marketing and transfer a compatible
resource use?• Will the economics provide an incentive for land
conservation in the future?
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Middle Trinity BasinConservation Cooperative
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Groundwater Available from the MTBCC
• TWDB estimates a sustained yield of approximately 9 mgd available from a well field in the area (1972).
• A well field is defined as no more than 10 wells spaced 1/2 mile apart.
• The MTBCC is approximately 156 square miles.• Three well fields could yield 27 mgd, or over 30,000
ac-ft/yr• At an average of $250 per ac-ft (Kaiser, 2001), this
amount is equivalent to $7.5 M per year.
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Potential Economic Incentive Available to the MTBCC
• $7.5 M /100,000 acres = $75 per acre gross revenue annually (compared to $10 per acre for hunting rights).
• Water could be pumped into the Trinity River with a “Bed and Banks” permit.
• A local water cooperative or district would need to be organized (included in HB 1784)
• Water transfers must fit into existing water district framework or new legislation (??????)
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Summary
• Water supply and private land fragmentation are two major issues in Texas.
• Wildlife cooperatives are a solution to land fragmentation.
• Water marketing is a solution in meeting future water supply and demand in Texas.
• Groundwater marketing and wildlife management may be compatible resource uses.
• Water transfers must fit into existing, and any new legislation
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Thanks for Support From:
• National Water Research Institute
• Texas A&M University - Institute for Renewable Natural Resources
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Mills Scholarship - Texas Water Resource Institute