The Next To Last Day Of August May Be The Next To Last Day Over 100 For The Year

I am outside looking down at the ground getting irrigated on this next to last day of August.

The ongoing Great North Texas Drought brought on water restrictions in Tarrant County starting yesterday.

I thought the sprinklers that are currently sprinkling were not supposed to be sprinkling today.

I read in the Star-Telegram this morning that the gas drillers may also be put on water restriction, even though that particular industry claims the millions of gallons of water used to frack each well is just a teeny percentage of the overall water consumed in these parched parts of the planet.

The town of Grand Prairie is not allowing its water to be used for fracking during the drought. So, Chesapeake Energy trucked water to a Grand Prairie drilling site from Arlington. Apparently this is not allowed. Chesapeake feigned innocence in the matter and supposedly will be fined for this latest bad Chesapeake behavior.

Meanwhile, apparently we will be getting a break from Mother Nature's ongoing bad behavior. Starting Thursday or Friday an upper level low should be replacing the upper level high that has been stuck over the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex all summer long.

This incoming upper level low will knock the temperature under 100 and possibly bring some rain.

Monday, at 102 degrees, as measured at the official measuring station at D/FW Airport, was the 63rd day of 100 degrees or more for 2011. The record is 69 days, set in 1980. Tomorrow may be our last 100 degree day of the year.

Unless that pesky upper level high returns.

Up Late August 23 Grateful There Is No Drought In North Texas So Chesapeake Energy Can Remove All The Water It Needs From The Trinity River

I was up past midnight last night. I am rarely up past midnight.

Being up past midnight had me up after the sun, looking out my primary viewing portal on the world on this 23rd Day of August, with the 23rd Day of this HOT month being the next to last Tuesday before August becomes September.

I don't know how HOT we got yesterday, as measured at the official temperature measuring station at D/FW Airport. I suspect it was over 100. Again.

Currently this morning is relatively chilly at only 83.1, heading to a scheduled hight today of 104.

One of the worst North Texas droughts in history along with the HOTTEST summer in North Texas history has miraculously not caused a water shortage. I know this because the City of Fort Worth is letting Chesapeake Energy stick water sucking pipes in the Trinity River, running those pipes full of water to a Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Site adjacent to Fort Worth's Trinity Park.

Water sucked out of the Trinity River, then mixed with sand and chemicals and then injected into a well never again re-enters the water cycle. Unless by accident. And when that happens it is a very very bad thing.

Regarding this Trinity River water sucking during a drought, Don Young sent out an email last night regarding a TV news report on this issue on CBS 11.

Below is what Mr. Young had to say........

My recent report on the industrialization of Trinity Park got the desired media reaction. Jason Allen of CBS 11 DFW is doing a report tonight at 10 PM.

Appropriately, it came on another Level Orange air quality warning day in Dirty Ol' Town.

Jason's angle will probably focus on the millions of gallons of water used to frack this single Chesapeake well during the worst drought in Texas history*. I encouraged him to see the whole picture of what it means to industrialize much of Fort Worth and North Texas.

I met Jason at the park to find the fracking job in full swing. The smell of diesel fuel filled the air even upwind of the pad-site. Two Fort Worth Police cars, not usually seen in the vicinity, were parked nearby. hmmm. Tanker trucks full of sand and toxic fracking chemicals were lined up. Fracking equipment was spewing smoke and dust. (Remember, this is a high-end neighborhood. The world renown Kimbell and Modern Art Museums are  about 3 blocks away.)

Question from Jason: What about the water? The drilling industry and its enablers, including City of FW officials, claim they use less water than say, Miller Brewing, another local industry.

Fact: The water Miller uses eventually goes back to the water cycle to make more beer, or whatever. The water used by Chesapeake is permanently removed from the water cycle and buried underground forever, due to it's extreme toxicity. Big difference.

There's a reason I call Fort Worth, Dirty Ol' Town.

DY

* Based on daily average temperature.

Lamenting The Now Dry Village Creek Bayou & Pondering The Great North Texas Drought

Just a couple days ago there was still water in the Village Creek Bayou in Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

With birds in the bayou.

A couple weeks ago I saw a couple water snakes in the Village Creek Bayou.

Today I saw that the Great North Texas Drought has totally dried out the Village Creek Bayou.

Where have the birds gone, now that the water has gone? Where have the water snakes gone, now that there is no more water?

On a more upbeat wildlife note, today whilst walking amongst the Village Creek, still green foliage, I saw a scrawny raccoon run across the trail ahead of me. A few minutes after that I saw my first armadillo of the year.

The Great North Texas Drought is perplexing me. Something about The Lawn Whisperer, that I blogged about yesterday, has been bugging me.

The Lawn Whisperer makes a big fuss about people wasting water irrigating their lawns. But, that water remains in the ecosystem. It may evaporate, it may make it's way to the Trinity River, wherever it goes, it remains in the ecosystem.

The water taken from the North Texas ecosystem, by the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers, does not return to the ecosystem. If that Fracking water does intersect with the ecosystem, it is a mistake, and hurts the ecosystem.

So, what I was wondering was this. How much of the Great North Texas Drought is being caused by having millions upon millions of gallons of water permanently removed from the ecosystem?

It seems fairly obvious that at some point the level of water removal will have a bad effect. Are we already at that point? If the millions upon millions of gallons of water that have been removed from the ecosystem had not been removed, would we not be in the midst of the Great North Texas Drought?

It's perplexing.