The Confederacy Of Dunces Wants To Know Why The Yard Waterers Of Tarrant County Are Wasting Water That Could Go To Gas Well Fracking

Lately the Confederacy of Dunces has been confounding me more than the norm. This current confounding may be heat related.

The constant HOT seems to make everything HOTTER.

Like the level of outrage generated by Chesapeake Energy running 3 big water pipes through Fort Worth's Trinity Park, in order to suck a few million gallons of water out of the Trinity River, so that chemicals and sand can be added to the water, so that Chesapeake can frack yet one more Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale gas drilling site.

The local CBS TV Station, Channel 11, covered the Trinity Park Chesapeake operation, with the help of Fort Worth's Watch Dog, Don Young. You can watch that particular news report below.

In that news report the news reporter reported that of the estimated water usage of Tarrant County only 1% was used by the Gas Drillers, while Yard Watering used 50-60%.

Does this seem credible to you? It does not to me.

One fracked well uses up a lot of water. Millions of gallons of water over the course of multiple frackings.

I do not see a lot of yard watering going on. Yes, there is an occasional sprinkler. But, it appears to me that most people let their yards turn brown during this water starved time of the year.

I know Oakland Lake Park does not irrigate its big fields of grass. Most of the fields of Gateway Park turn brown. Veterans Park is brown except for the Xeriscape garden that shows you how to grow green, in Texas, with little water.

How many thousands of gas wells are now in Tarrant County? How much water has been used to frack those wells?

If, in Tarrant County, there were only a thousand wells using a million gallons of water, to do their fracking, that amounts to 1 billion gallons of water. If yard watering is using 50-60 times that amount, that would be 50-60 billion gallons of water.

Yard watering uses more water than other household uses? Like washing clothes, dishes, drinking, bathing, flushing?

This whole yard watering fuss seems like a phony bogeyman, to me, an amorphous imaginary thing used by propagandists to frighten dunces into behaving.

What Dunce in the Confederacy came up with this 1% figure for the amount of water the gas drillers are using?

Methinks that the gas drillers need to be told there is a moratorium on using the local water supply until the drought ends. Or better yet, run a water pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico and pump that water to Tarrant County. It'd have the benefit of already being salted.

As wise man once said...

"When gas drillers use water, it's permanently removed from the water (hydrologic) cycle.. There's a finite amount of water on planet Earth. Whenever you use it to frack, it has to be buried in the ground a million years."

-DY

This is all very perplexing. Why is common sense so lacking in this part of the planet?

According To Anonymous The Trinity River Has Been Tested On More Than One Occasion By Different Organizations And Is No Different Than A Pristine Lake

You are looking at today's HOT noon view of Fosdic Dam at the north end of Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was breezy today, but that did not stop the, what may be, record breaking temperature from feeling too HOT.

Minutes prior to exiting air-conditioned comfort and heading to one of Mother Nature's natural sauna steam baths I got a blog comment about a blogging from a few week's back about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats on the Trinity River.

The commenter was calling him or herself "Anonymous." Anonymous made the very astute observation that if you "swim in the lakes, it's the same thing," as swimming in the Trinity River, I assume Anonymous meant.

Well,  I guess that is true. Fosdic Lake, which drains into the Trinity River has signs around its perimeter forbidding swimming and warning that one should not consume the fish one catches in Fosdic Lake.

Apparently the water from Fosdic Lake must somehow magically transform into pristine water when it enters the Trinity River. Perhaps it passes through a forest of JD Granger Magic Trees.

Among the many well-reasoned points that Anonymous makes is suggesting that "People shouldn't comment when they don't know what they are talking about."

Below is the comment from Anonymous in its entirety....

I have attended more than one of the floats and enjoyed it each time. It was well organized, clean and safe. The stage that was built for the band is awesome and the event has attracted people of all ages. Twenty year olds to Fifty year olds. It was not a drunk-fest, just people having fun. The water has been tested on more than one occasion and by different organizations. There is nothing wrong with it. If you really knew what you were talking about you would know that. If you swim in the lakes, its the same thing. It was cleaner and less drunks than at an out-door music festival and those are held everywhere and hosted by major Cities. And people bring kids to those too. Thats a parenting issue. People shouldn't comment when they don't know what they are talking about. I give them a thumbs-up for trying to educate the people of Fort Worth about the river.

Up Early On Another HOT Wednesday In Texas

Unlike yesterday, today, on the 24th Day of August, I am up well before the sun looking through the bars of my patio prison cell wondering how I can escape this incarceration of my own making.

Yesterday I woke up to find various body parts in full ache mode. This morning those aches have abated.

Yesterday my swimming pool was in shock, so I was unable to go for my regular early morning swim. I will make up for that this morning.

Yesterday it was no great surprise that North Texas found itself heated to over 100 degrees HOT. Again. This morning my zone's outer world is already heated to 85.7, heading to a scheduled high of 104. Again.

Meanwhile, right now up north in my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington, the Pacific Northwest natural air-conditioning is chilling the Skagit Valley outer world to 54.7, about 30 degrees cooler than my un-natural air-conditioning is chilling my inner world.

It is time to go swimming now before it gets any hotter. I shall ponder my plot to move back to the Northwest whilst I swim.

Walking With The Snakes & Vultures Today At Village Creek Natural Area

I stopped at Village Creek Natural Historic Area today. Again. On my way to Pantego around noon.

Today the Village Creek focus seemed to be more on the natural than the historic.

I saw my first snake of the year, if my memory is serving me correctly. A little green snake sunning itself on the HOT pavement.

In years previous I have seen Copperheads, Cottonmouths, Water Moccasins and Rattlesnakes in the Village Creek Natural Area. But ever since a really bad flood a year or two ago the Village Creek Natural Wildlife has gone missing for the most part.

I would imagine a bad flood is hard on snakes.

I see way fewer armadilloes in the Village Creek Natural Area, too.

Today I saw the vulture you see in the picture, feasting on what appeared to be a wild hog or an armadillo.

Vultures make me nervous. Several circled above me acting like they were wondering if my head was a big egg to crack.

Til I was away from the vultures I waved my snake whacking stick overhead to discourage any vulture sneak attacks on my head zone.

Heading north on Bowen, from Pantego, I saw traffic was stopped by the railroad crossing indicating a train was soon to be passing. I waited about 5 minutes. No train. Long backup. I turned around and headed another route.

A few miles west I was back in Fort Worth, trying again to cross the tracks to find the railroad crossing blocked. Drivers were acting very frustrated. One by one we took our turn going around the malfunction.

I think I've read somewhere that Arlington is the biggest town in America that can be cut in two by a train. Or a train crossing malfunction.

It seems very wasteful to stop the flow of traffic in this manner. Particularly due to what appeared to be a major malfunction.

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.

Monday In Texas Braving The Dangers Of A Low Water Crossing & Elsie Hotpepper

I've been having trouble this particular Monday recovering from my latest lost weekend.

My energy level was at a very very low ebb. And then Elsie Hotpepper tasked me with some very difficult tasks that wore down what little energy reserves I had in reserve.

So, around noon I did what I do when I need to rejuvenate. I took off for the outer world, leaving air-conditioned comfort behind.

Today I felt like walking a trail shaded by big oak trees. The closest destination to meet that need is Village Creek Natural Historic Area, about 3 miles distant from my abode.

It is not being very HOT today. It is only 101.4, currently, at a little past 4. It was only 95.7 when I left my chilled zone today. Fall arrives on September 23. You can almost feel the chilling winds of Fall already blowing along with all the falling leaves, suffering from the lack of water.

The sign you see in the picture above struck me as semi-amusing today. Warning of the DANGER of a LOW WATER CROSSING. It is more like a NO WATER CROSSING. The sign always warns that the crossing can be SLIPPERY WHEN WET. Like that ever happens in these parched parts of the planet.

I have mastered the art of taking a picture using the Village Creek Trail funhouse mirror. It is very nice of the Arlington Parks People to put this mirror at this particular random location on the trail for this particular purpose.

The sun is currently being slightly blocked from hitting my primary viewing portal on the world by some big clouds.

Looking at the current prediction from the Weather Underground they are saying there is 0% chance of precipitation. However, earlier today, I heard, on the radio, that a Thunderstorm was a possibility on the menu for today.

I am currently drinking green tea, made in a sun tea pot that spent a day sitting in the sun on the patio. Drinking green tea is just one of many really healthy things I am doing to try and re-gain my former healthiness. How many fruity soy-based smoothies can a person drink before they crack from all that goodness? I guess I'll find out.

The Shadow Of The Thin Man On Hurricane Watch In Dry HOT Texas

As you can see via the Shadow of the Skinny Dipping Thin Man I am up well before the sun on this next to last Monday of August, Day 22 of this very HOT month.

Currently we are heated to 85.4, heading to a high of 104. Sunday was the first day in awhile that set no temperature records in North Texas.

Maybe the worst of the HEAT is over and a cooling trend is on the way.

The first hurricane of the year, Irene, is heading west and may eventually bring some moisture to these parched parts of the planet.

While I wait for Irene to get me wet I think I'll go get wet that glowing blue thing you see in the picture.

Burlington Washington's Public Library in a 8,388 Population Town

The building you see in the picture is the public library in Burlington, Washington.

I lived in Burlington, Washington from when I was around 5 years old til I was 19. Or 20.

My mom and dad remained in Burlington til sometime in the 1990s. Our house was about a block from the public library. But not the one in the picture. The library in the picture replaced the library that replaced the library where I first checked out a book when I was 5 or 6 years old.

The librarian in that old library was the mother of the librarian in Burlington's new public library.

That is the new Burlington library's librarian in the picture. Her name is Janice Jackson Burwash. She is married to famed Burlington author, Martin Burwash, who's latest best seller, Vis Major, is slated to become a major motion picture.

The population of Burlington, according to the 2010 census, is 8,388. That is about 3 times bigger than when I lived in Burlington. The town I live in now, Fort Worth, Texas, is about 84 times bigger than Burlington, with Fort Worth's population of over 700,000

Burlington keeps its public library open every day of the week, except Sunday. Fort Worth keeps a more erratic public library schedule.

Watch the video below to get an idea of the size of little Burlington's public libary compared to big Fort Worth's public libraries.

To be fair, little Burlington is a bit of a boomtown compared to Fort Worth. The population may be small, but the town has a big mall, an outlet center, a car selling complex, called I-5 Auto World, a Costco and a Krispy Kreme, along with most of the other fixtures you find in bigger towns, like K-Mart, Target and all the fast food suspects.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Burlington went into boomtown mode, the Wall Street Journal cited Burlington as one of the fastest-growing and best investment opportunities of American small towns.

Burlington's population soars during business hours. As in a lot of people come to town to shop. The number of people in Burlington during business hours is many times bigger than the town's population. I imagine if Fort Worth somehow managed to attract 5 or 6 times the town's population to town, maybe Fort Worth could afford a better library system, open more days and longer hours.

In the video below you will see Janice and the Burlington Public Library. I have not seen Janice in person since April of 2006, when she played the organ at my nephew's wedding. In Burlington....

Shrinking Fosdic Lake Revealing Previously Hidden Secrets

I remember some time in the recent past when water was cut off to the Trinity River, as it flowed through Fort Worth. I assume this was for some maintenance thing.

When the Trinity River went dry it revealed a secret. Stolen vehicles that had been sunk in the river.

I was reminded of this today whilst walking around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

The volume of water in Fosdic Lake continues to recede, revealing heretofore unseen beaches, mudflats, litter. And today a previously submerged shopping cart.

Fosdic Lake is quite a distance from the nearest store where one might purloin a shopping cart.

The newly revealed shopping cart was at lake edge, midway across Fosdic Dam.

I wonder what other treasures will be showing up as the water in Fosdic Lake grows shallower and shallower?

Cars? Missing persons? Chemically contaminated mud?

Another Sunny Sunday In Texas With More Record Breaking Temperatures

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at a glowing blue swimming pool on the August 21 Sunday dawn of yet one more HOT morning in Texas.

Currently the outer world is being heated to 84.5 degrees in my location.

Yesterday set yet one more temperature record, with August 20 being the hottest ever, at 107 degrees, as measured at the official measuring station at D/FW Airport.

The overnight lows have been being record breaking highs. This has resulted in an average 2011 summer temperature of 83.8, averaging the highs and lows, thus far, this summer.

The average of 83.8, so far, makes the summer of 2011 the HOTTEST summer ever recorded in the D/FW zone.

Which makes it the HOTTEST summer I have ever lived through. By far.

Which has me thinking it is time to go cool off in the pool.