Transcript No Slide Title

Wildlife Co-ops and
Groundwater Management in
Texas?
Matt Wagner, Urs Kreuter and Ronald
Kaiser
Texas A&M University, Institute for
Renewable Natural Resources
Common-Pool Resources
• Air
• Marine Fisheries
• Wildlife
• Groundwater (in Texas)
“ 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
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
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
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).
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
Benefits of Wildlife Co-ops
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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
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
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.
Recommended Strategies of Texas
Regional Water Plans, 2001
• Expand distribution from existing surface water
supplies
• Improve water conservation
• Develop groundwater supplies
Groundwater in Texas is a CommonPool 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).
From : Fipps, G. 2002. Texas Cooperative Extension. B-1612
Cooperative Groundwater Management
• Determine sustainable yield of water from
hydrologic model.
• Landowners within a district may selfimpose pumping restrictions based on the
model.
• A property right is then assigned to the
landowners.
• All, or part of the property right is
transferable.
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.
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?)
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.
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.
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?
Middle Trinity Basin
Conservation Cooperative
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.
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 (??????)
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
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