The Cross Section, Volume 6, Number 1, June 1959 Page: 1
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A Monthly Publication of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1
DE-SALTING WATER IN DESERT
Legislature Submits Resolution Asking
OF NORTH AFRICA IS REALITY Congress To Protect W
rater Rights
The Resources for the Future, a
Ford Foundation entity, reports, in
its May 1959 newsletter, the interest-
ing progress of a de-salting water pro-
ject in Libya.
Tobruk, a town in Libya near the
Mediterranean Sea at the edge of the
Libyan Desert, has a population of
about 5,000 people. Annual rainfall
there amounts to less than five inches,
and no surface streams or lakes are
in the area. Well water is high in salt
content and is used only for sanitary
purposes. Drinking water for the com-
munity has to be trucked from a dis-
tance of 75 miles. Even this water is
about twice as salty as is considered
tolerable in this country. It costs $14
a thousand gallons as compared with
an average cost under 25 cents a thou-
sand gallons in most of the United
States.
Within the last few months the
British foreign aid program in Libya
has installed an electrodialysis system
for desalting 5000 gallons of the salty
well water per day. This method pro-
duces fresh water for a cost of ap-
proximately $2.00 per 1000 gallons of
demineralized water.
Operating costs using the electro-
dialy:is method art high and havoc
prompted Resources for the Future,
Inc. to explore the possibilities of de-
salting water by solar distillation. Con-
struction costs for solar distillation
are greater, but operating costs are
lower. Mainly, a lot of sun and spare
ground are needed. Labor for digging
basin-type pools for solar distillation
costs less than a dollar a day, and sun-
power is free.
In the solar distillation method of
desalting water, brackish or salty wa-
ter is rup into large shallow basins
and covered with inclined transparent
glass or plastic. The sun's rays warm
the salty water and when the water
evaporates and rises from the pool
the salt remains in the basin. The salt-c od 0 l... .
Perhaps the most significant paper
presented at the Texas University Wa-
ter Laws Conference held in May at
Austin was one that outlined a "Model
Water Use Act."
The National Conference of Com-
missioners on Uniform State Laws has
drafted the model water use act, and
it has been distributed to state legis-
latures throughout the nation.
The model water use act is "de-
signed for widespread study and con-
sideration by state governments in
order to protect, conserve, fairly al-
locate for use, and where necessary
reserve water resources in the inter-
est of the health and welfare of the
people."
The act would first recognize that
all water resources of the state, both
surface water or ground water, are
property of the state and should be
developed on a beneficial-use basis.
The act provides for a five-man Wa-
ter Resources Commission to be ap-
pointed by the Governor of the state.
This five-man Commission would make
determinations as to the most bene-
ficial uses for the water of that state.
It would control the development and
use of the water resources including
underground water "to effectuate full
utilization, conservation, and protec-
tion of the water resources of the
state." All water used in the state
would be under control of the Com-
mission with the exception of domestic
supplies. No water could be used by an
individual before first having been
granted a permit by the Commission
for such water. Even riparian uses of
stream water would be subject to per-
mit requirements.
The Commission would have as its
objective the most beneficial use of
the water resources of the state. The
Commission's opinion in this instance
might deviate considerably from the
viewpoint of those taking a contrary
outlook. To the industrialist who might
serve on the Commission, industrial
use of water would perhaps be the
most beneficial; whereas, to the agri-might have a drastic curbing effect on
the growth of our state.
The Commission would be the of-
ficial s t a t e voice in all dealings with
the federal government on matters
pertaining to state water resources.
Also it would negotiate and formulate
all interstate water compacts.
Each permit granted by the Com-
mission would be limited in duration.
The duration of permit validity would
be determined by the Commission. It
can readily be seen that by limiting
the time that the permit will be valid
might definitely impair the growth of
an area. If the permits were not valid
for an appreciable length of time,
those individuals granted permits to
use water would perhaps not feel justi-
fied in spending money for improve-
ments of their operation.
In granting permits the Commission
would give no preference whatsoever
to applications filed first in time, but
rather it would be governed strictly
by the standard of beneficial use.
At any time before the permit has
expired, the permit holder may be re-
quired by the Commission to relin-
quish his rights to the water granted
him by the Commission upon receipt
of reasonable compensation for his
loss. If the Commission should decide
that one or more applications for per-
mits have been filed that would create
uses for water which are adjudged as
more beneficial or would provide a
more complete utilization of available
water than the permit holder is mak-
ing with the water, the Commission
would then determine that the prior
permit should be relinquished and be
granted for the more beneficial uses.
A fee, of course, would be charged
for each permit based upon the class
of the permit, the duration of validity
of the permit, and the capital invest-
ment to be made by the permit holder.
The fee could be waived at the discre-
tion of the Commission.
If a shortage should occur or if the
ground-water table in any area of the
state is progressively declining, the
Commission may upon its own initia-
tive establish rules, regulations, orThe Texas State Legislature has
adopted a resolution asking that the
United States Congress preserve state
and individual rights in federal water
legislation.
Certain instances are on r e c o r d
where the federal government has not
complied with state regulations as
they pertain to water use, but rather
they have taken a paramount-right at-
titude in stating that the federal gov-
ernment does not have to comply with
state or local rules or laws in the de-
velopment and use of water resources.
Other states have joined Texas in
adopting resolutions in an attempt to
safeguard state and individual rights
in water.
High Plains Man
Elected To Board
Frank Gray of Lubbock, an agricul-
tural leader in the southern High
Plains area, has been elected to the
State Soil Conservation Board. He re-
places S. J. Payne of Tulia who has
served on the B o a r d for fourteen
years.
Mr. Gray is a former supervisor in
the Lubbock Soil Conservation Dis-
trict and a director of the Association
of Texas Soil Conservation Districts.
Mr. Gray farms east of Lubbock and
has a unique agricultural operatiofy.in
that he irrigates by using sewage ef-
fluent from the City of Lubbock."Cl-aEF
SAYS-RUNNING WATER,"
"An adequate supply
of underground water
for the future will de-
pend largely upon
good management to-
day. Water is your
future-Conserve
I Um!"
1ifVolume 6-No. 1
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June 1959
free water vapor then condenses on
the underside of the glass or plastic
and runs to a trough which carries
it to storage.
A solar still can desalt sea water as
readily as brackish well water with
no increase in minimum operating
costs.
Because of high fuel bills for operat-
ing the present electrodialysis still,
Resources for the Future engineers
believe that the prospects for produc-
ing potable water economically by
sunpower in parched lands such as
Libya appear nearly within reach.culturist serving on the Commission,
the use of water for irrigation might
seem more beneficial; and to one
serving who leans toward rapid muni-
cipal growth, the preservation of wa-
ter resources of the state for future
municipal use would perhaps be the
most beneficial. It appears that if a
water use act such as the one here
described were employed in Texas itorders forbidding the construction of
any new wells or diversion facilities
or by modifying existing uses of wa-
ter. The Commission may regulate the
use of ground water by proportioning,
limiting or rotating uses of water, or
the Commission may even find that
(Continued on Page 4)Please Close
Those Abandoned
Wells!
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High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 6, Number 1, June 1959, periodical, June 1959; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1532811/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1&rotate=180: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.