“As this region continues to become drier due to climate change, water supplies will be greatly reduced.'
A man casts a net into a canal, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McAllen, Texas. Canals used to deliver water in many parts of the Rio Grande Valley lose anywhere from 10% to 40% of the water they carry to seepage and evaporation, according to the Texas Water Development Board, making water a growing concern amid climate change and rising demand that scientists predict will lead to water shortages in the region by 2060.
“As this region continues to become drier due to climate change, water supplies will be greatly reduced," said Guy Fipps, a professor of irrigation engineering at Texas A&M University who has studied the water system since 1998. The region's more than 2,000 miles of pipelines and canals — some 100-feet wide — are meant for large, infrequent deliveries to farmland. Common fixes to modernize the waterways and make them more efficient — attempted by many districts to some degree — include lining earthen canals with concrete and more closely monitoring water use by farms with meters.
“This is an unusual situation, that the agricultural canals are used to help deliver the municipal water,” Fipps said. To salvage their thirsty crops, some farmers bought water from neighboring districts for tens of thousands of dollars. Others removed more than a hundred acres of the crop. A few weeks later, the skies opened up.
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