North Texas growth pains

[LVSteve]

Spent time in what I shall loosely call North Texas, but to be more precise, the area North of Dallas. Learned that the breakneck development in this area is creating problems.

Turned on the kitchen faucet at the stepson's house and I swear I could pee harder. I inquired as to difficulties with his plumbing. His wife says the extra development is stressing the water supply. The area needs more water towers to up the pressure, but there are doubts as to there being water to fill them. Good grief, I live in Vegas and have never seen water pressure like that. She also says the various municipalities do not have the money right now. My stepson laughed when I said make the developers pay.

They go on to tell me that the county and some cities are calling a halt on development because the highways are overloaded. For those who know the area, I'm talking about US380. Having seen how busy that road was even on a Sunday, I see their point. I can only guess what it's like at commuter time.

Ah, you say, take to the smaller county roads. Good luck with that. Those roads have been trashed by the 18-wheelers trying to get to the new developments. The county roads were never built to take traffic that heavy, and in places the destruction is severe.

Oh, and then there are the fights breaking out between different municipalities. One wants to expand McKinney airport and give it a longer runway. I think they want to make it a logistics hub. This would require a largish realignment of a Texas highway through an area the other municipality wants developed as housing to raise tax dollars. Game on, apparently.

After hearing all this I asked, "Have the developers filed lawsuits over the county pausing development?" They looked at me like I was nuts. I told them that the builders here would not stand for a mere infrastructure deficiency being trotted out as an excuse for stopping development. I'll ask them again in a few weeks.

The biggest surprise to me was that North Texas appears to be in water trouble. Is that an accurate assessment?

 

[dockmurgw]

Tread lightly...you're talking about a free state. If you want to make amends with the forum, edit your post and add an insult to New York. You won't be forgiven, but at least they won't click the red triangle.

 

[glenwolde]

In that situation here in Houston, there would be a request from homeowners to the State to establish a Municipal Utility District (M.U.D.). The M.U.D. is a State entity, not a local one. Normally the developer would get it started. Not sure if you can establish one in an existing municipality though. It's mostly used in unincorporated areas that are later annexed.

Also hard to believe they don't have the money. They should be flush with cash from property taxes and/or easily be able to sell bonds to finance it.

The M.U.D. would sell bonds, build out the system, tax the residents and/or bill for the water.

But there would have to be water available of course.

 

[Bald1]

My son lived in Wichita Falls TX for 3 yrs. Last spring he moved to TN. He bought a new build in Wichita Falls and 3 yrs lasted sold it for $40k more than he paid. Even with the crazy interest rates there was no shortage of buyers. I guess that would count as north Texas. There is tons of development going on.

 

[ridewv]

I can see Texas getting into real water shortages in the future. I rode down there about 8 years ago and couldn't believe the traffic and congestion around Dallas/Fort Worth. Really all the cities were suffering intense growing pains and my understanding is it's only gotten worse since.
All that population growth requires a lot of additional water. Another issue is all the fracking which requires massive quantities of water for every single well.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I was just down there for Thanksgiving, but a little north.

An hour driving, north of the airport, I saw FOUR major freeway
"High Ramps" in the start of their being built, on the sides of the freeway,
on our way to our destination.

Traffic and new home "Sites" were all over the place.

 

[ladder13]

Getting pretty crowded here too, but so far no water shortage. We drink bottled water just in case.

This Carolina City Offers the Best Quality of Life on the U.S. East Coast

 

[bobsguns]

Getting pretty crowded here too, but so far no water shortage. We drink bottled water just in case.

This Carolina City Offers the Best Quality of Life on the U.S. East Coast

Raleigh is nothing more than NYC South, IMO. Might be among THE most liberal cities in the South, IMO. No thanks! Yes, I've been there many times.

Hasn't Texas had water supply issues since the Republic days? Seems like 1/2 (or better) of the state would be considered arid, IMO.

 

[fordson]

Sounds very similar to the north Florida out-of-control over development……..except for the water problems.

 

[swsig]

LOL, I'm a 53-year resident of north Texas. Highway 380 runs through my town. I avoid it like the plague. The last time I drove on it eastward towards McKinney was maybe 15 years ago. Even then, development was so bad, what had once been a pleasant country drive had turned into a 20-mile long series of quarter-mile drag races between unsynchronized traffic lights. (Well, maybe they were synchronized -- to go red at every intersection.)

Any new "freeways" or elevated lanes you see around here are probably tollways. Texas saves money by delegating the construction what would normally be new state-funded freeways to a Spanish company, who then charges the heck out of us to drive on them. Spain may have lost Texas in the 1800s, but it's reclaiming us by the mile. (Got your TollTag windshield sticker, yet? Having one gives you a discount, and it's good for most central U.S. states' tollways.)

As to water, our city has a municipal utilities system that is very well run. Our population has gone from 35,000 when I moved here in 1971, to 125,000 today. While traffic has gotten much worse, water pressure has always been good. We are limited to watering our yards twice a week, but if you do it right, that's not a problem.

Thinking of moving to north Texas, yet? You could become NTSteve!

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

My brother lives in Coppell, a suburb of Dallas. I can tell you that I would NEVER live there. Nothing but concrete, highways and ongoing construction. You want green? Go to one of the few parks or plant your own on your postage stamp parcel of land left over from the McMansion. He loves it, but to me it is nothing but a REALY NICE ghetto of cookie cutter houses. Your post about water shortages does not surprise me.

 

[johngalt]

Maybe living in the North isn't so bad after all...

 

[tops]

Raleigh is nothing more than NYC South, IMO. Might be among THE most liberal cities in the South, IMO. No thanks! Yes, I've been there many times.

If Raleigh is a nice place to live I will keep living in a sorry place. Larry

 

[DWalt]

We left the D/FW area in 1990. We lived in a small, near-rural town outside Fort Worth and it was great when we lived there. Not today, it has become an overgrown beehive. I would never return.

 

[16thVACav]

If Raleigh is a nice place to live I will keep living in a sorry place. Larry

It can't be too sorry of a place with all of the great Yadkin Valley vineyards. Our favorite is Shelton Vineyards.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Plenty of overbuilding and sprawl here in NJ. Too many developments built on clay or land with poor drainage, when the water comes, people find their rec rooms are now cisterns. Also we are in a drought now-New Year's Eve fireworks in NYC and NJ cancelled.

 

[Rustyt1953]

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

 

[TXBryan]

Plenty of wide-open space in Texas but less of it can be found near the large metropolitan areas. I still venture into Austin pretty frequently and one simply has to "cinch-up" and prepare oneself for the ever-worsening experience of crowding and the consequences of thousands of people moving to Texas every day.

There are 150 state representatives in the Texas legislature and they all represent pretty darn close to the same number of people. There are more state reps in Harris County (Houston) than in all of Texas west of Interstate 35. I-35 is, coincidentally, about where the separation point is for "where it rains and where it don't."

Texas is also home to the largest desalination plant in the U.S. It's in Bexar County (San Antonio and it's pronounced "bear" county). Long way from the Gulf of Mexico 'cause it doesn't desalinate sea water but brackish groundwater for municipal use.

There is little doubt water is a limiting resource for Texas.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Texas is also home to the largest desalination plant in the U.S. It's in Bexar County (San Antonio and it's pronounced "bear" county).

Maybe I'm wrong, but I've always pronounced it like the aspirin brand. More Bay-er, than bear. Of course in Texas the difference can be so subtle as not to exist.

Water's a big issue out here for sure. Millions of gallons of groundwater are being pumped for fracking. Our fresh groundwater is being depleted rapidly. There is a very deep and basically endless supply of saline that may need to be tapped and desalinated if people continue to live out here in the desert. Doing so will get expensive in a hurry.

Our regional water district has a small pilot plant to reclaim sewage for drinking water. Sounds disgusting, but it may be more prevalent in the not too distant future. I think about half of our domestic water use goes to landscaping. That needs to change, but people love their lawns and trees that are not climate adapted. There are so many big trees in Midland (and to a lesser degree in Odessa) that would never survive here without irrigation. Flying over, the city looks like a forest in the middle of the desert.

 

[ridewv]

......I think about half of our domestic water use goes to landscaping. That needs to change, but people love their lawns and trees that are not climate adapted. There are so many big trees in Midland (and to a lesser degree in Odessa) that would never survive here without irrigation. Flying over, the city looks like a forest in the middle of the desert.

I never understood wasting water on lawns or landscaping. Trees need a lot of water which is why they grow in places that get a lot of rain. I can't imagine watering trees?