Met a gentleman today at Starbucks and we sat down and looked at maps. He drew randomly all over the maps to point me in the direction for my project. He educated me on what crops are grown in each county and where the water supplies are located. He gave me contact information to the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority so that I can find out very accurate statistics on Lake Meredith.
Also he informed me on the rise of the cotton industry. Cotton was only grown south of Lubbock until recently. However due to genetic modifications of cotton it has a shorter growing season and can be grown farther north. Cotton is now being grown as far north as the Oklahoma panhandle. Cotton uses a lot of water, but the new type of cotton has been modified to use less.
Also I found out that people are going together and buying huge plots of land so that by law they can own the water underneath the land and making millions of dollars selling the water rights to cities like Amarillo. In 2015 is when legislature will require farmers to only use a specific amount of water or they will be highly taxed. After I was through talking with him he sent me a text that he would give me the contact information for a cotton farmer who uses GPS technology and underground drip irrigation.
No comments:
Post a Comment