Related Press
August 03, 2009
Chicago Tribune
Resurgence of nuclear power not likely to happen
After the disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, years passed before anyone took seriously the idea of a nuclear revival. Then our friend the atom started making a comeback.
Rising demand for energy provided a boost. And the outpouring of concern about climate change put fossil fuels and their carbon emissions at center stage as environmental enemy No. 1. Utilities across the country began laying the groundwork for new reactors, following the lead of Europe and Asia.
Yet talk of a “nuclear renaissance” has run into a financial meltdown.
July 30, 2009
San Antonio Express-News
Nuclear plant proponents overlook drought’s reality
Two recent Express-News articles were highly predictive of South Texas’s future: “This dry spell may be the drought of record” and “Energy giant wants to keep Guadalupe River water rights.” The two highlight the relationship between nuclear power and water.
Global warming studies predict South Texas will experience longer and more severe droughts.
The future is here and its reality is staring us in the face.
July 30, 2009
Victoria Advocate
Exelon Nuclear will close Victoria office, eliminate local community outreach position
Exelon Nuclear’s local office will close and Bill Harris’ position as manager of community outreach for Texas will be eliminated, Harris announced Tuesday.
“I was not laid off,” he said to about 60 people at the Victoria Economic Development Corporation’s Victoria Partnership meeting. “I still have a job, just not here.”
July 24, 2009
San Antonio Express-News
Paper water rights deceptive
Central Texas is experiencing one of the worst natural droughts of the last 50 years. It’s dry and we all know it - we feel it. And during such times, it makes a lot of sense to seriously question our state and local water policies. When it rains, we have enough for all of our dreams. It is when we are dry that reality appears.
July 22, 2009
Associated Press
Texas Agriculture Losses Reach $3.6 Billion
Drought in Texas has led to an estimated $3.6 billion in crop and livestock losses, and without ample rains, the year’s final tally could top the state record set in 2006, Texas agriculture officials say.
Crops and rangeland are scorched from lack of rainfall and record triple-digit temperatures throughout parts of Texas - the nation’s second-largest agriculture state behind California. Much of the central and southern parts of the state have been in the two most severe stages of drought for months.
Agriculture officials in the state, which leads the nation in cotton and cattle production, estimated Monday that total crop losses attributed to the drought that started in November have reached $2.6 billion. Livestock losses have reached an additional $974 million. And officials have not yet tallied how much ranchers will lose from having fewer cattle to breed or from selling calves earlier than usual because they don’t have pasture on which their animals can graze.
July 14, 2009
San Antonio Express-News
Exelon Still Holding On To Guadalupe Water
Exelon Energy’s plans to build two nuclear reactors near Victoria may be on hold, but it hasn’t stopped the power company from reserving the rights to 75,000 acre-feet of precious Guadalupe River water for another year - and maybe longer.
The deal, which the Chicago-based energy behemoth inked with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, has worried some Victoria-area residents.
They argue the river doesn’t hold enough water to quench the region’s current thirst, let alone feed the massive reservoir needed to cool nuclear reactors.
July 14, 2009
San Antonio Express-News
Drought On Way To Being Costliest Ever
Area farmers and ranchers don’t need a color-coded map or a gloomy weather report to know they’re at ground zero of what is becoming one of Texas’ worst droughts ever.
They see it daily in parched fields too dry for seeds to sprout; in stock tanks that carried water during the legendary drought of the 1950s but now are cracked and dry; in prickly pear cactus so thin that they don’t provide much moisture when their needles are burned off for skinny cows to enjoy.
Even some of the hardy live oak, hackberry and mesquite trees that have defied Texas’ harsh environment are beginning to show stress, one agricultural expert said.
“This is about as bad as it gets,” said Bryan Davis, a Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent in Bexar County who farms and ranches near the Guadalupe County line. “We can’t catch a break.”
July 14, 2009
Associated Press
Drought Conditions Turn Dire In Parts Of Texas
If not for the triple-digit heat, central Texas rancher Debbie Davis could almost think it was a different season entirely.
“The (pasture) grass looks like it’s the dead of winter,” said Davis, who raises beef cattle and Texas Longhorns northwest of San Antonio. The region is enduring its driest 22-month span going back to 1885. “It’s horrible. It’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Usually it’s West Texas that’s hot and dry. Now, central and southern Texas are alone in the nation in experiencing the two most severe stages of drought. About 11 percent of the state was in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought as of June 30, up from 8 percent the previous week.
That’s bad news for farmers and ranchers in the nation’s No. 2 agriculture state behind California, who could lose billions in crops and livestock.
July 08, 2009
Hill Country News
Water Worries… A Serious Issue
With the ongoing drought, June heat wave and the increasing demand, people of south and south central Texas have worries and serious concerns for our most precious resource… Water! Rivers are seeing a dramatic drop in flow levels, reservoir levels are also dropping with more in sight, and almost everyone is already on or preparing for water restrictions and conservation plans.
July 06, 2009
GBRA Press Release
Downstream Demands Require Increased Releases from Canyon
Due to the current drought conditions and increased demands for water supply by the City of Victoria, the Guadalupe-Blanco River
Authority (GBRA) will increase the release rate from Canyon Lake from 60 cfs to 125 cfs effective at 1:00 p.m. today.
News & Events
Nuclear plant proponents overlook drought’s realityTwo recent Express-News articles were highly predictive of South Texas’s future: “This dry spell may be the drought of record” and “Energy giant wants to keep Guadalupe River water rights.” The two highlight the relationship between nuclear power and water.
Global warming studies predict South Texas will experience longer and more severe droughts.
The future is here and its reality is staring us in the face.
Paper water rights deceptiveCentral Texas is experiencing one of the worst natural droughts of the last 50 years. It’s dry and we all know it - we feel it. And during such times, it makes a lot of sense to seriously question our state and local water policies. When it rains, we have enough for all of our dreams. It is when we are dry that reality appears.
TSEPA: GBRA Sells Guadalupe Water Rights to Exelon Amidst Basin-Wide DroughtVICTORIA, TX - Texans for a Sound Energy Policy Alliance (TSEPA) today questioned the logic of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority’s (GBRA) decision to extend its water reservation agreement with Exelon while simultaneously requesting others to conserve.
With the Guadalupe River Basin experiencing Stage 2 drought conditions, GBRA encouraged all users to limit their water usage. Additionally, GBRA was forced to increase the release rate from Canyon Lake into the Guadalupe River in order to meet the current water supply demands for its downstream user, the City of Victoria. At the same time, GBRA accepted $1.1 million from Exelon to reserve 75,000 acre-feet from the Guadalupe for its proposed nuclear power plant near Victoria.