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Counties in Region:
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TERRELL, PRESIDIO, JEFF DAVIS, HUDSPETH, EL PASO, CULBERSON, BREWSTER
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Major Cities:
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El Paso
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Population 2000:
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800,857
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Population 2050:
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1,587,097
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Total Water Use, 2000:
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509426 acre-Feet
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Total Water Use, 2050:
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585742 Acre-Feet
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Primary Rivers:
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Rio Grande
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Major Aquifers:
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HuecoMesilla-Bolson, Cenozoic, Pecos Alluvium
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Annual Precipitation:
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8-20 Inches
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Net Evaporation:
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52-68+ Inches
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Regional Planning Activity Information From
The Teaxs Water Development Board
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SUPPLY 1995
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DEMAND 2000
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DEMAND 2050
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SOURCE
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PERCENT
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SECTOR
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ACRE-FEET
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PERCENT
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SECTOR
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ACRE-FEET
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PERCENT
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Groundwater
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40
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Irrigation
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342848
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67.3%
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Irrigation
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298848
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51.0%
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Surfacewater
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60
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Manufacturing
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14793
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2.9%
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Manufacturing
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20348
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3.5%
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Livestock
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4463
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0.9%
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Livestock
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4463
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0.8%
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Mining
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3366
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0.7%
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Mining
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3813
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0.7%
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Municipal
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137956
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27.1%
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Municipal
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252270
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43.1%
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Power
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6000
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1.2%
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Power
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6000
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1.0%
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- Population will double between 1995 and 2050, and municipal water use will increase from 22 to 44 percent of
the total water demands, as irrigation water use declines.
- The major aquifers in the area-the Hueco Basin and the Mesilla-Bolson-are shared by Texas, New Mexico, and
Mexico and provide most municipal and industrial water needs. Groundwater has suffered in quality and has become more saline.
- El Paso is continuing to shift from groundwater to surface water. One proposal-a pipeline from New Mexico to
bring Rio Grande water more directly to the city-is controversial because of its potential effects on the riparian
habitat of the Rio Grande and on the aquifers, which rely on natural recharge from the river.
- Water quality and quantity of the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park has been severely degraded because of
upstream use of both the Rio Grande and the Pecos River.
- The Pecos River is naturally salty because of intrusions from a brine artesian aquifer in New Mexico.
- Hundreds of small, unincorporated communities along the Mexico-Texas border lack adequate water supply and
wastewater treatment, although the problem is slowly being addressed with state and federal funds.
- Testing by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the TNRCC along the Rio Grande has revealed high
levels of toxics and other contaminants.78 Untreated wastewater flows from Ciudad Juarez have an adverse
effect on river water quality by raising nutrients and fecal coliform bacteria in the river.
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