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T. Boone Pickens: Oil TycoonDrilling Water in Texas
If the venture succeeds, it will supply more than 1.5million Texans with waterfrom the aquifer.
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How-ever, the Ogallala is already severely depleted and could be losing as much as 65 billion gallons of water per year.
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The U.S. GeologicalSurvey reported in 2007that the Ogallala Aquiferhas seen vast water-levelchanges due to an imbal-ance between discharge andrecharge.
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This loss of watercould be devastating to localagriculture and the environ-ment — affecting ground- water availability, surface- water flow and near-streamhabitats. In spite of theseimpending consequences,Pickens hopes that his $75million property investment will turn into a profit of over $1 billion.
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Deals are in the works with J.P. Morgan to finance a328-mile pipeline project to supply the Dallas-Fort Worthregion with water.
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Other private companies have builta combined total of 323 miles of water pipeline in Texas,making this the largest such project to date.
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The enor-mous construction plan would not have been possible without years of legal and material preparation by Pick-ens and his company. Pickens acquired the opportunity to erect this nine-foot diameter pipe through a successionof property investments, lobbying efforts and collabora-tions with alternative energy supply efforts.
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Texas’ Rule of Capture doctrine played a key role in this business venture. The historical law on pumping ground- water states that groundwater belongs to the landowner.
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espite his energy investment funds losing $1 billion during this year’s marketcollapse and his personal loss of about $270 million
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, famed oilman T. BoonePickens still looks to turn his attention from “black gold” to “blue gold.” The billion-aire tycoon recently supplemented his property holdings in Roberts County, Texas with 200,000 acres of land atop the Ogallala Aquifer. Under Texas law, this pur-chase entitles Mesa Water, Pickens’ new company, to take more than 320,000 acre-feet of water, equivalent to more than 104 million gallons, from the property. Pick-ens plans to pump the water from his land in the state’s north- eastern panhandleand pipe it to Lubbock, El Paso, San Antonio or the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Fact Sheet
Oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens testies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July 2008. Photo by UPI Photo/Patrick D. McDermott.
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