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PECOS, TexasExtreme drought has diminished the flows of the Rio Grande and Pecos River, two of the most iconic waterways in Texas. The advocacy group American Rivers recently named the Lower Rio Grande one of its most endangered rivers, describing a near-permanent human-induced megadrought threatening all life that depends on it. On the Pecos River, there hasnt been enough water to distribute to irrigation districts below the Red Bluff Reservoir in recent years. While farmers and cities face increasing water scarcity, oil and gas companies use billions of gallons of water from these rivers annually. An exclusive Inside Climate News analysis found that drillers used more than 31,000 acre feet, or more than 10 billion gallons, of Rio Grande water for drilling and fracking operations in the Eagle Ford Shale between 2021 and 2024. Thats enough water to meet the needs of 113,500 Texas households for an entire year, based on average daily use of 246 gallons per household. At the Red Bluff Reservoir on the Pecos River, Daniel Arrant of Kingsley Water Company reports to have sold more than 75 million barrels of water, or more than 4 billion gallons, for oil and gas operations since 2016. Numerous Texas oil and gas companies have made voluntary commitments to reduce their freshwater use and shift to brackish or recycled water for use in fracking for oil and gas. But the water sales, like those reported by Arrant of the Kingsley Water Company, show that oil and gas drilling is still reliant on surface water from Texas rivers. Surface water sold for drilling and fracking is categorized as mining consumption under Texas law. Pumping water underground to drill or frack a well often permanently removes it from the natural hydrologic cycle, given the presence of chemical fracking fluids and natural toxins like arsenic following its use in the extraction process for oil or gas. Inside Climate News obtained Rio Grande water data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) through a public information request. Kingsley Water Company, an oil field water services firm based in the Woodlands, a Houston suburb, was the top user of Rio Grande water for oil and gas drilling, followed by SM Energy Company, Segundo Navarro Drilling, and Select Water Solutions. Between the Rio Grande and the Pecos River, Kingsley has sold enough water for drilling to meet the needs of more than 100,000 Texas households for a year. Kinglsey and Arrant did not respond to multiple requests for comment. State Representative Vikki Goodwin criticized Apache Corp. for buying water from the Pecos River when, she says, recycled produced water from fracking was available. Inside Climate News independently confirmed the water purchase. Investments in projects to clean up and recycle frack water will dry up if oil companies dont opt to use the recycled water, Goodwin, a Democrat who represents Travis County, said. My hope is we dont wait until too late to make better decisions about our water resources in Texas. A spokesperson for Apache, headquartered in Houston, said the company minimizes the use of fresh water and is using non-fresh, non-potable water for fracking its oil and gas wells in Loving County near the reservoir. Eagle Ford Drillers Tap Rio Grande Tributaries in Mexico feed the Rio Grande in South Texas. But with Mexico behind on water deliveries to the United States, tensions on the river are high. The Amistad Reservoir, where water delivered by Mexico is stored, hit a historic low in July 2024. Extreme drought in counties like Webb and Maverick, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, is compounding the problem. Groundwater springs and tributaries are feeding less water into the river. Flows have decreased on the Rio Grande by more than 30% in recent decades. The Rio Grande is the sole source of drinking water for the city of Laredo in Webb County. Because of the drought, Laredo has asked residents to reduce water use for several consecutive years. Planners are considering costly alternative water sources to prepare for the day, projected to come around 2040, when the Rio Grande wont be enough to supply the city. Agriculture consumes the lions share of Rio Grande water, followed by municipal use. While groundwater is the primary source for oil and gas drilling, several companies still consume substantial volumes of surface water from the river. Webb County is at the heart of the fracking boom that took off in South Texass Eagle Ford Shale formation in 2010. The Eagle Ford Shale is now consistently one of the top three oil-producing basins in the country. Inside Climate News found that between 2020 and 2024, Kingsley Water Company used 12,363 acre feet of Rio Grande water, SM Energy used 11,379 acre feet, Segundo Navarro used 3,979 acre feet, and Select Water used 3,776 acre feet. An acre foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot, or 325,851 gallons. The companies did not respond to requests for comment. Rio Grande water rights are overseen by the TCEQ Rio Grande Watermaster. Water rights are adjudicated by the state and then can be bought and sold by private parties. Rights holders are allowed to divert a pre-approved amount of water at a specific location. Most of these rights are held by cities, farmers, and irrigation districts. Oilfield companies hold a small number. Kingsley Water Company is a subsidiary of Kingsley Constructors, headquartered in the Woodlands. In 2011, Daniel Arrant led the purchase and permitting of the Rio Grande water rights, according to the website of Voyager, the Houston private equity firm where he is a partner. Arrant entered contracts to resell the water to operators completing wells in the Eagle Ford Shale. These deals have sold more than 235 million barrels, or 9.87 billion gallons, of Rio Grande water, according to the Voyager website. Select Water Solutions, headquartered in Gainesville, Texas, also resells Rio Grande water to drilling companies. The companys 2023 sustainability report states that it places the utmost importance on safe, environmentally responsible management of water. Select Water Solutions reported selling a larger share of recycled water each year between 2020 and 2023. But the total volume of freshwater sold also increased in 2023 to a four-year high of more than 97 million barrels, or more than 4 billion gallons. SM Energy, a Denver-based independent exploration and production company, does not have public sustainability targets for minimizing water use and protecting water quality. Neither does San Antonio-based Segundo Navarro Drilling, a subsidiary of Lewis Energy Group. TCEQ does not collect data on how oil and gas companies use the surface water they purchase. Drilling, well completion, and fracking are all different steps in the lifecycle of a well that require water. TCEQ spokesperson Ricky Richter said that between 2009 and 2023, annual surface water use for mining, which includes oil and gas operations, averaged 40,000 acre feet statewide, or about 13 billion gallons. TCEQ defines mining use as water for mining processes including hydraulic use, drilling, washing sand and gravel, and oil field repressuring. Martin Castro, watershed science director at the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) in Laredo, analyzed water use in oil and gas operations for a 2021 report. He found drillers used 19 billion gallons of Rio Grande water between 2010 and 2020. Any reductions of the rivers water supply, when coupled with recurring droughts, will have disastrous consequences for Webb County and South Texas, Castro wrote at the time. Inside Climate Newss analysis found slightly higher annual rates of water diversions for oil and gas between 2021 to 2024 than rates noted in RGISCs report spanning the preceding decade. Castro was concerned that drillers are still using large volumes of Rio Grande water. Were not doing any better than four years ago, he said. Castro previously worked for TCEQ and observed water diversions used for fracking. But he said that, without reporting requirements, the true scale is unknown. Castro would like to see TCEQ collect data on how much surface water goes to drilling as opposed to fracking. He has also called on TCEQ to publish Rio Grande water diversion data, which currently is only available through records requests. There is no transparency, he said. RGISC collaborated with American Rivers in its campaign that named the Lower Rio Grande one of the countrys most endangered rivers. Castro said improving resilience on the river will require thinking outside of the box and increasing investment. The only way were going to improve conditions on the river is if we make serious federal investments, he said. Water rights downstream of Amistad Reservoir on the Rio Grande operate on a priority system, which ensures cities get their share of water during times of scarcity. Priority is given to municipal use, and municipal priority is guaranteed through a municipal reserve, said TCEQ spokesperson Laura Lopez. Water for mining use, as with irrigation and recreational use, is allocated to a water right holders account based on available storage in the system. Pecos River Water Sold from Red Bluff Reservoir The Pecos River begins in the mountains of New Mexico and flows through West Texas to meet the Rio Grande. An inter-state compact requires New Mexico to send Pecos River water to Texas, where it is impounded at the Red Bluff Reservoir. Reduced flows on the Pecos have lowered water levels at Red Bluff. On paper, the Red Bluff Power and Irrigation District, which manages the reservoir, holds rights to 292,500 acre feet a year of water. But its been a long time since there was that much water in the reservoir. Red Bluff sat at 65,000 acre feet in early May. Because of the low reservoir levels, Red Bluff is often unable to send water downstream to irrigation districts. Kingsley secured the mining water right in 2014 for up to 7,500 acre feet of water a year, about 2.44 billion gallons. The Red Bluff district told Inside Climate News that Kinglsey purchased 1,400 acre feet, or more than 450 million gallons, in 2024. District general manager Robin Prewit said the water sales to oil and gas drillers are a drop in the bucket. She said that even if the district did not sell water to Kingsley, because of evaporation and transportation losses, there would not be enough water to send to the irrigation districts. Im not having to choose one or the other, she said. What she said she could really use is more rain in the Pecos River watershed in New Mexico. Salinity is another challenge. The water at Red Bluff is salty enough to be considered brackish. Farmers in the area grow salt-tolerant plants. But to be potable for human consumption the water would have to be treated. Apache, which purchased water from Kinglsey early this year, reported using 98.2% nonfresh water in 2023. Water from Red Bluff would be considered nonfresh because of the salinity levels. Ernest Woodward, a rancher outside McCamey, opposes the water sales for oil and gas drilling. It should not be, he said. Its for irrigation. He gave up farming barley after several years without irrigation water from Red Bluff. You go to all the labor to get the land prepared, and then you dont get the water, he said. Woodward would like to see water flowing in the river again. We dont have enough water, he said. Were starving. This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for its newsletter here.
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In the mid-1920s, most Americans ate light breakfasts. Edward Bernays, who would eventually be considered the father of public relations, was hired by a company that sold bacon to promote the idea that a hearty meal including bacon and eggs was more scientifically beneficial. Bernays conducted interviews and then carefully framed the results that led to a shift in public opinion. Americas iconic breakfast is now bacon and eggs. In the 1950s, the Keep America Beautiful campaign was launched by a coalition of corporations whose products were often littered (soda bottles, plastic packages, etc.). Their iconic moment was 1971s commercial with actor Iron Eyes Cody as a Native American shedding a single tear about litter and pollution. Both of these campaigns were carefully crafted propaganda designed to focus on individual decisions and actions. They relied on imagery, symbolism, and emotion, not raw facts. And they werent designed to explicitly sell bacon or guilt. Public relations storytellers shaped public opinion like artists and nudged enough behavior change that the entire culture was impacted. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}} Artful vision and the power to reframe Propaganda is an idea or allegation crafted not to inform neutrally, but to influence behavior and belief. Art is an object or image shaped with skill and imagination to evoke emotion and meaning. Its useful to learn from people who create art and propaganda. In my workplanning transportation systems with a bias toward human flourishingI often say I create propagandart to save the human race. prä-p-gan-därt (noun): ideas, allegations, and aesthetic objects produced with the conscious use of skill and creative imagination, spread deliberately to further ones cause or to damage an opposing cause The people best equipped to influence behavior arent just marketers or policymakerstheyre propagandartists. The photographer who shapes what you notice. The muralist who reclaims public space. The meme creator who distills frustration into a punchline. Each is practicing a form of strategic persuasion. Each is shaping not just what we see, but how we feel about it. Whether youre pitching a startup, selling a product, or reshaping a city, you’re competing with ads, reels, renderings, memesall designed to influence perception before youve said a word. To win the room, you dont need new tools nearly as much as you need to master an old one: the art of influence. Consider a fine art photographer and a meme lord. One crafts a single frame with obsessive care; the other floods the internet with viral punchlines. Both are propagandistsstorytellers who deliberately shape how we see and feel. If I want to create walk-friendly, bicycle-friendly places that increase the smile density in my city, Im only going to reach that goal through persuasive storytelling. Every photograph is a lie. Photography isnt objective. Ansel Adams didnt just capture Yosemite; he framed it to evoke awe. Gordon Parks didnt just document injustice; he gave it emotional gravity. Whats left out of the frame is as important as whats inside it. Thats the lesson: direct attention with intention. Dont pitch the product. Show the life it makes possible. The relieved parent, the joyful commuter, the profitable small business, etc. Great art doesnt just showit sells a version of reality. Remix culture and the new public square For urbanism innovators, shaping imaginations is a vital part of the playbook. Launching a new cargo bike, pitching a housing policy, or designing a bus transfer hub requires persuasion. If you cant shape public imagination, your product, policy, or vision will be dead on arrival, no matter how brilliant the data behind it. Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1979 on display at the Brooklyn Museum, ca. 2007. [Photo: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images] Artists reframe the past, present, and futuresometimes in an effort to change culture in some way, sometimes just to be irreverent or entertaining. From Shepard Faireys Hope poster to Judy Chicagos The Dinner Party, art can create appetites for ideas the mainstream hasnt developed yet. A speculative rendering of a car-free downtown is an example of a prompt for belief. The High Line in New York began this way: a vision, illustrated and circulated, that turned an abandoned rail line into a civic treasure. Applying lessons learned from the art world doesnt require training to become a great artist yourself. Memes are fast, cheap, and culturally potent. Theyre the digital ages most accessible form of propagandart and we all know they can sometimes look sloppy and haphazard. A meme doesnt explainit distills. The Distracted Boyfriend image reshaped debates about loyalty. Bernie Sanders in mittens became a viral fundraiser. Memes bypass logic, persuading with speed, irony, and emotional friction. For builders and changemakers, memes offer a strategy. Want to communicate the absurdity of legacy infrastructure or bloated software? A meme can do in seconds what a slide deck does in 30 minutes. Memes can help energize a movement or reframe a dull category. The trick is to stop thinking of them as fluff and start using them as signals. Organized persuasion Weve been taught to fear the word propaganda. But propaganda, at its root, is organized persuasion. And in an environment of infinite messages, intentional persuasion is a competitive edge. Propagandart blends arts emotional pull with strategys clarity. A viral video about your mission is propagandart. A campaign calling out industry greenwashing is propagandart. A cartoon satirizing the way zoning keeps Americans trapped in cars is propagandart. Decide what belief or point of view youre trying to implant, or what behavior youre trying to shift. Then use facts to create stories that move markets. From canvas to camera to meme, the artists role has never changed: shape what people seeand how they feel about it. This is true for shipping code, designing buildings, or launching a movement of kids biking to school. Your work and your legacy lives or dies by stories. With artistic tools in every pocket and publi platforms a click away, were in a golden age of propagandart. If you want your idea to stick, it needs more than a data pointit needs to be seen, felt, and shared. Just ask the campaigners behind Barcelonas Superblocks. Before reconfiguring traffic patterns or drafting ordinances, they shared speculative renderings of tree-lined streets, kids playing in former intersections, and cafes spilling into quiet roads once dominated by cars. Those images didnt just illustrate the plan. They created public appetite for changeturning skepticism into support. The power of propagandart is shaping not just what people know, but what they want. Picture a better world. Frame the story. Share it. If you can shape how people feel, you can shape what they demand. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
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How do you feel about your work? Do its daily demands leave you burned out and drained of energy? Do you find yourself reducing how much effort you make to engage in some quiet or “soft” quitting? Or maybe you dream of taking a more decisive step and joining the “great resignation.” The prevalenceand popularityof these responses suggest that there has been quite a change in many peoples attitudes to the way they earn a living. Some think that this change stems from a post-COVID evaluation of work-life balance. Others say its an individual form of industrial action. However, these explanations keep the spotlight firmly on workers rather than the work itself. Perhaps the truth lies in a fundamental deterioration in peoples relationship with their work and maybe the work needs to shoulder some of the responsibility. Our experience of working, and its impact on our lives, is about more than what goes on within the office or school or hospital or factory that pays our wages. Even something as simple (yet important) as the number of hours someone works might be the result of a complex combination of national law, professional expectations, and an organizations resources. This is where something known as the psychosocial work environment comes inan approach (especially popular in Scandinavia) that examines the various structures, conditions, and experiences that affect an employees psychological and emotional well-being. Research in this field suggests that there are three conditions vital to the modern work experience: autonomy, boundary management, and “precarity.” Autonomy is about how much control and influence you have when it comes to doing your job and is key to how most employees feel about their work. Low levels of autonomy can leave people feeling overwhelmed and powerless. But high levels can also be detrimental, leading to excessive levels of individual responsibility and overwhelming hours. Ideally, you should have enough autonomy to feel a sense of flexibility and self-determinationbut not so much that you feel you need to always be available and constantly on the clock. Setting boundaries Boundary management is the ability to manage the physical and mental boundaries between work and nonwork lives. Achieving a suitable work-life balance has become even more important in a world of hybrid working. But in jobs with high levels of autonomy and responsibility, boundaries can become blurred and unpredictable. Phones ping with work-related notifications, and leisure becomes work at the swipe of a screen. All of this can lead to feelings of anxiety and exhaustion. The goal here is to set clear boundaries that bring predictability and clarity around work time and demands. This provides flexibility that is empowering rather than exploitative. Finally, “precarity” refers to a lack of stability and security in life. It refers specifically to a harmful state of uncertainty that is typically associated with job insecurity (zero-hour contracts, for example). This uncertainty and insecurity can dominate daily work time (and free time), leading to feelings of stress and anxiety. It can also have a negative impact on personal finances and career plans. Income and contract security can help here, although people working in insecure jobs often have little power when it comes to persuading their employers to make the necessary changes. But addressing the deteriorating relationship between employees and their work means confronting certain core conditions. Reflecting on the psychosocial elements of employment can help to identify the gap between expectation and actual experience. Before experiencing burnout or resorting to quitting (in any of its forms), this approach encourages employees and employers to reflect on two key questions. How does work make you feel? And what are the things that cause those feelings? Research on psychosocial work environments provides some guidance. It suggests that workers are more likely to thrive when they have autonomy that feels like control rather than abandonment, and flexibility and clarity that allows for a good work-life balance. They also need security that offers certainty in the presentand confidence in the future. John-Paul Byrne is a lecturer at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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