Last night, Scott Friedman did a story on NBC Channel 5 about the people in Dallas who use the most water. Ross Perot got a finger wagged at him for using 4.8 million gallons last year. Tom Hicks got the same treatment for using 8.7 million gallons. Friedman began his story by saying, “Some of the wealthiest people in Dallas are swimming in more than just money. They’re also consuming water at a rate that’s 40 to 90 times greater than the typical Dallas household.”
Okay, sure, that’s a lot of water. But how about some context? For this story to make sense, you’ve got to break it down on a per-acre basis. Tom Hicks’s estate includes about 25 acres. That means he uses about 348,000 gallons per acre per year. Is that ridiculously high? I don’t know. Point is, if you’ve got a big house and you’ve got a lot of land, you’re going to use a lot of water.
I’m going to turn comments on, because I bet there’s a FrontBurnervian out there who knows how much water an average Dallas resident uses per acre.
28 comments
Tim, not sure about water/acre’s but the type of landscape makes a difference too. Xeriscape vs tropical, tiff vs buffalo. To be fair, Hicks and Ross probably had their landscape installed before the era of pesky news reporters.
I looked closely at my DWU bill recently and noticed that of a bill that totaled around $50 (I’m a sprinkler miser with a small lawn), only $3 of the total was the variable charge for water. The balanced was fixed fees for providing water, sewer and sanitation services plus taxes. If Dallas has any sort of water shortage, they should increase the variable cost for water. I don’t have much of an incentive to conserve water if all I can save is $3.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1505610§ionID=1
BJ Austin covered this in May.
Avg customer uses 100,000 gallons a year. Avg. lot size in dallas is .25 acres, simple math says hicks is using less per acre than average customer.
@gs1s Water has a “tiered” billing structure such that the more you consume the more you pay. I don’t know the exact numbers for Dallas, but (beware economist jargon) it’s a price discrimination mechanism. Once you reach a certain consumption threshold the marginal rate for a unit of water is more expensive. It is structured in this way to specifically target the Tom Hicks and Ross Perot’s of the world…and people who fill a pool in the spring. Think of it like income taxes; the more you earn the higher the marginal rate of taxation.
According to the Google:
Dallas has a much higher level of consumption than other Texas cities, with a 2003 average per capita consumption of 238 gallons per day.
238×365=86870
Average lot size in Dallas? 1/4 acre?
Extrapolate and Ross and Hicks are still water hogs. As gs1s stated, we need a sliding scale.
Because 350,000 per acre in Dallas is too much water!
Any discussion about water conservation that does not include elimination of green grass lawns (particularly non-native grasses) is absurd. The green grass lawn is an anachronism and an ecological abomination. Bring on the artificial turf if you want “green”!!!!
Leaders of the community (Perot and Hicks should qualify for this I think) should take it upon themselves to set a good example. Using ~5 million gallons of water per year for ONE household is NOT setting a good example, regardless of how big your estate is.
Further, as Mr. Rogers says in his column above, putting a this into a /acre number is NOT putting this story in context (does not account for showers, toilets, sinks, etc.).
The best way is to put water usage into a per household number. Let’s say the average house sits on a ~1/2 acre lot (in TX at least). That would mean 50 or so houses could fit on his 25 acre estate. He has one house.
For reference, the ‘average’ household (with a pool and sprinklers) uses roughly 10,000 gallons/month, or 120,000 gallons/year. That means the 50 houses that could fit on Hicks’ 25 acres should use 6 million gallons.
Tom Hicks is using more water than 50 “average” households. C’mon Tom, that’s ridiculous, get with it. Perot, I don’t know how big your estate is, but I’m sure it’s bigger than a half acre. Get with it too.
@smithdew – Thanks. A little research confirmed your point http://www.dallascityhall.com/dwu/billing_rates_monthly.html
My gripe is more with the high fixed/low variable nature of the pricing. I opened up the sprinklers when I realized that doubling my consumption really wouldn’t move the needle much on my bill, while helping my “green grass lawn” (sorry @CV Gilkeson).
Who cares how much he uses per acre? The point is, one guy is using a lot more water for himself than any of the rest of us use for ourselves. I find this very selfish and wasteful of our shared resources.
How many gallons/year are used at the White House?
This does nothing to convince state/federal water decision makers that Dallas deserves a new supply lake on the Neches River in East Texas. Conserve or dry.
Why is the man always tryin’ to put the rich man down?
Per acre? Shoot, 10,000 gallons go down my shower drain per month.
And, if he pays for it and is taxed for it, what’s the problem?
How come we never get comments turned on for Wick’s posts?
The city (and the media) needs to focus on fixing leaking pipes more than the rich people who pay for the water they waste. Dallas uses more water per capita (overall use) than any other large Texas city. When it comes to residential water use, Dallas is fifth among the 12 largest cities in the state. By contrast, Fort Worth uses 50 gallons less per capita, per day than Dallas (residential water use). [My theory is people from Fort Worth shower less and often forget to flush...]
There is room for improvement. It would not hurt for some of our city leaders to try and set a better example for us to follow.
Oh yeah, thanks for allowing comments, Tim!
I take it old money Mssrs. Hunt and Crow are on this list? Otherwise, new money guys like Hicks would have the opportunity to be defended here.
El Ray, I think the reason Wick wanted to take them down was because people were making it their own anonymous launching grounds for shots at others. (see your comment on FW residents).
Did the guy die?
And they want to come to Bowie County and take our land and THEN our water. Come on now. D did a great article on that a few years back.
this is hurting the chances of using some water from Oklahoma.
Hicks doesn’t need to have green perfect grass on every bit of his land, he needs to do a better job or xeriscaping.
Shower, regular shower head – 5 min. 11
Bath, full tub
24 Gal a day
Toliet Flush, regular tank, Per Flush
3-5 Gal a day
Shaving, open tap – 10 min.
13 Gal a day
Brush Teeth, open tap – 10 min.
13 Gal a day
Dishwasher, standard cycle
10-15 Gal a day
Manual dishwashing, open tap – 15 min.
20 Gal a day
Dishwashing, full basin
5 Gal a day
Washing the car, open hose
100+ Gal per event
TOTAL GALLONS/DAY
199 – 206
TOTAL GALLONS/YEAR
72,635 – 75,190
I found this on: http://www.dualflushkit.com/watereducation.php
They have great ways to save water with dual flush toilets and other products. I hope this helps it was sure an eye opener for me.
It seems absurd, but as long as they’re paying the bills – and if we’re on a mandatory no-water and they’re being monitored – I don’t think we should care. It’s an interesting stat and just goes to show that I will never ever be able to afford living in a house on that many acres in the middle of Dallas such as Hicks.
@JM: “I don’t think we should care” — ?? Seriously?? Water is not an unlimited resource.
And @gs1s: “I don’t have much of an incentive to conserve water if all I can save is $3.” It’s not all about you and how much money you can save; it’s about our future and the lifestyles we lead.
Thanks to all for raising the awareness on this on-going issue…
BA is so right. It seems the whole issue got twisted to money. The real issue is availability of water for us and for future generations, isn’t it? Kind of hard to tell that from the thread.
I am researching on water usage and the usage is at or below average per acre as I have seen 500000 gallon per acre in 2011 . Also 2011 wa a banner year for water usage The city of Dallas charges a 30percent premium if your usage exceeds 140 percent. Also remember that the landscaping is labor intensive and these folks add employment and it is Socio-Economic benefit is greater and stop complaining.