"Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."

–The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

While this line is written from the perspective of a sailor surrounded by saltwater he cannot drink, and thus appears to have nothing in common with the water situation in Texas, I am here to suggest otherwise.

The fact is that, despite Texas being a state with only one natural body of water, we've been able, over the years, to meet our wide-ranging water needs through a number of man-made reservoirs. While this has worked reasonably well for decades, our booming population is revealing just how overburdened our water resources are becoming. Going forward, new reservoirs across the state must be developed in concert with a new system of conservation.

Texas is quickly entering an era where it should not be assumed that there will always be an endless supply of clean drinking water. What Texas needs is a new set of uniform conservation standards from Houston to El Paso , Dallas to San Antonio, and everywhere in between.

Today the most widely used measurement of water usage is gallons per capita per day, known as GPCD. This measurement is a planning tool used to project the future water needs of each municipality. Currently, the measurements being used to determine GPCD are not standardized. In order to ensure a true comparison of water use and to accurately measure our projected needs, these methods of calculation must be uniform.

The Study Commission on Region C Water Supply – which I co-chair with Rep. Stephen Frost, D-Atlanta – recently met to discuss water use and conservation.

Dallas is traditionally portrayed as an over-user of water because its total residential and commercial GPCD is one of the highest in the state. San Antonio , on the other hand, is considered the most efficient water user. Yet, when we break down the GPCD, the numbers are much closer. The residential water use of the two cities is very similar: 92 gallons per person per day in Dallas and 86 gallons per person per day in San Antonio (2007 data, Texas Water Development Board).

The difference is in commercial water use; a wide contrast exists in commercial development in Dallas and San Antonio . For example, Dallas has many more people working in the city who live in suburbs than does San Antonio . However, when calculating Dallas ' total GPCD, the water use of residents and non-residents is included. This use is then divided by the number of residents only, resulting in a significantly higher per resident use rate. The resulting confusion over actual water use is precisely the reason GPCD needs to be standardized.

Currently, there is a different standard in place for every region in Texas . This creates misleading information about water usage in certain parts of the state and also allows for a faulty measuring system to misrepresent our conservation needs statewide. The Legislature must consider the recommendations made by the Texas Water Conservation Advisory Council in its 2008 report.

These recommendations included developing methodology, metrics and standards for water conservation implementation statewide, as well as specific guidelines for how GPCD is calculated. We must make this a priority in the next legislative session.

While we may never end up like that sailor in Coleridge's classic poem, there is certainly no reason for us to strand ourselves with a short-sighted water use plan. As we work to address Texas ' varied water demands, it is essential that we create a new water conservation measurement system. Our future depends on it.