Texas Sees Significant Decline in Rural Land
The vast majority of Texas land — 83 percent —
is part of a farm, ranch or forest. But Texas is losing such rural land more
than any other state, in large part because of the exploding growth of
metropolitan areas, according to newly released data.
Scientists say that has serious
implications for Texas' water supply because such acreage — known as
"working lands" or "open space" lands — helps the state
retain water resources by letting rain infiltrate the ground and circulate into
aquifers.
The map below shows the results of
the latest Texas A&M
Institute of Renewable Natural Resources survey on land trends, which is
performed every five years. According to the survey, Texas lost about 1 million
acres of open space lands between 1997 and 2012. Click on a county in the map
below to see how its open space acreage has changed.
A majority of the land loss happened
in the growing urban areas around Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and
Houston.
“Those lands are basically providing
a public benefit in terms of water storage” and aquifer recharge, said Roel Lopez,
director of the A&M institute and a co-author of the survey. “A good
pastureland is like a sponge, versus a parking lot, which is actually like a
rock. That rain just runs off, and it’s hard to capture it.”
At the same time, the market value
of land is increasing in almost every Texas county, but it’s increasing the
most in the booming metropolitan areas. Travis County, for example, lost almost
a quarter of its open space while land gained an average of $8,297 per acre in
value between 1997 and 2012. Click on a county in the map below to see the
changes in market value.
Change in Market Value
In Texas, where more than 95 percent
of land is privately owned, there are unique challenges for the conservation of
open space lands. As land gets more expensive, those who own open spaces will
have more of an incentive to sell their acres to developers. And governments
trying to conserve land by buying up open spaces will have to spend more money
to do so.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University
is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune
donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
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