The Tea Party fracking water crisis in Pappy Elkins Lake

Candidate for Railroad Commissioner, Steve Brown, visited Pappy Elkins Lake near Arlington.

This lake has been completely decimated due to nearby hydraulic fracturing and the lingering drought. The lake’s water once covered the small island in its center. Residents were further alarmed this week to find many dead fish floating on top of that lake. What’s worse, the local government there has not kept track of just how much water from the lake has been used for drilling purposes.

Here is a picture of the lake from late 2007:

And here is the lake in 2013:

Dallas Business News has more:

XTO, which is owned by Exxon Mobil, denies that it took 1.4 million gallons more water than it was permitted for. Its permit allowed for the removal of about 3.3 million gallons of water over 12 months between December 2009 and 2010; in turn, the city would pump however much water XTO used back into the lake from a city well.

Steve Brown is onto something. This drought and fracking situation has been neglected by the Tea Party for a decade requiring a raiding of the Rainy Day Fund due to lack of rain and lack of planning. The Rainy Day Fund was not created to cover mismanagement. It required a vote by Texas citizens in order to allocate funds for this purpose. 

It is not the first time they have neglected a situation then came riding on a white horse to fix the problem. It is called "planning by emergency". Any idiot can make a plan after an emergency arises. 

It takes leadership to prevent the emergency in the first place.