Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Hello, friends, and welcome back to another edition of Conservation Stories. This is your host, Tillery Timmins Sims, and I am here with my friend, Joel Pig, who I actually grew up in the same town with. Joel, thanks for joining us. I'm really excited about what you're doing, and I think it's going to be really pertinent to our listeners, and I would like for you to start off by giving us a little history.
You don't have to give any kind of secrets out about anything that happened in high school.
Oh, come on in the old brownfield, Texas, and what you're doing today. And while we're here to talk about.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Well ownership, my name is Joel Pig. I am with Texas A and m Agrilife extension in the department of Soil and Crop Science, based in College Station. My program. Our program now is the Texas well owner network. I go around the state, and we do water well screening for private wells, which is water quality screening. And we also do educational programs along with that screening. So we can tell you kind of what, um, is happening with your water quality. And we can kind of explain some things about water well maintenance, water wells and water in general, just.
It varies a lot across the state, but water is our very common issue across the state. So our program feels that it's very important to get the message out to water well owners, especially with the amount of new people moving into the state that may not realize what is going on with water and water well specifically.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And I know that we have a lot of folks, you know, that are either, you know, moving here and building homes on some acreage, or they're just building homes outside of the city limits. And there's a lot of. A lot of water wells have gone in. And when I saw you at the last water conference set up there and went and attended your educational thing, which was really good, I was like, we gotta have. We gotta have this joel on, because I think this is really gonna be helpful to people. And so you go around the state providing education, and people can get their water tested and all these kind of great things. So if people can't come to your educational day or one of your days, and we'll give those out here at the end, and. And we will also put information on the website. Can you give them some pointers, like, what are some important things that people need to know in general? And they're, you know, if they're starting from no knowledge.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: So, generally speaking, water across the state or under the state of Texas is relatively good water. Now, there are certain pockets across the state where things are not quite so good. If you go south of Lubbock towards Brownfield, towards Seminole, towards Midland Odessa, there are some pockets of arsenic in our groundwater in that area. So, you know, arsenic is one of those things. If you say arsenic's in water, it kind of freaks people out then it should. So we want to make sure that people understand that there could be arsenic in the aquifer in that area. So we recommend getting your water well screened, tested, however, whatever you want to say. But we recommend that you get that thing, get it looked at. My program recommends that you get your water well tested annually for bacterias. We're looking at the program that I do. We look specifically at coliform bacteria and E. Coli bacteria. Again, we want you to test annually for the bacteria. You know, the E. Coli stuff will. It's, it's bad for you. We'll make you sick. So we want to make sure that you're looking at that. We are also looking. We screen. Okay. So my program has a mobile lab that I carry everywhere I go. So we are, we are screening water samples. We are not testing water samples because we are not a certified lab. But we do about 2000 of these a year. So we feel very comfortable with the results that we see and we get. So if we tell you we see something in it, we feel very, you know, we think we know we're talking about and we rely on that. We think it's pretty good information.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Okay. So my, my soapbox for people that have private water wells is your well is probably pretty good. The number one question I ask people whenever I go to a program is when was the last time you had your water well tested? And if I asked Hillary's dad when the last time he tested the water well out on the farm, he would say, I've never tested it because it's still good water. It's the same as it was the day I drilled this well.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Yes. And it tastes fine. It tastes fun.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: And that's exactly what the answer is. So the things that we are looking at are odorless, colorless and tasteless. So you're not going to be able to detect them. Just looking at your water, smelling your water, tasting your water. That's why we recommend that you get a water test, a water screening done on your sample.
So my recommendation is get this thing screened, get it looked at, make sure everything is good. And then from then on, if you see a change in color, odor or taste of the water that's coming out of your, well, you know something is wrong, get it looked at again.
As drought comes across the state of Texas, and we are constantly in a state of drought, we get a little bit of rain occasionally. So coliform numbers across the state of Texas increase as we have drought because there's not as much water moving on top of the ground. There's not as much water moving under the ground. So coliform is something to be alert and be aware of, but it's not something that would keep me from drinking water. Now, E. Coli, on the other hand, if we've got E. Coli, we don't want to be drinking that for our primary drinking water supply.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Okay? So for my producers sake, please explain that word, coliform.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Coliform is just a bacteria that is present in water across the state. It's nothing. It is just a bacteria that is there. It's nothing to be concerned about. The E. Coli bacteria is the one we really, if we see that, we know that that is not a good water sample, we know we should not recommend drinking that water.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. So it's just a bacteria.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Just a bacteria. An indicator bacteria that we know is there. It's an easy one for us to test for.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Awesome. You're talking to people about, you know, get your water tested. And I, people will say, where do I get my water tested?
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Okay, so like I said, my program, again, is a statewide program. So we don't get to go to the South Plains as much as we would like. We don't get to go anywhere as much as we would like. But we are going to the South Plains the middle of September, the week of the 16th through the 20th. I'm going to be in 16 different counties out there around the Lubbock area.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: So we will be doing the water collection in Castro, swisher, Briscoe, Bailey, Lamb, hell, Floyd on Monday, September 16. So you can take your water sample to those county offices, go by beforehand and pick up a water sample kit.
We will be doing water sampling in Cochrane, Hockley, Lubbock, Crosby, Yoakum, Terry, Dawson and Borden on Tuesday, September 17. Again, go in there prior to that date, get the sample kit from those extension agents or the groundwater conservation district, and use our containers to bring your sample in because they are sterile containers. That way we know that you're not contaminating that sample when you bring it into us. We're going to screen your sample for the two bacterias that I mentioned. We're going to look at nitrate levels in those samples. We're going to look at the salinity of those samples. We're going to look at the ph of those samples. And in those southern counties, we're going to look at arsenic. So those are the things we are screening for drinking water standard wise.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Okay? So if folks have been listening to our podcast for a while, they will remember we've had a podcast on extension and we talked some about the extension service. But Joel, there are so many people that have no idea what the extension service is. I grew up four h and I mean, I knew if you ever had a question, your extension office would know the answer. I mean, it was like, it was the rule encyclopedia, rule Google, you know, like you had your own YouTube channel right there in the extension office. So just to remind people a little bit about the extension, can you provide a little bit of history and background on the extension and in Texas in particular?
[00:08:40] Speaker B: A little bit. I'm a little rusty on that one. But the agri life extension does have you youth programs, which is our four h programs. So our livestock shows, our cooking. Consumer decision making is one of the big projects with them judging contests. So it is a youth program as well as adult program. So the agriculture programs, depending on where you're at. So the high plains up there where y'all are at, the agents there are very well versed on row crops. They're well versed on livestock issues, some wildlife issues. So a vast cadre of things that the agents will know and do work with. We've got family, consumer health agents in a lot of the counties out there in the high plains that deal with health issues, maybe diabetes or canning, cooking.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: Do you want to know how to can? Right. Do you need, want to know how to garden? Right.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Sure. So there are lots of different aspects of extension. If you don't know your county extension agent, reach out to them, find them on the websites and get on their mailing list. There's lots of little programs going on about gardening, about bees, about just whatever subjects you may be interested in. They may be doing that.
One of the programs that we do have is master gardeners and master naturalist, which are really big programs across the state. So very good extension type programs.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Yes. And so that is actually, we had our extension horticulturist here, and that's who kind of gave us a little bit of a rundown on, I need to have somebody that's like probably an expert on extension history and the land grant universities and kind of how that was funded and why it was so vital and so important and the work that the conservation work that went on and the really, our rural economy, like the work that the extension did, we wouldn't definitely be where we are today if we had not had the work of extension. And, you know, and I think it's just, but I want people to know who they are because they're there. And I want people to recognize it and know, hey, if I think I have something in my water, there is someone I can call, and if I live in the country, I can call my extension agent.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: Well, and you, you said something there a while ago with our land grant universities, Texas A and M is the land grant university. So that little rivalry with Texas Tech and Texas A and M, we don't care if you're red or maroon. We're still going to work with you. We still want to provide resources. Agrilife extension has some of the most amazing resources and publications that you can find on many, many subjects.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Yes. And so Texas A and M is our land grant university. And then Agrilife is the extension part of extending out into the community, taking this science and research and extending that out into the community. And that's how I always remember. So it's the extension agent. So it's Agrilife extension. And we will link in the show notes, Joel, to your website, but also, just in general, to the extensions to Agrilife's website so that people can find their county there, find their local office. Then, you know, one of the things I like, I have the most beautiful, the most gorgeous, I dare I say, even in Lubbock, but it is definitely an Amaroon hibiscus like they are. The blooms are the size of a dinner plate, and it is gorgeous. And it is a hybrid that was created through agri life. And so that means all kinds of stuff agri life is doing. And this is just one of the services. And so let's just say people, you know, they missed you coming and, but they want to have their water checked. They can just, can they still reach out to their county extension office to do that?
[00:12:49] Speaker B: They can, but it will be, a lot of those counties will not have, they'll be able to direct you towards the health, towards the health departments there locally. And some of those counties may be able to do that. There may be some certified labs in the area, but the extension offices will not.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: They will know who does do it.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: They are, if they don't know, they will be able to reach out to me and we will talk through to figure out who is local for you all to get those samples. After we get out of there.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's the thing is, maybe they may not know, but they're going to know a guy who knows for sure.
Join us on Tuesday, September 17 from 09:30 a.m. to 02:00 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas, for a critical event dedicated to the preservation of the Ogallala aquifer. Presented by Ogallala Commons with support from the Sandhill Area Research association, this event will bring together our community to discuss the challenges of our dwindling water supply and potential solutions. For more details, and to purchase tickets, visit Sara dash conservation.com dot. So if you have like a few things that you think I want to leave, you know, with people, you've got something you want to say before we wrap it up.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: Well, so I'm going to plug my website. You said you're going to, but go to Texas. Well, on our network, Tw o n tamu.edu on the tabs. We've got several tabs there. One of the tabs will take you to the events. So it's going to give you a list of all the programs we've got coming up to 16 through the 20th across the plains. There's also a tab that has resources. So if you've got something that you know is bad about your water, it's got iron or manganese and kind of leaves that red or brown color on your white porcelain, we've got a publication on that. If you're sulfide, yes. If we have smelly water that smells like that, rotten eggs, we've got a publication that explains several different ways to fix that and track down if it's the aquifer that's causing it or if it's the hot water heater. So different things going on there. If we've got nitrate issues or arsenic issues, we've got publications that go through that. If you want to shock coronate your well, we've got a publication. So we have abundant resources on that t one website. So everything there is downloadable and printable. So you are welcome to get on that site and find whatever you would like. We encourage people to get that. I know a lot of the people that do come to my programs are old school, like our parents and grandparents that don't like to go online. So I will carry through all my programs. I will have hard copies of everything that we talk about for people to pick up if they would like to get hard copies. So I encourage you to come to the educational meetings across the South Plains, the 18th, 19th, and 20 September. And just because there may be a program in Lubbock, but you can't go to it. But we've also got the same program going on in Brownfield. We've got it in Tulia. We've got it Lamisa in Gail. So just because you can't go to the one that, in the county that you live, I would encourage you, if you've got time, go to one of the other ones because it's going to be the same information. It's just we're trying to spread it out and get as many folks there as we can.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I think it's great. I'm glad that you are here. And, yeah, I'm kind of like you wish y'all could be here more often, because I do think we have a lot of people that are, you know, moving in and first time, well, owners. But I also know that's happening all over. You know, we're probably. I know that we are growing quickly, but there's some areas where it's just.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to tell you two goals for my program. So we know that there's 254 counties across the state of Texas. So my goal for this program with me and my coworker is to make sure that we do a program in every county across the state.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Okay. So y'all's counties out there, for the most part, are very fortunate to have groundwater conservation districts that are watching out for your groundwater, making sure that everybody plays level with a level playing field. Everybody has the rights to their water.
About a third of the counties in the state of Texas do not have groundwater conservation districts. They are kind of unregulated. So my other goal for my program is to make sure we go to every, what we call a white county that does not have a groundwater district, because we want to make sure that they understand that there are rules and there are laws and there are things going on that they need to know about and follow. So white counties are a major thing that we are trying to cover, but we want to go to every county across the state, because, again, water is the most important thing that we've got. Oil and gas is great, but water is, we can't live without the water. So everybody has to have that.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: So we think there's no replacement for that.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: No doubt. No doubt.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: You're not going to have alternative water. There's no alternative. We have to have it. Thank you, Joel. This is super great, and I am. I hope that you will just have a great turnout and we will certainly be promoting your event. And folks, don't forget, he'll be here from the 16th to the 20 September. He's going to be in a lot of counties picking up your water samples. So you need to go to your extension office, get a clean sample package before you collect your water. So don't take your son's sippy cup.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: There you go. Exactly.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Or your old sonic cup. Don't do that. You have to get a new, a new freshen sample kit. Okay, Joel, thanks. I appreciate it.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: All right. Thank you all so much. Appreciate it.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Friends, thank you so much for joining us again. Hope you enjoyed the information that Joel brought to you about your water well and the importance of getting that tested. There's a lot of other great, great information about drilling a well and caring for it and what to not keep around that well that is at these meetings. So if you can't attend one, be sure to get online on his website and check it out. We all hope that you find these episodes helpful to you. If you have a suggestion, somebody that you think would be very interesting for us to interview, we'd love to hear it. And we hope that you will join us again on our next episode of Conservation Stories.
