From the online Globe!

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by dirtdigger0416

The absolute ignorance of some of my fellow citizens about how much water the ethanol plant is going to use is absolutely beyond me. Everyone keeps harping on the 330 million gallons of water that the ethanol plant is going to uses every year, of which 25 percent is going to be used again for irrigation. That is roughly a net water use for the ethanol plant of 250 million gallons. And of that 110 million gallons is actually turned into something.....

The Ethanol Lobbyists seemed to have done a very good job of pulling the wool over your eyes. Take a look at this from USA TODAY!

Ethanol plants' water usage raises some concerns
Posted 6/19/2006 5:59 PM ET
By Jim Paul, Associated Press
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — City officials in Champaign and Urbana took notice when they heard that an ethanol plant proposed nearby would use about two million gallons of water per day, most likely from the aquifer that also supplies both cities.

"There was concern about impacting a pretty valuable resource," said Matt Wempe, a city planner for Urbana. "It should raise red flags."

The proposal for a 100 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant is just one of many that have popped up in the past several months across Illinois, which already has seven operating plants and is the nation's No. 2 ethanol producer after Iowa.

High oil prices and support from Washington have spurred so much interest in the plant-based gasoline additive that the Illinois Corn Growers Association now says at least 30 plants are in various stages of planning across the state. All will use a lot of water.

It would take about 300 million gallons of water for processing the product and cooling equipment to make 100 million gallons of ethanol each year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association...

Now, using those figures from the Renewable Fuels Association, if the plant is open 300 days a year. Which accounts for 5-6 days/week of operation and shut down for a few holidays, that amounts to 1 million gallons or so per day. If they want their equipment to last any amount of time, they will have to add chemicals to their cooling water. When you add chemicals to the cooling water, there are rules to follow from the KDHA and the EPA, so irrigating with cooling water will be out of the picture.

[Made in the USA]

Bubba, these plants run 365 days a year. Digger, when do you start drawing the line?? Granted, all those applications that you mentioned, all use alot of water. If you don't start controlling water usage sometime, then you are just speeding up the process of water shortages. It is a perplexing question!

[dirtdigger0416]

What I was getting at and you obvious "valedictorians" fail to recognize is that the water for the ethanol plant is already being pumped, and possibly to a much larger degree than the ethanol plant will ever be allowed to pump.

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by dirtdigger0416

What I was getting at and you obvious "valedictorians" fail to recognize is that the water for the ethanol plant is already being pumped, and possibly to a much larger degree than the ethanol plant will ever be allowed to pump.

Uhhhhh, No, it's not. The ethanol plant has only bought one well, so far, and it hasn't been used for quite awhile. It belonged to a retired farmer, from the info that I have. Nobody else is selling them water rights, as of yet.

[lurker]

They are currently negotiating for water rights from the alluvial aquifer along the river between the Coronado Bridge and (about) to Ford.

[Made in the USA]

"Valedictorians"? Oh, well I guess some of us have graduated!!
When they buy up all the water rights, then that ground will probably be taken out of production and put into CRP, so we can pay them some more money.

Digger, I am not against this ethanol plant if they meet the conditions that I set forth in earlier posts. However, at some point down the road, we are going to have to take into account the serious water supply shortage that is rapidly developing in this part of the State. No potable water means no sustainable life!

[dirtdigger0416]

Bubba, ignorance can be corrected, stupid is forever! The only way that the ethanol plant will be able to get the water that is needed, is to purchase existing water rights. In this part of the state, these water rights are being pumped. They cannot just go out and drill a new well and get a new water right. The land that these wells are on will go to dryland production. May or may not go to CRP, there has to be a signup and qualification for that, it is just not automatic.

[littlemom]

From what I heard from a resident of Wright was these wells have not been used most of them. The person I talked to has a well but it is tainted and therefore can't be used for anything. Not even the Ethanol plant. I agree that the decision for this was wrong. After Excel, National Beef and now the Ethanol plant gets done we will have a dust bowl and nothing left for our children or grandchildren. The almighty dollar and the taste of it has won out. It's a good thing we have Budweiser and Coors here so I won't get thirsty while I'm having another cigerette.

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by dirtdigger0416

Bubba, ignorance can be corrected, stupid is forever! The only way that the ethanol plant will be able to get the water that is needed, is to purchase existing water rights. In this part of the state, these water rights are being pumped. They cannot just go out and drill a new well and get a new water right. The land that these wells are on will go to dryland production. May or may not go to CRP, there has to be a signup and qualification for that, it is just not automatic.

I guess you would be the one that would know about that! After all I do know a thing or two about a thing or two. I never said anything about drilling new wells. I said that from the info that I had, they have only found one retired farmer that sold them an existing well and the water rights to that well. The well that they bought hasn't been used for quite awhile since the guy that sold it retired and no longer farmed that land that the well was on. Nobody else, so far has been willing to sell them their wells and water rights.

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by dirtdigger0416

Bubba, ignorance can be corrected, stupid is forever!

That is the reason we have dirt diggers, we always will have a need for ditches and whatnot. Not everybody can qualify for advanced technical carreers.