Flight to South Dakota

The flight from BWI to Rapid City Regional Airport took us through Houston, yes it was planned.  There are a limited number of options when flying into Rapid City, SD.

However, the flight from Houston to Rapid City passed over some of the most geologically diverse landscape I have witnessed in a long time.  There is nothing like seeing geology from the air.  We flew over the Sand Hills, buttes, canyons, and meandering rivers.  The most interesting, perhaps disturbing, landscape we flew over were acres and acres of drilling platforms.  In some cases, there was drilling for hydraulic fracturing, as evidenced from the large waster water ponds near the sites.  In other cases, it was likely oil.  In every case, it scared the landscape below.  I was able to take a couple of snapshots out the window of the plane.  In some cases, the drilling platforms stretched as far as the eye could see.

Another feature that stood out was the severity of drought in the mid-west.  Rivers were low or dry, only river beds were showing in many cases.  Lakes and ponds had receding shorelines.  There was little green.

There are fights for water going on in the mid-western states between ranchers, farmers, and hydraulic fracturing companies.  Everyone needs water.

 

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