It's finally raining in the Texas Panhandle today, but recovery from a severe drought in the region would take 18 to 30 inches of rain in the next six months, and the area averages only 20 inches or so of rain per year. "The drought is causing some people to relocate," Mary Jane McKinney writes in the Canadian Record, in the town named for a river that's been running very low. "The sissies are leaving. . . . To survive the drought you need grit and hope beyond optimism. Dryland farmers are hoping for a 3-inch rain in early June." McKinney also advises locals to keep pets indoors, because bobcats are invading the town to hunt deer attracted by lawn grass.
Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said at an Edwards Aquifier Authority board meeting that the drought, which began about four years ago, is "among the five worst in the past 500 years," Scott Huddleston writes for San Antonio Express-News. The severe drought conditions could drain 32 public suppliers—most of them in rural areas—of their water supply within the next 45 to 90 days, reports Betsy Blaney of The Associated Press. While about 8,600 business and residential connections could lose their water supplies within 45 days, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Wednesday that if a supplier runs out, water will be trucked in.
"Statewide, 387 public suppliers have imposed voluntary restrictions on users while 778 have announced mandatory restrictions," Blaney writes. "A lack of rainfall is to blame for most suppliers’ situations as Texas wades through a fourth year of drought. The situation is worst in West Texas, where some areas are now drier than the 1930s Dust Bowl." Reservoirs, which are normally 84 percent full this time of year, are 64 percent full, the lowest amount for this time of year since 1990. (Read more) (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality map)
Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said at an Edwards Aquifier Authority board meeting that the drought, which began about four years ago, is "among the five worst in the past 500 years," Scott Huddleston writes for San Antonio Express-News. The severe drought conditions could drain 32 public suppliers—most of them in rural areas—of their water supply within the next 45 to 90 days, reports Betsy Blaney of The Associated Press. While about 8,600 business and residential connections could lose their water supplies within 45 days, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Wednesday that if a supplier runs out, water will be trucked in.
"Statewide, 387 public suppliers have imposed voluntary restrictions on users while 778 have announced mandatory restrictions," Blaney writes. "A lack of rainfall is to blame for most suppliers’ situations as Texas wades through a fourth year of drought. The situation is worst in West Texas, where some areas are now drier than the 1930s Dust Bowl." Reservoirs, which are normally 84 percent full this time of year, are 64 percent full, the lowest amount for this time of year since 1990. (Read more) (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality map)
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