September 15, 2000

Drought termed moderate
to severe statewide

By Lana Robinson
Field Editor

All areas of Texas are currently experiencing moderate to extreme drought conditions according to the current Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), with no break in sight.

On September 1, the PDSI showed “Moderate” to “Severe” drought conditions exist in 7 of the 10 climatic regions of Texas. “Extreme” drought conditions exist in the Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos regions (Texas Climatic Zones 5 and 6, respectively, which includes El Paso and San Antonio; North Central (Zone 3), South Central Texas (Zone 7), and Upper Coast (Zone 8). Geographic regions encompassing the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Houston, Corpus Christi, Galveston and Beaumont, and the Lower Rolling Plains (Zone 2), with Abilene and Wichita Falls being the primary urban areas, are in Severe Drought; East Texas (Zone 4), from Texarkana down to Tyler, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Zone 9), including McAllen, Brownsville, and Harlingen, in Moderate Drought; and and an “Incipient Dry Spell” exists in the Texas High Plains, including Lubbock and Amarillo.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) monitors water supplies throughout the state of Texas monthly at selected reservoirs, streamflow sites, and groundwater wells. Reservoir levels, streamflow, and groundwater well levels are currently reduced in almost every region of the state. Statewide conservation storage at the end of July (76.2 percent, 26.3 million acre-feet), when expressed as a percentage of statewide conservation storage capacity, was the fifth lowest in 23 years of data for this time of year. Statewide storage decreased 2.6 percent during July. Statewide conservation storage decreased 2.3 percent in August. Storage declined in all regions. Amistad Reservoir held 34.3 percent of conservation storage capacity. Storage has declined steadily since mid-July. Falcon Reservoir held 9.6 percent of conservation storage capacity. Storage has increased slightly since early August.

In mid August, 30-day mean flows at statewide index stations were normal in the High Plains, Low Rolling Plains, and Trans-Pecos regions, and were below-normal throughout the rest of the state. Water levels in six of the seven key monitoring wells had declined since the beginning of August and were approaching Critical Management Stage 2.

On August 10, 215 community water systems, primarily in North-Central, Central, and Northeast Texas, were limiting water use to avoid shortages, according to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC). The City of Throckmorton, west of Fort Worth, ran out of water and had to build a three-mile pipeline to tap into another water source.

A Drought Preparedness Council concerned with the effects of drought and fire on the citizens of Texas has been formed. Including representatives from various state agencies, the Drought Preparedness Council issues a monthly Statewide Drought Situation Report. In addition to crop failures, danger of wildfire, fish kills linked to hot weather and low-flow conditions are occurring. In early September, 174 counties had imposed outside burn bans.

So far, the reduction in river, lake or reservoir levels have not affected the ability of electric utilities to generate.

The Stage 4, statewide drought of 1996 brought water issues to the forefront in Texas. In 1997, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1, which required all public utilities to prepare a drought contingency plan.

The Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) developed rules for minimum content requirements and guidelines for plan development. This spring, the TNRCC and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) conducted a series of drought contingency planning workshops throughout the state to assist public utilities prepare for drought conditions and meet the regulations.

Water use in Texas can be divided into six major categories–crop irrigation, municipal use, manufacturing use, steam-electrical power generation, livestock watering, and mining. Of these six, the first three account for 94 percent of all water consumed in Texas. Regional Planning Groups created by S.B. 1 in 1997 are responsible for balancing the water needs of each segment.

According to Texas Farm Bureau Associate Legislative Director Gary Joiner, the Regional Water Planning Groups had until Sept. 1, 2000 to complete their “initially prepared” regional water plans.

“The Texas Water Code requires each of the 16 regions to conduct at least one public hearing on the plan before it is submitted to the Texas Water Development Board on October 1, 2000. And copies of the plan have to be available for public review at least 30 days before the public hearing,” Joiner noted, indicating that a website (http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/assistance/rwpg/main-docs/reg-plan-index.htm) had been set up for that purpose.

The law requires a copy of the plan to be filed with the county clerk’s office and at least one public library in each county with land in the region. Several regions are holding multiple public hearings.

Some 4,000 medium and small retail water utilities, which serve fewer than 3,300 connections, also faced the Sept. 1 deadline to submit their plan. A total of 560 public water suppliers (the larger retail utilities and all wholesale water suppliers) earlier submitted a drought contingency plan to the TNRCC.

In order to assist Texas’ 254 counties, the TNRCC in July provided to each county’s Emergency Management Coordinator a list of all retail and wholesale water suppliers and major water right holders in that county. The Texas Water Code requires that, upon the Governor’s declaration of a drought-related disaster in a county, the county must notify the general public of the declaration.

Public water suppliers and major water users in the county are then required to implement their drought contingency plans and ongoing water conservation plans.

The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) predicts normal to above normal precipitation for Texas from October through December. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts drought is likely to persist over the western portion of south Texas from August through October.

Meanwhile, over 45 million acres in Texas is now involved in cloud seeding for enhancing rainfall—the largest area at any time since the state-sponsored weather-modification program got underway four years ago. Eight distinct rain-enhancement projects are currently in operation, covering much of the Texas Panhandle region, the South Plains, portions of the Edwards Plateau and Hill Country, as well as a large sector of Southern Texas. The projects are sponsored by political subdivisions, most of which are water conservation districts or aquifer authorities. Each one uses aircraft designed to treat convective clouds with seeding materials to prolong the life–and stimulate the growth–of those clouds to produce additional rainfall.

All eight projects are due to continue through at least September 30, with several continuing throughout the approaching autumn season. Two of the projects—based in Dumas and Pampa—are in their first year of operation. A ninth project, based in Del Rio and covering Val Verde, Kinney, and Maverick counties, is momentarily suspended. The project is acquiring a weather-radar system and an aircraft for the resumption of cloud-seeding activities by late-summer or early autumn.

A concerted effort is now underway in the Big Country region to organize and implement a cloud-seeding program in the vicinity of Abilene by the spring of 2001.