State Climatologist on the latest drought information
"If we don't get 4.5 inches of rain between now and the end of September, we will have the driest one year period ever surpassing 1956, which is the drought of record for most places," said Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas State Climatologist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University. "Since October 1 (2010), we've had a little more than 9 inches of rain on average for the state; normal would be about 23 inches, so we're well below 50 percent." Nielsen-Gammon said that the outlook for the typically wettest months of the year-September and October-and the winter looked quite promising until the last month or so. However, he said this outlook can change as fast as the Texas weather. "Some of the indications now say that we might see another La Nina developing, which will tilt the odds toward another dry winter," he said. "The thing to worry about is the 50 percent chance of a La Nina this winter and the possibility that the drought will continue and water supplies will continue to get worse." If the drought continues as it has thus far, Nielsen-Gammon suspects that "sometime next year, some places in the state will exceed their drought of record, and with the increase of population and the increase of water use, we'll start seeing some serious problems." He said the hope is that during the next few months entities such as municipalities, water districts and other water managers and controllers will work out and try to figure out, "Well, what would happen if we had another dry year like this one? How much projection in water use would that be? What restrictions would we have to put in? What's our fallback position if we have to get water from another source? Is that fallback position a source for 10 other locations? They may not be able to supply us." "Not often you can see a disaster coming a year in advance, and there's certainly the odds are against a disaster next year, but the odds are a lot better now than they would be in other years," Nielsen-Gammon said. "So this is a rare opportunity to plan ahead for a disaster that may be coming and prevent it from becoming a disaster." During this time of drought, he reminds everyone to keep water conservation practices in mind. Separate optional uses of water, such as watering lawns to keep them green, from mandatory uses of water like drinking water. "The more water that gets conserved now, the more water is available for next year if the drought goes on into next year," Nielsen-Gammon said. More drought and water conservation information can be found through the Texas Water Resources Institute website at twri.tamu.edu. |
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Agricultural and Wildlife Water UseStrategies for drought management and recovery are critical to any agricultural operation. The following resources and fact sheets provide information for agricultural production and wildlife management.
In-Home Water UseWater conservation begins at home, and every drop counts. Developing an attitude of conservation can help residential users save both water and money by conserving water during daily activities around the home. The following resources and facts sheet can help anyone learn how to conserve water in their home.
Landscape IrrigationBy incorporating conservation principles into their landscape management, homeowners and professionals can maintain attractive landscapes while conserving water. The following resources and fact sheets provide information on how to achieve this balance.
Do you have questions about water? We can help.TWRI fosters and communicates priority water resources research and educational outreach programs throughout Texas. We have extensive listings of water conservation and drought resources, in addition to our various publications. We produce txH2O, a magazine published three times per year that features water research and education in Texas. This special newsletter is distributed in association with New Waves, TWRI's monthly email newsletter, which delivers breaking news about water resources education and research in Texas. To subscribe to TWRI publications, visit twri.tamu.edu/publications/subscribe. |
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Drought in Texas is a special e-mail newsletter of Texas Water Resources Institute, part of Texas AgriLife Research, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. If you have information for possible inclusion in Drought in Texas please e-mail Leslie Lee at lhlee@ag.tamu.edu, call 979.862.7139, or contact us on Twitter (twitter.com/TxWRI) and include your contact information. All submissions may be edited for grammar and style. Subscribe to TWRI publications. |
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