An unusually wet summer has aided Texas’ battle with drought, but the state’s water crisis is far from over.
Texas suffered from brutal heat and severe drought in the past two summers, with the water levels in many lakes, reservoirs and rivers severely dropping as a result. In some instances, water levels dropped so low at man-made reservoirs that they revealed long-buried items, such as pecan groves at Lake Travis in Austin. However, an abnormally wet summer this year has helped Texas recover from some of its drought, with 30 percent of the state now completely free from drought, compared with just over 1 percent this time last year.
Much of the unusual rain fell in July, when officials had to open multiple floodgates to send water downstream to Lake Travis after excessive rainfall hit the area. Some parts of the state received as much as 9 inches, which has occurred only once or twice over a 10-year period, National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Nick Hampshire previously told Newsweek.
The Houston skyline is seen after heavy rains broke during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on August 29, 2017. An unusually wet summer has helped relieve some of Texas’ drought.
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A long-duration storm system has been dumping additional rain across central Texas this week, also aiding the state in its drought recovery. However, conservation remains a vital part of the state’s water conversation.
“Plain and simple, we were bailed out of what would have been a disaster for water storage by an unusually wet summer,” CBS Austin meteorologist Avery Tomasco posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. “Water is everything, and we are still hurting.”
Plain and simple, we were bailed out of what would have been a disaster for water storage by an unusually wet summer.
Water is everything, and we are still hurting. I spoke at length with the @LCRA about our many issues and where we go from here: https://t.co/eHa2yIOV4f
— Avery Tomasco (@averytomascowx) September 5, 2024
Tomasco included a video with the post in which he interviews Lower Colorado River Authority Executive Vice President of Water John Hofmann about the water problems still facing Texas.
Several of the state’s bodies of water are recovering. Water levels at Lake Travis are more than 10 feet higher than this time last year, and Lake Buchanan in central Texas has jumped 22 percent in its total capacity, according to Water Data for Texas. But Hofmann said that in a state that regularly fluctuates between floods and drought, he remains focused on the drought. It’s always a topic of concern for him, he said.
“You don’t really ever get to a point where your supplies are covered to the point where you stop that,” he said.
With Texas’ growing population and the expanding need for water, Hofmann suggested that Texans make landscaping changes to include more native, drought-resistant vegetation, considering that 70 percent of water usage in the summer months goes to landscaping.
As of early September, exceptional drought still plagued nearly 2 percent of the state, mostly concentrated in western Texas. Nearly 70 percent of the state was considered abnormally dry, with more than 35 percent battling moderate drought, 15 percent battling severe drought and 6 percent battling extreme drought.
