Drought problems continue for Texas

One of our faithful weather watchers, Dom Castaldo, emailed me this article this morning about water restrictions in Texas.  I found it very interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Drovers CattleNetwork:
Liquidation of cow herds in drought-ravaged states may continue through the winter, but the lack of feed is no longer the main problem - drinking water for cattle is now the critical issue for many operations.



October rains provided some runoff in parts of Texas and Oklahoma, replenishing some water sources for cattle. But many regions missed the heavier rains, forcing stockmen to either begin hauling water to their stock, or continue hauling water. That chore, however, may soon be over for many as many Texas water systems are asking or compelling customers to follow water restrictions.

Texas’ Senate Natural Resources Committee heard testimony this week that 91 percent of the state is now facing extreme or exceptional drought, and 956 public water systems have imposed voluntary or mandatory restrictions on water use. In many cases, that means livestock owners can’t haul water from city systems to fill stock tanks.



Carlos Rubinstein, one of three members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the commission lists 4,721 community water systems across Texas. He said 55 of those have prohibited all outside watering and at least 23 systems are so low officials can’t determine the state of their water stocks, or believe they are within 180 days of drying up.


The state tracks water levels at 109 of its 175 major water supply reservoirs and found that by the end of September, they were below 60 percent of capacity – the lowest since 1978.


As summer turned into fall, the drought continued to spread north and east. Much of Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri are now in severe or extreme drought. Producers in those states are also worried about the lack of drinking water for livestock. Hauling feed is possible, short-term, they say. But hauling water long-term means more cattle will soon be liquidated.


Officials in many drought states have several reports of livestock such as horses and donkeys dumped in the country because their owners couldn’t afford to feed them.


States such as Arkansas and Missouri received spring and early-summer rains that produced hay, though most crops were significantly reduced. Many producers have already reduced herds to match their winter feed supplies, but water for livestock continues to be a worry.


Weather forecasts suggest a warmer and drier than normal winter for southwest states, which means a continuation of drought for most areas.