The past four weeks have been horribly dry with most of the state receiving less than 10 percent of normal rainfall. Large areas of exceptional drought are now in place on the High Plains and in the Big Bend area. Drought conditions are projected to persist and spread across Texas.
Author: Robert Mace
Robert Mace is the Executive Director and Chief Water Policy Officer at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and a Professor of Practice in the Department of Geography at Texas State University. Robert has over 30 years of experience in hydrology, hydrogeology, stakeholder processes, and water policy, mostly in Texas.
outlook+water: The Atlantic Vincent van Gogh’d, Drought Relief and La Niña
The tropical storm season continues to break records, including making the Atlantic look like Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” Speaking of tropical storms, recent rainfall has pulled much of the eastern half of the state out of drought conditions. La Niña conditions are now officially entrenched in the Pacific, leading to projections of warmer and drier conditions in the state over the next three months.
think+water: Dam Failures, Lemon Water and Naturalized Flows
This month we explore academic publications on the topics of dams and dam failures in Texas, the power of using lemons for water disinfection and the relationship between naturalized flows and observed flows.
think+water: Harvey Over-Freshened Galveston Bay, Warming and Urban Springs, Nurdle Patrols and Snakes on a (Gulf Coastal) Plain
This month we explore academic publications on the topics of freshwater inflows and its effect to Galveston Bay following Hurricane Harvey, springs discharge and its thermal buffering to aquatic habitats, volunteer-driven citizen science to address plastic pollution and assessing how municipal supplies and wastewater affect stream and spring waters.
outlook+water: Hurricane Laura, More Tropical Storms and an Increased Chance for La Niña
SUMMARY: Drought conditions remain in much of the interior of the state with drought conditions developing in north-east Texas. Much of Texas can expect warmer-than-normal and drier-than-normal conditions over the next three months. Statewide reservoir storage is near median levels.