SUMMARY: Above-normal rainfall continues to fall for much of the state. H. Ivie and E.V. Spence are at their highest reservoir levels since the late 1990s. However, drought is peeking back into South Texas. The odds of El Niño staying with us through the summer have decreased slightly to 66 percent with a 50 to 55 percent chance of conditions remaining through the fall and winter. The Atlantic hurricane season has been upgraded to normal
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.
leg+water: May Update
Every month during the 86th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature Dr. Robert Mace and Dr. Todd Votteler provide an update on water-related legislation. The key water committees are Water and Rural Affairs in the Senate (SWRA), and Natural Resources in the House (HNR). Thus far, legislation related to flooding impacts from Hurricane Harvey and statewide flood planning has dominated the water-related efforts of SWRA and HNR. The House has now approved Senate Bill 7
outlook+water: May 2019
SUMMARY: Large parts of East and Central Texas received more than 10 inches of rain over the past month. Recent rains have erased drought from the Texas landscape. The odds of El Niño staying with us through the summer have increased to 70 percent. After drought peeked in the window and knocked on the door for several months, in swooped weekly fronts across the state over the past four weeks, topping off reservoirs, flooding rivers,
leg+water: April Update
Every month during the 86th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature Dr. Robert Mace and Dr. Todd Votteler provide an update on water-related legislation. The key water committees are Water and Rural Affairs in the Senate (SWRA), and Natural Resources in the House (HNR). Thus far, legislation related to flooding impacts from Hurricane Harvey and statewide flood planning has dominated the water-related efforts of SWRA and HNR. The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 7 and Senate
outlook+water: April 2019
SUMMARY: The High Plains and Lower Rio Grande Valley are out of drought, but drought conditions expanded in south-central, central, and north-central Texas. El Niño is still with us and may remain with us through the fall. The Atlantic is expected to have a slightly-less-than-normal tropical season with 13 named storms and 5 hurricanes. The past month has seen drought removal in the High Plains and drought expansion and intensification from south-central Texas up towards