Record Drought for Central Texas

According to the Guadalupe Basin Coalition, the drought began in October of 2010 and now, three years later, the water supply for central Texas is nearly at record lows. The major concerning areas are the water supply for Austin, the Guadalupe River Basin, San Antonio in the Edwards Aquifer Region, and lakes such as Highland Lakes, Lake Buchanan, and Lake Travis that are collectively at 33% of their storage.

According to the Chairman of the Guadalupe Basin Coalition, Todd Votteler, the end of the drought is nowhere in sight.

“The NOAA Climate Prediction Center projects that the drought will go on into 2014. So, they’re saying that we’re not going to get a whole lot of relief this fall. Which means we will start off at a very low level beginning next year; lower than we did last year and lower than we started off in 2011 it looks like. So, you know, that’s a scary proposition. The drought could be worse next year,” said Votteler.

And next year is only a small portion of their concerns.

Something else that’s troubling, the state climatologist recently said that there’s some indications that this could be an extended drought, maybe as long as 8 to 15 additional years. So, that would be uncharted territory, at least in modern times.
-Todd Votteler

Luckily for San Marcos, the city receives water from two locations: the Canyon reservoir and the Edwards Aquifer wells. However, even with two water providers, San Marcos is still under a Stage 3 drought ordinance. Under this ordinance, San Marcos residents are only allowed to water their lawn between 6 and 10 A-M and 8 to 10 P-M. Also, non-commercial car washes are prohibited, as well as the filling of new and existing swimming pools.

The Guadalupe Basin Coalition is encouraging everyone in the area to conserve as much water as possible in order to make the remaining water last until the drought comes to an end.

Ila Mar, KTSW News.