Tag Archives: drought

Rain, rain, rain … and there's still a drought

Those of us who live on the Texas Tundra are enjoying the rain that’s pelting these parts.

We had more than an inch of it today, according to the National Weather Service office at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.

This means we’re more than 2 inches over normal precipitation for the year to date.

Great news? Absolutely!

Is it a drought-buster? Hardly.

Can we predict what the weather will do for the rest of the year? We cannot predict for the rest of the week.

I stopped by Amarillo City Hall about a week ago and noticed the city’s “Every Drop Counts” water-use monitor over the first-floor elevator. The water use goal for that day was 48 million gallons; the actual use that day was 19 million gallons. Folks who normally water their lawns time of year didn’t turn the sprinklers on to irrigate their grass.

I reckon tomorrow’s water-use meter will register similar figures.

That, too, is great news.

I prefer to stay in water-conservation mode, no matter how much rain we get.

You see, it’s going to take a literal deluge to eradicate the drought threat that continues to draw down the water flowing through the Ogallala Aquifer, which gives our region its life.

The recent rainfall — and the prospect of more of it in the days and weeks ahead — gives City Hall, the water conservation districts, the counties and even the state a chance to remind us of what some of us sometimes forget when we get any significant moisture.

It’s that the drought hasn’t let up. The Texas drought remains a serious threat to our way of life — and even our lives.

 

We’ve got your drought right here, Mr. President

Dear Mr. President:

I see that you and your team are visiting California to talk up a drought-relief package for regions ravaged by the lack of rainfall.

That’s a good thing. But let me offer this invitation: Come see us in West Texas too.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198393-obama-to-launch-administration-wide-drought-response

I know what you might be thinking: They despise me in that part of the country.

Let’s agree that you didn’t poll too well here in the past two presidential elections, but you are the president of all the United States of America and that includes Texas — and that includes the western region of this big state.

The California drought is serious and is cause for huge concern. I get that the Golden State is the most populous of them all and that the central part of California is known as America’s Food Basket.

Texans, too, produce a lot of grain and beef. Some of the grain farmers rely exclusively on rainfall, which hasn’t been falling here the past couple of years. Much of the grain they grow feeds cattle. So, as you understand, with no grain to feed the cattle, ranchers have to sell their livestock that are under weight, producing less income for them.

I hope you can find time in your schedule to come here to see for yourself how the drought is hurting this region of the country just as much as it is hurting the folks in California.

I’ll concede that there some folks here won’t welcome you with open arms. However, we likely won’t bite.