Recent rain doesn't signal end of drought

AUSTIN — The South Plains received a lot of rain last week.

Though more rain has fallen than the same time last year, climate and water management specialists say: Don’t let recent rains lull you into believing the historic drought has ended.

“The people of Texas will tend to forget that there is still a major drought in most parts of the state,” John Nielsen-Gammon told the House Natural Resources Committee in late March.

Nielsen-Gammon is the state climatologist and a Texas A&M University professor. He believes people might think the drought is over because most of the recent rains have fallen on the state’s most populated areas.

Despite recent showers and thunderstorms in parts of the Texas Panhandle and the South Plains, the drought of 2011 has worsened.

And more bad news may be on its way, Nielsen-Gammon warned.

“We are more likely to get drought over the next decade than the one after that,” he said.

He isn’t alone in his projections. Becky Motal, general manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority agrees. “We still have a long way to go to get out of this drought,” she told legislators during the same hearing.

The message isn’t lost on local lawmakers.

“The state of Texas is growing, and we are using more water,” said state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. “If water is a valuable resource, conservation is of the essence.”

Local governments have responded. Lubbock has imposed strict watering restrictions. San Antonio allows the use of lawn sprinklers only once a week.

Other local governments like Amarillo encourage conservation, but expect voluntary compliance.

If the drought continues as predicted, tough water restrictions for the entire state should be considered, said Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Tough restrictions would include a drought surcharge to encourage a higher rate of conservation and stabilize the revenue of water suppliers, he said.

Allan Ritter, R-Nederland and chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, says that’s going too far.

“Our water plan is based on local control and local participation,” he said. “I believe that’s a great mechanism.”