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Texas authorities respond to drought conditions, water shortages and wildfires

By Meredith Aldis
Published  July 19, 2022 7:51pm CDT
Natural Disasters
FOX 7 Austin

Texas authorities respond to drought conditions, water shortages and wildfires

Hot temperatures, along with dry conditions, increase the possibility of water shortages and wildfires. FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis has a look at how agencies are responding.

AUSTIN, Texas - South Central Texas is dealing with extreme drought conditions. These hot temperatures with dry conditions increase the possibility of water shortages and wildfires.

The Texas A&M Forest Service was assisting in several wildfires across the state on Tuesday:

The National Weather Service said the last time this much of South Central Texas experienced D-4 conditions, which is the most intense drought level, was January 2012. 

Currently, we’re down about 5 inches of rainfall from the normal rate.

"With all of these things in play, these fires grow extremely large, extremely rapid in a small amount of time and with everything, it just makes them much harder to control," Texas A&M Forest Service Public Information Officer Juan Rodriguez said.

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The heat wave is ongoing here in Texas, and other parts of the US with some 40 million Americans under heat alerts.

Currently, 214 counties in Texas have outdoor burn bans. Texas A&M Forest Service representatives said about 90 percent of fires are started by people and are preventable.

"A lot of times we see road side starts are a big one with tire blow outs, chains dragging, a lot of times welding can be another big start," Rodriguez said.

He said one spark can turn into a huge fire quickly because of the dry conditions.

"So far this is shaping up as to be basically one of the 10 driest years in Texas history," Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said.

He said drought is leading to a shortage of water in reservoirs, streams and wells.

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"You've got the danger of suddenly discovering that the water levels dropped enough the wells not producing anymore," Nielsen-Gammon said.

The regulatory and conservation manager for the City of Georgetown said the majority of the city’s raw water is surface water. They’ve moved into a Drought Contingency Plan because of the water in Lake Georgetown and Stillhouse Hollow. The city is asking customers to only water their lawns once a week to conserve water.

Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer officials are asking residents to restrict outdoor water use and non-essential water use.

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Officials said the possibility of fire activity is extremely high with these hot temperatures and dry conditions, and opening the Airtanker allows for a faster response time.

LCRA said we have enough water to see us through, but we don’t have water to waste. LCRA is in drought response Stage 1 under its Firm Customer Drought Contingency Plan and is requesting firm customers such as municipalities and industries voluntarily reduce their water use by 5 percent.

LCRA Executive Vice President of Water, John Hofmann, said in a statement: "Our entire basin is now in severe to exceptional drought. Temperatures, evaporation and water demands are high, but thanks to lakes Travis and Buchanan, we continue to have a reliable water supply for our region."

Neilson-Gammon said it’s going to take a good amount of rain to produce runoff and replenish the drinking water in reservoirs.