It has played a major factor in drought conditions this year. On Saturday, the J-17 well's 10-day average slipped to 636.8 feet, with a daily reading of 637.3 feet, the Edwards Aquifer Authority reported.įorecasters expect La Niña, to linger into the coming months. At the start of December, the aquifer level at the J-17 index well in Bexar County had a 10-day average reading of 638 feet, which is 30 feet lower than the historical December average, according to the National Weather Service. Readings from index wells in the Edwards Aquifer, an underground layer of porous, water-bearing rock sitting beneath Central Texas, remain troubling.The water elevation at Mansfield Dam, which forms the lake, was about 640 feet above mean sea level, which is about 26.8 feet below the historical average for December. Lake Travis, the popular aquatic playground that doubles as a regional water source, was considered to be at only 47% of capacity, LCRA data show.One acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre a foot deep. The lakes are considered full when they contain a combined 2 million acre-feet. Data from the Lower Colorado River Authority, which manages the Highland Lakes for hydroelectricity and flood control, show the volume of water stored in the reservoir lakes, Travis and Buchanan, was around 1.06 million acre-feet on Saturday.Regional watersheds feed critical water sources such as underground aquifers and the Highland Lakes west of Austin along the Colorado River. How are Austin-area water supplies holding up? Also, 2022 to date is the state's 15th-driest year in the past 128 years. Most of Bastrop County, about 83%, was considered abnormally dry, the lowest level of drought, with its northern corner drought-free.ĭrought Monitor data indicate that only about 6.4 million of the state's 29 million residents live in drought-stricken areas.About 63% of Williamson County remained in moderate drought, which often can mean stunted crops, early cattle sales and increasing frequency of wildfires.About 49% of Caldwell County, along its southwestern border, remained in severe drought, which is typified by poor pasture conditions, hard soils and low crop yields.That's a decrease from 46.3% in early November. The southwestern corner of Travis County, or about 12%, remained in extreme drought, the second-worst level, which includes cracked soil, decreased crop yields and the need for supplemental feed for livestock.That's a drop from 53.7% at the beginning of November. Only about 19% of Hays County along its western and southern border remained in exceptional drought, which is the worst level of drought and is typified by widespread crop loss and sensitivity to fire danger.Meanwhile in Central Texas, the rain that soaked the region in November and earlier this month has eased drought conditions locally: That's the lowest percentage in drought since the week of Nov. Agriculture Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, indicate that drought conditions across Texas have improved, with only 72.4% of the state is experiencing drought. Drought Monitor, a joint effort of the National Drought Mitigation Center, the U.S. The city's total rainfall for 2022 is the lowest since 2011, a year that saw 90 days of 100-degree weather and generated only 19.68 inches of rain.ĭrought data released Thursday from the U.S. The rainfall total isn't surprising given the year we've had, including 68 days of triple-digit temperatures. 1 is 26.59 inches, which was 9.66 inches below normal for year's end, according to National Weather Service data. As of Saturday, the city had logged only 1.95 inches of rain in a month that normally would have produced around 2.72 inches by now.Īustin's cumulative rainfall since Jan. How much rain has Austin gotten so far?ĭespite having a rainier than normal November, Austin remains about 0.77 of an inch shy of normal rainfall for December at Camp Mabry, site of the city's main weather station. Unfortunately, the improvement comes too late for Austin, which will end this year with cumulative rainfall nearly 10 inches below normal, making 2022 the city's driest year since the drought-plagued and heat record-setting year of 2011, data from the National Weather Service show. While we were rightfully worried about the hard freeze that descended upon Texas just before Christmas, you might have missed the news that drought conditions across the state have eased to levels not seen in more than a year. Watch Video: Lake and river droughts: how climate change is drying up waterways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |