Worst Drought In Over 100 Years In Texas

Water is a problem in Texas in a good year, and with it's fast-growing population the state was already looking for new sources of water. Without new sources of water it is doubtful that Texas can sustain it's population growth (certainly not at the current growth rate).

Texas has never been a water-rich state, and has only one natural lake (Caddo Lake) -- and half of that lake is in Louisiana. All of the other lakes in the state are man-made. That should be a clue to those who think the state has no water problems. But this year is much worse than normal.

Currently 97% of Texas is experiencing drought conditions. Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon says it is the worst drought since 1895 (the year records began to be kept in the state). These dry conditions have seen more than 13,000 wildfires in the state since November, that have burned over 3.3 million acres. And we may not have seen the worst yet, since July is usually worse than the months preceding it.

The state's dry conditions are even affecting this holiday. Many cities across the state have outlawed fireworks this year, and many of them (including Amarillo, DeSoto, Lubbock, Austin, San Antonio, etc.) have even cancelled city fireworks displays for this year. And that's just a precursor of things to come. Much of the state will soon be under some degree of water use restrictions.

Of course, this is affecting the state's agriculture. The Agriculture Department has declared 213 of Texas' 254 counties as disaster areas because of the drought conditions. This would normally let the victims of the drought receive government aid, but with the Republicans slashing programs and not even wanting to help tornado victims there may not be any help to be had.

And our idiot governor thinks he's done his part. A few weeks ago, Gov. Perry tried to pray away the drought (and we can see how well that worked). Now he is too busy with trying to collect campaign funds in other states so he can run for president to bother with the drought.

It's going to be a tough summer for the state, and the only real hope for a break before Fall is that there might be a busy hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico. Personally, I'm not going to hold my breath for that to happen.

Hopefully though, there may be one silver lining in this disastrous (and rainless) cloud. With a bit of luck it might get Texans to start paying attention to the water problems the state has -- even in good years. Too many Texans, especially politicians, want to hide their heads in the sand and ignore the problem. Maybe the drought will force them to address the problem.