During a visit to the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Jeremy Mazur, the Director of Governmental Relations for the Texas Water Board, spoke with visiting members of the 2013 Leadership Forney class. Mazur warned that the 2011 Texas drought is still taking its toll on the state and 99 percent of the state is still currently in drought.
During a visit to the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Jeremy Mazur, the Director of Governmental Relations for the Texas Water Board, spoke with visiting members of the 2013 Leadership Forney class. Mazur warned that the 2011 Texas drought is still taking its toll on the state and 99 percent of the state is still currently in drought.
Texas suffered $8.2 billion in economic losses in the 2011 drought. Most of that was through a loss of cattle and crops. 500,000 million trees were also lost during that time. Currently the reservoirs are only 66 percent full, compared to 78 percent full this time last year. Lake levels are now at their lowest in the last 25 years, and the the summer months will be here soon. Mazur noted that the seasonal drought outlook through June 2013 shows that most of the state will be in a persisting drought, while some areas will show a developing drought.
Kaufman County is in a moderate drought condition at this time, which was discussed at the April 25th board meeting by the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). The board met with area City Managers and decided that beginning June 1, 2013, the current Stage 2 water restrictions will be elevated to Stage 3, or a modified Stage 3 level.
Lake Texoma accounts for 28 percent of the North Texas water supply and it is still completely off-line due to the invasive presence of zebra-muscles. The good news is that in December 2012, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that President Obama signed, which allows the NTMWD, “To resume pumping water from Lake Texoma when a new $300 million pipeline is complete in the fall of 2013.” Though in actuallity, that pipeline may not be finished until 2014.
There may be more good news for the Texas Water Development Board. Senator Bob Deuell told inForney.com that on April 23, the Texas Senate passed SJ1 by a vote of 31-0. That bill, which still must pass the House, marks $2 billion of the Rainy Day Fund to go towards water projects. If the House approves it, the measure will be found on Texas voter ballots in November as a constitutional amendment.
Mazur made it clear that water conservation measures need to be increased, but to withstand the population growth in Texas over the next 50 years, “More reservoirs and water sources will have to be built.” He believes that the $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund will be a good start to address Texas' water problems.
