Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Recent rain helps but West Texas still in a drought

Beau Berman at CBS7 News (Texas): The ground is damp and temperatures are lower but even after the weekend’s rainfall, west Texas is still in a severe drought. The recent rain was a nice respite from months of total dryness and while it did boost one of our reservoirs, city officials are urging residents to stick to the restrictions.

The recent downpours are providing some much needed relief to west Texas, adding moisture to the soil and helping to replenish local ponds. The greatest impact is at the Ivie Reservoir, where rain and runoff added 2500 acre-feet of water, enough to supply about three weeks worth of water to CRMWD customers.

Still, city officials say we're not out of the drought just yet. "The water restrictions are still enforced, code enforcement will still be looking for violators and nuisance water", says Midland Utilities Superintendent Johnny Womack. Midland's “Hill Park” looks like a pond once again, after months of dryness. But Womack says the less than two inches of rainfall was not enough to deliver us from the drought.

The weekend rains helped add some water back to the duck pond in Midland that desperately needed the moisture, as did many yards around the area, but Midland and Odessa are now both warning residents that this doesn't mean it's time to start wasting water....

Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, 9 km north of Rotan, in Fisher County, Texas or 15 km south of Double Mountain, Stonewall County, Texas. Shot by Leaflet, who has released the image into the public domain

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