Tagged: drought

Round Rock and Georgetown are moving to their highest level of drought emergency because of the mechanical failure of two pumps that move water from a lake in Bell County to Lake Georgetown, a major source of water for people who live in the area.

“Basically, any [Georgetown resident] on the west side of I-35, their water is coming from Lake Georgetown,” city spokesman Keith Hutchinson told KUT News. “It’s our primary water supply.”

The drought is causing severe shortages of hay across Texas, and that’s making life difficult for people who own horses.

If you can even find someone to sell you hay, you’ll probably have to pay through the nose for it. Stephanie Reed has a few horses in Dale, Texas.

“In 2010, it was still a little high, but the average cost for a round bale of hay was $45 to $50 dollars,” Reed said. “Today, I am paying between $125 and $150.”

It’s just one of the many economic consequences of the worst single-year drought in Texas history.

No smoking, grilling or any kind of open flames are allowed at city parks in Austin right now, but the city can’t really enforce that ban.  That's because parks police can only ask people to stop those actions.  A resolution on tomorrow’s city council agenda could change that. 

It would direct the city manager to create an ordinance that would make it illegal to have an open flame in a park when a burn ban is in effect. Violations would be a Class C misdemeanor, with a fine likely around a couple hundred bucks.

Update at 12:45 p.m.: Bastrop County's Office of Emergency Management reports on their Facebook page that the Old Potato Road fire apparently hasn't burned as much land as earlier thought.

County officials quote the Texas Forest Service, saying the fire has only consumed 315 acres.  Earlier estimates had the fire consuming 1,000 acres.

The fire is now listed as 50 percent contained. 

Bow hunting season for White-tailed deer starts tomorrow in Texas. The ongoing extreme drought has culled deer population in many parts of the state. Nevertheless, Chris Mitchell with Texas Parks and Wildlife says the department wants hunters to take their full bag limit of deer this season. And that's less about sport and more about survival of the species.

Gusty winds, dry air and vegetation, high chance of thunderstorms and warm weather are all contributing factors to the critical fire forecast released today by the Texas Forest Service (TFS). Pretty much everything south of the Texas Panhandle is considered to be at risk. 

Lake Travis is an engine for economic activity that pumps $668 million into the local community and supports about 5,200 jobs, according to a new analysis. But low lake levels are draining money from the area.

Specifically, when Lake Travis falls beneath 660 feet above sea level, visitor spending drops by up to $33.8 million, the report by Robert Charles Lesser & Co says. The report was commissioned by Travis County and local business owners, many of whom hope to affect the LCRA's Highland Lakes policy.

 When Lake Travis gets below 650 feet, the study says it’s even worse, “driven by the closure of most of the lake’s boat ramps as well as media attention.”

Lake Travis is currently at 629 feet.

Insured losses from a 34,000 acre wildfire that tore across Bastrop County will total $250 million, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. Bastrop home and business owners have collectively filed about 1,500 claims so far.