Drought Report: Texas lakes continued their downward trend due to the high demand for water and high evaporation rates. At the end of August, most District lakes located in the Red, Trinity and Brazos River Basins were less than 70 percent of their conservation pool levels. Also, little to no rain has fallen since the first of September across the DFW Metroplex. This has further adversely impacted drought conditions. The Colorado River Basin has been the hardest hit by the current drought. In some ways, this is similar to the historic drought of the 1950’s. This drought maybe more severe than the 1950’s depending on how the two droughts are compared. The combined conservation storage of Travis and Buchanan Lakes is about 33 percent, which is approaching the record low levels of the 1950’s. The major difference is the tremendous population growth that has occurred in the Austin area in the last 60 years. There are now more than one million people in the Austin region which are dependent on Travis and Buchanan Lakes for their water supply. In the 1950’s the population was less than 200 thousand. • Eastern Region: The Seasonal Fall Outlook indicates the drought will remain, but conditions may improve. • Central Region: There is an equal chance for normal precipitation and normal temperatures. Lake levels continue to fall to near record low levels. • Western Region: Due to the persistent drought conditions and high temperatures, all major lakes in the Colorado River Basin contain a third or less of their storage capacity. For additional information on individual lakes in the Fort Worth District, paste the following link into your browser: www3.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/reports/droughtreport.html. The Facilities Closure Report maintained by CESWF Operations Division may be found by pasting the following link into your browser: swf-wc.usace.army.mil/drought/drought.htm.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:58:46 +0000
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