This past year, most of Texas was experiencing a significant drought that took its toll on river and reservoir levels in the Brazos and other major river basins.  As recently as September, the Brazos system of eleven reservoirs was 79 percent full and continuing to drop weekly.  Several of our reservoirs were in Stage 1 drought watch or worse.

What a difference a few weeks makes!  We were blessed with good rains throughout the basin in the fall months and our system storage is currently about 95 percent full with most of our reservoirs are at or above their full elevation.

Lake Georgetown, which was nearly 26 feet low and in Stage 2 Drought Watch, filled completely.  Approximately 250,000 acre-feet of water is currently retained in the flood pools of Lakes Aquilla, Belton, Stillhouse Hollow, Georgetown, Granger, and Somerville.

But with this rain comes the reminder of just how fickle and unpredictable the weather can be and how precious water is as a natural resource.  The recent drought was, in some places, every bit as severe as the 1950’s drought of record.  Some water users in the basin actually had their usage cut off by the State.  Imagine being told that you cannot use the water source you had come to rely on because it was no longer available. 

What should come from this series of events is a renewed interest in planning for sustained water availability in future droughts and a motivation for each of us to do everything we can to use our current resources as wisely as possible. 

While we cannot prevent droughts from happening, we can work to develop new water resources, practice water conservation, and work toward the development of new technologies that will allow us to use less water now and in the future.

The Authority urges every person to educate themselves by becoming involved in the Regional and State Water Planning process, learning where their water comes from, and finding new ways to conserve water.  Our website offers a variety of resources on these and other water related topics and we encourage you to check it often for updated information.

While these months of rain were helpful, those of us who’ve lived in Texas for a while know better than to bank on it continuing.  We should take this opportunity to examine our current water resources and continue planning for the future.  As the old saying goes, today is the first day of the next drought.