Here's the view from the lower level of my back yard here in Kerrville in wetter times. Now there's just a small trickle over the dam.
Posted on 03/07/2009 7:31:36 AM PST by NormsRevenge
DALLAS (Reuters) – Texas Governor Rick Perry asked for disaster relief assistance from the federal government on Friday for drought-stricken farmers across the state.
Parts of south and central Texas including the ranch lands around San Antonio and the state capitol Austin are suffering from their most severe drought on record, exacerbating the woes of the state's cattle industry already been laid low by the country's deepening recession.
Extreme drought conditions also exist across many other areas of the parched state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
"Governor Rick Perry today requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture provide disaster relief assistance for Texas farms and ranches that have suffered economic and physical losses as a result of severe drought conditions," Perry's office said in a statement.
"If Perry's statewide request is approved, qualified farm operators in all Texas counties will be eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA. The agency also offers additional programs, such as technical assistance, to eligible farmers," the statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I asked TB to send us some rain, since he seems to have plenty, but he said it kept getting turned back.
Maybe the governor will open the borders now.
I’m in Central Texas and can’t remember the last time we had any meaningful rain. And the wind keeps blowing and blowing. Seems like we have daily wind advisories. If we don’t get a lot of rain between now and early May many areas will face water rationing this summer.
We’re sending you plenty more wind today too!
Hey, it’s already here!!!! What’s a day without 35 mph wind gusts?
Part of what happened in the Great Depression, was an extended drought the eventually caused the “Dust Bowl”, a massive wind erosion that scoured whole farmsteads from the earth in Oklahoma, Kansas, and yes, even in Texas, and triggered the great migration of “Okies” to California.
Most of the dust fell east of the Mississippi, and life was made even more miserable than it had already become by then.
Today there is no room in California for the displaced Americans to move to. Unless somebody else LEAVES California.
I was thinking of most of the restless wealthy that line the Left Coast, and are the driving force behind all the restrictions now placed on ANY constructive enterprises being undertaken in California.
I’ve made the Dust Bowl analogy in my mind too. The parallels are scary, aren’t they? Could be the next migration will see people leaving our country.
Our weekly paper in Lakeway, TX has a big front page story proclaiming this to be the worst drought since 1917.
As I look out my window overlooking Lake Travis, it's almost painful to see how far the lake is down. I took a drive the other day over to Bourne, and crossed many creek beds that had no water in them, and even the rivers are way down.
I keep praying that it will end soon.....
The last time I read anything about Texas and water was Perry complaining Mexico wasn’t sending the water they’re supposed to under treaty agreement. Are they now?
http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/10590/
[snip]
That agreement represented what was best about the people of the Mexico and the people of the United States, especially Texans. It represented our strong relations - our mutual trust and respect borne out of common interests and common cultures.
Today those bonds of trust and respect are strained, because the great nation of Mexico is not living up to its word.
Governor Martinez and President Fox need to know that Texans are hurting. We have lost a billion dollars in economic activity because of Mexico’s failure to deliver promised water.
We have lost more than a half-million acres of irrigated crops because of Mexico’s failure to deliver promised water. And many of our farm families have lost hope because of Mexico’s failure to deliver promised water.
I agree that it is cyclical. I grew up in Dallas and have very vivid memories of the severe drought conditions there in the 50’s. I was a young child and recall cracks in the yard large enough for a child’s leg to fall through. My most vivid memory is of my mother killing a tarantula in the yard with a hoe. In my mind it was the size of a basketball. How much of this is a child’s over blown fears and how much was real is anybody’s guess. I know your area well. It is beautiful and I hope God sends some rain soon.
And B.Hussein stretched out his arms and said let there be rain! And free healthcare! and no rich!
In my opinion the late forties and early to mid fifties was as bad if not worse then the current drought. I had to lean into the dust storms to cross the streets in Temple. The skyline was often obscured by fires fueled by the abundant cedar(Ash Juniper)breaks
Temple, then and now, depends on a relatively small dam on the Leon river to furnish its water supply. The level got so low that we were drinking water that was just barely not mud. The grit was removed but the smell and taste wasn’t.
Temple still gets its water supply there but it has the Belton Dam upstream to keep the water flowing, at least for a little longer. Both of our local lakes are way low for this time of year.
That drought was finally broken by flooding rains in the mid fifties. San Antonio was to be the first night stop after our wedding. We ended up in San Marcos because San Antonio was flooding...
We had a significant rain in August and the burn ban was lifted for a short time. I burned a cedar stump out; the root pit still has the ashes around it since there has not been enough rain to wash them away.
In regards to Lake Travis near Austin: It is primarily a flood control lake and varies in level dramatically. About two years ago, it approached its fifth highest level ever, now I expect most of the boat docks are well aground. I have seen it go from almost dry to high flood stage in a couple of big rains. (I have several friends with lake front property around Travis and have had the opportunity to see it at its various levels many times.)
You really know your Temple history! I’m north of you in the southern Waco suburbs. Are your familiar with Old Temple Road? I was on it earlier — the section where the name changes to Bagby before you hit Hwy 6 — and drove through dust devils. The wind is mighty today.
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