HOT & DRY
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY Pearland has four stages of increasing intensity to reduce water use citywide in the event of a drought or emergency. Pearland entered Stage 1 of its drought contingency plan in July due to the statewide drought and ended its plan Aug. 12. SOURCE: CITY OF PEARLAND/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER some rainfall allowed the city to lift restrictions Aug. 12. “I think we saw a good reaction from our citizens with the voluntary restrictions,” Deputy City Manager Trent Epperson said. Manvel also enacted its drought contingency plan this summer. “Manvel has, fortunately, received intermittent rainfall since the drought contingency plan Stage 1 was issued that [has] limited current drought measures, and because of this, the city has not had any severe drought-related impacts,” the city said in an Aug. 15 written statement. Meanwhile, some cities, such as League City and Friendswood, never had to activate their plans. One factor that
While drought conditions are easing up nationwide, Texas is still seeing extreme levels of dryness. Brazoria and Galveston counties are in moderate to severe droughts.
BRAZORIA & GALVESTON COUNTIES
SOURCE: U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
N
N
5 levels OF DROUGHT Drought severity is measured on a five-level system.
area is experiencing one of its hottest summers on record. Hot weather evaporates what little moisture is present quicker, Fowler said. June through August was the hottest three-month period for Pearland since at least 1997, beat-
CONTINUED FROM 1
Other concerns include droughts and high temperatures becoming more common. “Climate change may be making the difference between 101 and 103 [degrees] on a particular day,” Niel- Brazoria and Galveston counties entered severe drought—the third highest of the Drought Monitor’s five drought tiers—on April 5. By June 14, the counties had entered the sec- ond-highest tier, extreme drought, Fowler said. While some areas of the state are seeing exceptional drought—the most intense level—that tier has not been reached in Brazoria or Galveston counties. Most of the counties were in severe drought as of Sept. 1, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data. Contributing to drought are the weather patterns seen in the Pacific Ocean, Fowler said. When the ocean’s surface water temperatures are warmer, it is con- sidered in El Niño, and Texas is more likely to get rain. When the waters are cool, it is considered in La Niña, resulting in drier conditions. The ocean has been in La Niña for three years, Fowler said. sen-Gammon said. Double whammy As of Aug. 23, Brazoria and Galveston counties had seen 4-12 fewer inches of rain than normal since Jan. 1. Only small pockets saw average amounts of rainfall, according to NWS maps. On top of that, the Greater Houston
NOTE: MAP DATA AS OF SEPT. 1
Abnormally dry
ing out 2011, the last major drought year on record, at an average of 85.7 degrees, according to National Weather Service data. In Galveston, June through August has
• Producers begin supplemental feeding for livestock. • Planting is postponed. • Grass fires increase. • Surface water levels decline. Moderate drought • Dryland crops are stunted. • Wildfire frequency increases. • Stock tanks, creeks and streams are low. • Voluntary water restrictions are requested. Severe drought • Pasture conditions are very poor. • Crop yields decrease. • Wildlife moves into populated areas. • Wildfire danger is severe. • Burn bans are implemented. • Mandatory water restrictions are implemented.
“TEXAS ISN’T IN A MEGADROUGHT RIGHT NOW, BUT ONE IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE." JOHN NIELSEN GAMMON, TEXAS CLIMATOLOGIST
can contribute to whether a city acti- vates its drought contingency plan is ground cracking. The more extreme a drought, the more earth retracts and
shifts, which can break water mains, leading to reduced water capacities and the activation of drought con- tingency plans, according to various city officials. “We’ve seen an uptick in main breaks,” Epperson said of Pearland. “We jump on those as quickly as possible.” Ending the drought In August, the southeast Hous- ton area started seeing more rain, which began to push the area out of drought. As of Sept. 1, drought levels in Brazoria and Galveston counties were moderate to severe. For the rest of 2022, the outlook calls for abnormally high tempera- tures and dryness to continue, Niel- sen-Gammon said. September and October tend to be wetter months, historically, which could bring more relief, though he said the odds favor dry conditions. A tropical storm would also bring rain, he said. “But that’s a dangerous way of
been the hottest since 1874 at an average of 88 degrees. Ranking sec- ond is June through August 2011 at 87.3 degrees. “Just the fact that it’s been so warm has really fast-forwarded the drought process,” Fowler said. Contingency plans Some cities responded to the dry conditions and high tempera- tures by activating their state-man- dated drought contingency plans, which aim to conserve water during droughts and other emergencies. Pearland entered Stage 1 of its four- stage plan July 21. The plan was acti- vated due to the city having at least 60% of its water capacity used each day in a three-day span, Water Produc- tion Superintendent Julian Kelly said. “We usually look at weekly pro- ductions and see if we are eclipsing our production numbers,” he said. Stage 1 calls for residents to vol- untarily reduce water consumption, and that reduction in use mixed with
Extreme drought
• Soil has large cracks; soil moisture is very low. • Crops fail to germinate; yields decrease for irrigated crops. • Supplemental feeding for livestock and herds are sold.
Exceptional drought
• Exceptional and widespread crop loss is reported. • Seafood, tourism and agricultural sectors report financial losses. • Sensitivity to fire danger increases.
16
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook