A lot of people in Austin are griping about the water usage restrictions not having been lifted yet, because “It’s been raining!” and “The drought is over!” No, it’s not over. Our water-shortage issues have not been resolved. We are still in the midst of a drought, and some rain isn’t going to magically fix that.
Austinites have made good use of their galoshes and umbrellas this fall, but the city is still suffering from a historically high drought.
This assessment is based on studies conducted by the Lower Colorado River Authority, which controls the raw water resources in Central Texas. Their research shows that as of August, Central Texas was facing a deficit of more than 1.5 million acre-feet of incoming water over the past 20-month period in comparison to the historical average.
“On average during this period, we would have seen about 2 million acre-feet come in,” said Emlea Chanslor, Lower Colorado River Authority spokeswoman. “During the previous 20 months, it was 477,000 acre-feet. The rain we’ve been having is great, but it’s not enough to serve the whole city. That’s why we’re going to be conservative and continue to recommend to consumers that they cut off their lawn-watering as much as possible.”
–The Daily Texan
Why the heck do they need the watering restrictions lifted anyway, since it has been raining? I have only had to water my garden once over the course of the last month, and my lawn is growing like the weed-filled expanse of ground it is. It’s been nice not having to be out there every day watering, but as happy as my garden may be about the rain, we need more, if we’re to continue having water coming through our plumbing … which is far more important than a garden (or a lawn).
Speaking of gardens, I need to amble out there today and have a look. I haven’t been out there in days due to the situation with the neighbor’s large dogs and the fact the rains have kept my yard a perpetual mud pit that’s no fun to be in (not to mention the damn fire ants†). Plants actually grow just fine without daily tending, though I expect there to be some monster weeds I need to deal with. I also haven’t been able to pull out the basil and plant the lettuce or fennel thanks to the dirt being just too wet. I really need to get to that soon. Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow, provided it doesn’t rain again today. Rain is in the forecast again though, so I doubt I’ll be slogging around out there too much.
Footnotes- † And what really sucks is that all the poisons say not to use them right before or after it rains, because they are less effective, so I haven’t been able to do anything about the fire ants. It’s been raining too regularly, like every couple of days. Thankful for the rain, on the one hand, but not thankful on the other. [↩]