Meter Reading: Rains Don’t Do Much for Highland Lakes, Drought Growing in U.S., and More

Photo by LCRA

The extreme drought lowered levels in Lake Travis, revealing formations not seen above water in some time.

Recent Rain Barely Boosts Lake Levels – “Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan are only up a couple of inches. That’s because most of the rain fell downstream of the watershed. Bob Rose is the chief meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority. He says the recent rain has been great, but is no drought-buster.” — KUT News

Fracking in U.S. Lifts Guar Farmers in India – “Halfway around the world, earnings are down for an oil services giant, Halliburton, because prices have risen for guar, the bean that Mr. Singh and his fellow farmers raise. Halliburton’s loss was, in a rather significant way, Mr. Singh’s gain — a rare victory for the littlest of the little guys in global trade.” — New York Times

Texas part of growing drought in U.S. that rivals Dust Bowl years – “Rain has brought relief to parts of drought-stricken Texas, but national conditions are the worst in more than half a century.” — San Antonio Express-News