Life By the Drop: Drought, Water and the Future of Texas

They creep in slowly. Reveal themselves so gradually, that it’s easy not to notice. Until you do.

“A drought is kinda like a cancer, it just slowly eats and eats and eats,” says John Jacobs, the mayor of Robert Lee. That town nearly went dry last year. “Your water sources dry up. Your businesses start drying up,” he says. “Without water people aren’t gonna stay there.”

Last year Texas suffered through the worst single-year drought in its history. But drought’s nothing new here. It’s as much a part of our heritage as cowboy boots and Tex-Mex.

Click above to listen to “Life by the Drop: Drought, Water, and the Future of Texas,” a special report from KUT News, StateImpact Texas and Texas Monthly, hosted by Jake Silverstein, editor of the magazine.

You can listen to Life By the Drop: Drought, Water and the Future of Texas Friday, June 22 at 3 p.m. on KUT 90.5 FM. The program will air again at 7 p.m. on Monday, and you’ll also be able to hear the entire documentary here and on other public radio stations throughout the state. And you can learn more about the history of the drought at our interactive web page, Dried Out: Confronting the Texas Drought, and share your thoughts on Twitter with the hashtag #txwater.