{"id":8065,"date":"2012-04-02T04:55:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-02T09:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=8065"},"modified":"2012-04-03T08:47:42","modified_gmt":"2012-04-03T13:47:42","slug":"even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"Even a Wet Winter Hasn&#8217;t Broken the Great Texas Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8065 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2778\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2778-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2778-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2778-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2778-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8066'>\n\t\t\t\tPati Jacobs on her cattle ranch outside of Bastrop, Texas\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2806\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2806-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8069\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2806-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2806-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2806-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8069'>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cFour months ago this was just bare dirt. There was nothing,&#8221; Jacobs says.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2814\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2814-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8070\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2814-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2814-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2814-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8070'>\n\t\t\t\tJacobs says the drought has been &#8220;devastating.&#8221;\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2831\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2831-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8072\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2831-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2831-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2831-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8072'>\n\t\t\t\tCows roam at the 235-acre Bastrop Cattle Company ranch.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2836\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2836-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8073\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2836-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2836-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2836-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8073'>\n\t\t\t\tDuring the peak of the drought, the cows here grew starkly thin and had no grass to graze on.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2891\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2891-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8075\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2891-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2891-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2891-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8075'>\n\t\t\t\t &#8220;What most people don\u2019t realize, this wasn\u2019t a one-year drought,&#8221; Jacobs says.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/04\/02\/even-a-wet-winter-hasnt-broken-the-great-texas-drought\/img_2898\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2898-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2898-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2898-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2012\/04\/IMG_2898-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8076'>\n\t\t\t\tJacobs say the drought has likely put many ranchers out of business.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>There is no way to overstate the <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/tag\/drought\/\">severity of the drought<\/a>. Last year Texas had its <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/drought\/\">driest year on record<\/a>, paired with some of the highest temperatures we&#8217;ve ever seen.\u00a0But\u00a0even as the situation has improved for\u00a0some thanks to a relatively wet winter, other\u00a0parts of the state are still in the worst stage of drought.<\/p>\n\n<p>For ranchers like Pati Jacobs at the Bastrop Cattle Company ranch east of Austin, Texas, the toll of the drought was enormous. Pointing to a stock tank on her 235-acre ranch, she notes that just a few months ago it was completely dry. And the same goes for the grass her cattle like to graze on. &#8220;Four months ago this was just bare dirt,&#8221; she says. &#8220;There was nothing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In the fall of 2010, Texas entered the worst single-year drought in its history. Without rain, lakes dried up, grass died, and millions of acres burned in wildfires.\u00a0\u201cWe lost effectively between 600,000 and a million head of cattle out of this state,&#8221; Jacobs says. &#8220;And what most people don\u2019t realize, this wasn\u2019t a one-year drought. This actually has been going for three or four years, and we\u2019re not out of it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese numbers are unprecedented,&#8221; says <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/23\/lost-to-the-drought-a-conversation-with-ag-commissioner-todd-staples\/\">Todd Staples<\/a>,\u00a0Texas\u2019 Commissioner of Agriculture, of the near eight billion dollars in agricultural losses <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/21\/agricultural-losses-from-drought-top-7-billion\/\">due to the drought<\/a>. &#8220;And this is a new record for the Lone Star State. Unfortunately, we like to set new records but this is not the direction we want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignright\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/30\/climate-change-and-the-drought-an-interview-with-katharine-hayhoe\/\">Climate Change and the Drought: An Interview With Katharine Hayhoe<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/28\/too-many-straws-in-the-ground-an-interview-with-andrew-sansom\/\">Too Many Straws in the Ground: An Interview With Andrew Sansom<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/23\/lost-to-the-drought-a-conversation-with-ag-commissioner-todd-staples\/\">Lost to the Drought: A Conversation with Ag Commissioner Todd Staples<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/22\/running-dry-how-the-drought-affected-two-texas-towns\/\">Running Dry: How the Drought Hit\u00a0Texas<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/08\/WaterinTexas1-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/topic\/water-in-texas\/\">Your Guide to Water Issues In\u00a0Texas<\/a><\/p><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/119835727-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/topic\/drought\/\">Everything You Need to Know About the Texas Drought<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>While crop insurance covered many farmers, for Texas ranchers\u00a0like Jacobs, it\u2019s been a different story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been devastating, because if you sell out your breeding herd, which a lot of them had to do, and you look at the pricing at what you got then and what you have to pay now to re-stock, a lot of them aren\u2019t going to get back into the business,&#8221; she says. &#8220;They just don\u2019t have the capital to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For some\u00a0ranchers,this year&#8217;s wet winter was a godsend. And the big cities like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are either drought-free or getting close. But\u00a0in the far western part of the state, the <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/03\/15\/texas-drought-outlook-improving\/\">extreme drought continues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year was the devil\u2019s advocate, I guess,&#8221; says Neal Newsom, who grows wine grapes in far West Texas. &#8220;We had some zero degree weather during the winter, which is too cold for grapes. And then on May 7<sup>th<\/sup> we had the latest freeze in history. And we just thought it was getting bad and then the drought starts, and it seemed like after that all that was left was the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs was next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Newsom says that even though there have been a few snows this winter, they&#8217;re still very dry.\u00a0&#8220;The winds are starting to kick up now, so the dust is staring to move around,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Here we go again if we don\u2019t get some rains pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So what did Texas do to get itself in this predicament? It\u2019s simple. Much like its government and citizens, the Texas climate is <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/tag\/drought\/\">notably independent<\/a> from the rest of the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery little water enters this state from outside of the state, and that\u2019s only on the Rio Grande,&#8221; says Raymond Slade, a hydrologist\u00a0who\u00a0follows water issues in Texas. &#8220;All other rivers originate from in this state, so when we don\u2019t have rain, this state is the one that suffers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Slade says that even though things are green now in much of the state, the drought isn&#8217;t over. &#8220;Unfortunately the lakes are still not full across the state and the streams are still not back to normal,&#8221; he says. &#8220;So this drought continues as far as water availability.\u201d<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone is\u00a0hoping a relatively wet winter will lead to an even wetter spring. But some scientists like Raymond Slade aren\u2019t optimistic. &#8220;It\u2019s projected it could get worse,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We may have below what\u2019s been normal rainfall, could be below for the next few years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And for all the talk of funding plans for a drier future combined with a growing population, no one\u2019s sure where the money will come from. Texas is known for limited government and deep budget cuts. Slade finds himself frustrated.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve told many people that the drought needs to continue, because regardless of what scientists say, planners aren\u2019t planning, the legislature\u2019s not funding money for drought management strategies,&#8221; he says. &#8220;So the drought, in my opinion, needs to continue for another year or two to get people\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But for the\u00a0farmers and ranchers in the west,\u00a0that would only add to their misery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even as the situation has improved for some thanks to a relatively wet winter, other parts of the state are still in the worst stage of drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":8075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[61,110,85],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}