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Hi everyone,

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and welcome to the Texas Water Development
Board’s latest Water and Weather report.

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I’m Dr. Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist in the Surface
Water Division here at the agency.

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And today, we'll be taking a look

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at conditions for our state
at the end of July.

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Let's take a look at some of the big water
and weather headlines.

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Although some parts of the state received
four times their normal rainfall,

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statewide, July was warmer
and only slightly wetter than normal.

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Near the end of July, 23

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percent of the state was in drought, down
nine percentage points since late June.

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Storage in our water supply reservoirs
ended July at 77.8 percent of capacity,

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up less than a percentage point
from the end of June, and still more

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than four percentage points
below normal for this time of year.

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Through the end of November,
drought conditions are expected to improve

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and contract
in the western half of the state,

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but persist and expand in the eastern
half.

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Let's take a closer look at temperature
and precipitation.

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On these maps,

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we're looking at both parameters relative
to 21st century averages for July.

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From a water supply perspective,

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reds, oranges,
and yellows mean trouble on both maps.

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They show areas
with above-average temperature

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on the left and below-average
precipitation on the right.

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Statewide, July was warmer
and slightly wetter than normal.

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Precipitation,
however, did vary widely across the state.

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Uvalde County in Central Texas received
almost five times

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its normal precipitation for the month,
leading to destructive flooding.

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Meanwhile, Kleberg and Nueces

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Counties on the Texas coast,
roughly 200 miles to the southeast,

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received less than one-fifth
of their normal precipitation.

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Overall, drought contracted nine
percentage points during July and covered

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less than a quarter of the state

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by the end of the month––the
tan, orange, and red areas on this map.

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But as the state settled into its typical
late summer pattern of hot

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and dry conditions,

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drought area ticked up one percentage
point during the last week of July.

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That was the first weekly increase
in drought area in four months.

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Although supplies increased significantly
in parts of Central and South Texas,

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statewide surface water supplies

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increased a modest seven-tenths
of a percentage point in July.

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On this chart,

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the dark line shows statewide storage
this year compared to minimum, maximum,

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and median values for the day of the year
from data going back to 1990.

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Also displayed are lighter lines
that show how we did in 2025 and 2024,

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and a red line
that shows how we did in 2011.

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July's increase was the fourth consecutive
monthly increase, but still leaves us

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more than four percentage points
below normal for this time of year.

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What can we expect going forward?

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A bit of a mixed bag
through the end of November.

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The National Weather Service is predicting
drought improvement

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and some contraction on the western
half of the state, but drought persistence

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and some expansion
on the eastern half of the state.

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Looking a little farther out into the
winter, there's reason for more optimism.

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El Niño conditions—warmer-than-normal sea

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surface temperatures in the eastern
Equatorial Pacific—are in place

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and expected to persist
well into next year.

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Those conditions typically bring Texas
falls and winters that are cooler

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and wetter than normal, and favorable
for drought improvement and contraction.

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That concludes the report.

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Until next time,
I hope you all stay healthy and safe.