(gentle music)
[Mark Wentzel] Hi everyone and welcome
to the Texas Water Development Board's latest Water
and Weather report.
I'm Dr. Mark Wentzel,
a hydrologist in the Surface Water Division here
at the agency. And today, we'll be
taking a look at conditions
for our state at the end of March 2021.
Let's take a look at some of the big water
and weather headlines.
In March, drought conditions improved in parts
of the Panhandle but intensified in South Texas.
Drought conditions now cover 69 percent of the state
up 18 percentage points since the end of February.
Statewide, storage in our water supply reservoirs remains
at 82 percent of capacity,
unchanged since the first of the month
and about three and a half percentage points
less than normal for this time of year.
And La Niña conditions,
which are at least partially responsible
for drought in Texas, continue to linger
but are expected to dissipate in coming months.
Let's take a closer look
at how drought conditions have changed over the last month.
We've all heard the saying,
"What's good for the goose is good for the gander."
While it only seems fair,
it doesn't always work out that way,
especially when it comes to precipitation and drought,
and 2021 has been a perfect example of that.
On this map, we're looking at total precipitation
across the state since the first of the year.
In particular, let's focus on the areas around Amarillo
in the Panhandle, and Brownsville in the far south.
Both areas started the year with a mix
of moderate and severe drought conditions.
In the first three months of the year,
these areas have received nearly identical precipitation,
about two and a quarter inches each.
You might expect similar changes in drought condition,
but that is not the case.
The U.S. Drought Monitor map
for conditions at the end of March
shows drought is responding differently near Amarillo
and Brownsville.
In Amarillo and the 12 counties in the Panhandle
to the north and east, conditions have improved.
And for the first time in almost a year,
drought is no longer on the landscape.
Meanwhile, near Brownsville, conditions have gone
from moderate and severe drought at the first of the year
to extreme and exceptional drought now,
as South Texas has joined West Texas
as an epicenter of drought in the state.
Why such different responses
to essentially the same amount of precipitation?
Drought is driven not so much by precipitation,
but rather by precipitation relative
to what is normal for an area.
On this map, we're looking at the same data.
This time, as a percentage of the 30-year average
for each area.
You can see that the two and a quarter inches
of precipitation Amarillo and Brownsville received
were above average for Amarillo
but less than 75 percent of normal for Brownsville.
In this case,
what's good for Amarillo is not what's good for Brownsville.
What can we expect going forward?
It's a bit unclear.
La Niña conditions, which are at least partially responsible
for reduced rainfall in Texas,
are expected to dissipate soon.
But so far, those conditions have lingered
and the longer they linger,
the more likely we enter the summer with conditions
that look like those on this map,
with all but the eastern edge
of the state overtaken by drought.
If La Niña makes a quicker exit,
we could see some improvements before summer.
If not, the eastern half of the state will probably have
to wait until fall to see any significant drought relief.
Unfortunately, we'll probably have to wait until mid-May
to know for certain where our summer is headed.
That concludes our report.
Until next time, I hope you all stay healthy and safe.
(upbeat music)