Water + Weather for July 2023 Posted on August 10, 2023
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Dr. Mark Wentzel – Hydrologist, Texas Water Development Board
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 July 2023, as well as a look back at conditions a year ago.
Let's take a look at some of the big water and weather headlines. July was hotter and drier than normal for most of the state. At the end of July, 49 percent of the state was in drought, up 25 percentage points since the end of June. Statewide, storage in our water supply reservoirs was about 73 percent of capacity, more than 10 percentage points below normal for the time of year. Even so, most parts of the state are better off than at the end of July 2022.
Let's take a closer look at conditions this year compared to last year. This is the drought monitor map for the end of July 2023. On this map, 49 percent of the state is in drought, the tan, orange, and red colors. And another 30 percent of the state, shown in yellow, is approaching drought conditions. Exceptional drought, the most extreme category, covers about 1 percent of the state.
How does that compare to last year? Here's the drought monitor map from the end of July 2022. At that time, 97 percent of the state was in drought. Exceptional drought, the most severe category, covered almost 20 percent of the state. Why were drought conditions in 2022 so much worse than conditions this year? In a nutshell, for most of the state, May through July was drier in 2022 and hotter in 2023. Both temperature and precipitation contribute to drought, but the precipitation pattern in 2022 led to worse drought conditions.
How have our surface water supplies fared compared to last year? Statewide, on average, our surface water supply systems are holding 2.5 percentage points more water this year than last year. But conditions vary considerably across the state. To see some of that variation, on this map we're looking at conditions in 20 individual municipal surface water supply systems. The color of each circle shows the volume of supply as a percentage of capacity at the end of July 2023. The numbers show the change from last year. In Amarillo, El Paso, and Lubbock, reservoirs have more than 15 percentage points of additional water this year compared to last year. On the other extreme, reservoirs for Abilene, Austin, San Angelo, and Temple-Killeen have declined by 10 or more percentage points. Most systems are a bit better off than last year, but systems in Temple, Killeen, and Waco are currently at 30-year lows for this time of year, and systems in Amarillo and Lubbock are at 20-year highs.
What can we expect in August? More heat and, for most of the state, not much rainfall. What should we do about that? Listen to your local water providers, observe outdoor watering restrictions, understand that restrictions can be in place not just because of limited supply, but because of limited capacity to treat water. And wherever you live in this great state, conserve as much water as you can. We'll get through this summer and look forward to cooler and wetter conditions this fall and winter. That concludes our report. Until next time, I hope you all stay healthy and safe.