Prospects for drier-than-normal conditions for both March 2012 and March-May 2012 are elevated over the Southwest, the southern and central High Plains, the immediate Gulf Coast, and Florida, according to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center.

Texas Water Conservation Association 68th Annual Convention

March 7-9
Sheraton Dallas Hotel
Dallas, TX

Hearing on Appeal of Groundwater Management Area 12 Desired Future Conditions
March 7, 10:00 a.m.
Milano Civic Center
Milano, TX

Texas Rural Water Association Annual Convention

March 14-16
Fort Worth Omni Hotel
Fort Worth, TX

Texas Water Law Conference

March 22-23
Westin La Cantera
San Antonio, TX

Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Quarterly Meeting

March 27-28
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Austin, TX

Central Texas Water Conservation Symposium – Drop by Dropless: Managing Your Resources Through a Drought

March 30, 2012
LCRA Dalchau Service Center
Austin, TX

This press release from TSCRA says it all:

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) today [Feb 24] applauded the opinion of the Texas Supreme Court in the Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Burrell Day and Joel McDaniel case regarding whether or not landowners own the groundwater below their land.

“The Texas Supreme Court has affirmed that landowners own the groundwater in place below their land and that it is subject to constitutional protection as a property right,” said Joe Parker Jr, rancher and president of TSCRA.

“This opinion is a victory for Texas landowners and will be important for generations to come.  It also recognizes the important legislation, S.B. 332, that was passed by the Legislature in 2011” Parker said.

“TSCRA would like to thank the Texas Supreme Court for their diligent efforts in writing this opinion,” Parker continued.

In the opinion, the Texas Supreme Court states:

“…we held long ago that oil and gas are owned in place, and we find no reason to treat groundwater differently.”

“…last year, the Legislature amended section 36.002 [S.B. 332], to set out its fuller understanding of the matter…By ownership of groundwater as real property, the Legislature appears to mean ownership in place.”

“Groundwater rights are property rights subject to constitutional protection, whatever difficulties may lie in determining adequate compensation for a taking.”

“Today we have decided that landowners do have a constitutionally compensable interest in groundwater…”

TSCRA is a 135 year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has over 15,000 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.

Farmers are watching the skies closely in preparation for the upcoming planting season. Ranchers are thankful to have any moisture at all across grazing lands in Texas, even though much of the livestock inhabiting those pastures has been sold off.

Winter weeds are emerging and providing feed for goats and sheep still left out there. Winter wheat pastures are surviving now that  the rain has come. This year is already an improvement over the tinder dry conditions of 2011 when spring winds whipped up a record number of wildfires across Texas.

With the prognostication that La Nina will continue to influence the weather of the Southwestern U.S. in the dry direction, ag producers are crossing their fingers that those predictions are wrong and that the occasional rains will continue.

Here’s the Texas AgriLife Crop and Weather report for Feb. 14, before the most recent soaking rains swept West and Central Texas:

COLLEGE STATION – Mother Nature sent many Texas farmers an early Valentine’s Day card in the form of rain the last week.

According to reports from Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel, there were notable exceptions, but many parts of the state received moisture, further improving pastures and rangeland, and raising soil moisture levels for spring planting.

Two-minute MP3 audio Texas crop, weather report for Feb. 14, 2012

According to AgriLife Extension county agents, the exceptions were western counties of the Rolling Plains district and large parts of the Panhandle, where soil moisture levels remained mostly short to very short. Far West Texas received some rain, but not nearly enough to improve drought- and fire-damaged pastures. Most areas were still providing supplemental feed to livestock.

The question is, should producers, particularly livestock producers, be optimistic?

“I think they have reason to be optimistic, but it’s dangerous to be overly optimistic,” said Ron Gill, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, College Station. “Yes, we have improvement in soil moisture, but the problem we haven’t gotten over is the deterioration in pasture and range conditions we experienced last summer and fall.”

Even with a wet spring, it’s likely to be a long time before pastures and rangeland show full recovery, Gill said. Recovery of introduced warm-season pastures will depend upon many things beside just rainfall. The extent of the drought or wildfire damage, the cost of fertilizer and stocking rates, both past and present, are all factors, according to Gill.

Another factor has to do with how the pastures and rangeland were managed. Many pastures were stocked to capacity, and producers had to cut back on fertilizer use prior to the drought because of cost. Because prices for cattle were so high, many people tried to not downsize their herds, which led to further deterioration of forage conditions, he said.

“If people can afford to apply adequate fertilizer, the pastures will recover fairly early this spring,” Gill said. “If we continue to get rain, and they don’t fertilize, and are still overstocked, then they’ll continue to deteriorate forage conditions.”

Gill said there’s been a lot of conjecture about what the proper land-management strategy is at this time, but most producers are being cautious, knowing that their pastures are knocked back and worried about the cost of replacements.

“I haven’t seen many people jumping out there and trying to restock yet,” he said. “Unless they de-stocked early in the process and conserved some forage, and managed their pastures right — then they may have the ability to start adding cattle back pretty quickly.”

Even then, if they jump back into production, and the rainfall patterns don’t hold,
they could find themselves stuck with some high-priced replacement cattle needing costly hay.

“The situation warrants being careful at this time,” he said.

More information on the current Texas drought and wildfire alerts can be found on the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at http://agrilife.tamu.edu/drought/ .

AgriLife Extension district reporters compiled the following summaries for Feb. 6-14.

The 12 Texas AgriLife Extension Service districts.

Central:Soil-moisture levels remained good. Most stock tanks and lakes were full from recent rains. Winter wheat and grasses were providing good grazing. Small grains looked good. Oats were beginning to joint in some fields. Cattle looked great as the winter weather promoted excellent growth of rangeland cool-season annual grasses and forbs. Producers were preparing to plant sunflowers as early as next week if fields dry out.

Coastal Bend: Most areas received from 1 inch to 6 inches of rain. The runoff filled many livestock tanks and continued to improve rangeland and pasture conditions. However, it was noted that a great deal more moisture would be needed to recover from the drought. Livestock producers were still supplementing cattle with hay and protein. Farmers were preparing equipment for spring planting.

East: Most of the region received scattered showers. With recent rains, ponds and other bodies of water were filling up. Winter pastures looked good and were growing well. However, producers continued to buy out-of-state hay. The calving season was ongoing. Farmers increased field preparations. Feral hog damage reports continued to come in.

Far West: Only trace amounts of moisture were reported except in Val Verde County, which reported very cold weather with mixed snow, sleet and 0.5 to 0.7 inch of rain on Feb. 12. Daytime highs ranged from the mid 30s to low 70s, with lows in the 20s. Winter forbs greened up, but the growth was not nearly enough to provide grazing for livestock. There were some dry winter grasses in some areas, but most pastures remained dormant. Producers were preparing fields for cotton planting, doing pre-watering and laying out rows. Reports leveled off of cattle being affected by over-consumption of mesquite beans. Supplemental feeding of livestock continued. The calving season began. Presidio County reported hay supplies to be critical. Lambing and kidding season began.

North: Mild weather following recent rains improved small grains and winter annual pastures. Many farmers and ranchers were debating whether to apply fertilizer. Topsoil moisture was good. Corn producers were readying to prepare fields for planting later this month and into March. Most stock tanks were recharged to good levels by the recent rains. Producers were optimistic about the chances of more rain. Some producers who had moved cattle to out-of-state grazing, brought them home this week. Livestock were in fair to good condition. Hogs continued to be a problem.

Panhandle: Temperatures were near to slightly above normal for most of the week, then dropped to below normal by week’s end. A few areas reported receiving some moisture late in the week. Soil-moisture levels varied from adequate to very short, with most reporting short to very short. Winter wheat was in good to very poor condition, with most reporting poor condition. Rangeland and pastures were in mostly poor to very poor condition. Livestock producers were still providing supplemental feed to cattle.

Rolling Plains: The western part of the region remained dry after several missed chances of rain. Winter wheat needed some measurable precipitation as it was due to come out dormancy this month. Without rain, there will be reduced grain yields and grazing potential. Pastures and rangeland were in poor condition with very little grazing left. Producers worried that 2012 might be a repeat of the 2011 drought. Fortunately, eastern counties reported that recent rains left rangeland and pasture in good condition. Wheat continued to make good progress. Stock water tanks were full.

South: Conditions in northern counties improved somewhat. Winter weeds grew as the result of scattered showers last week, which supplied some livestock grazing. In Atascosa and La Salle counties soil moisture was adequate, but remained short in the rest of the region. A substantial rain was still needed to fill livestock tanks. Supplemental feed for cattle was still greatly needed as many ranchers’ hay stocks were short, and prices continued to rise. In Atascosa County, corn producers were preparing land for planting. Potatoes emerged in the Frio County area. There were no field activities reported in the eastern part of the region. In Zavala County, dryland wheat and oats were mostly in good to fair condition, the cooler weather was favorable to spinach and onions, and cabbage harvesting was very active, and corn and sorghum producers were preparing for planting. Although field activity was minimal in that area, producers took advantage of the moisture in some areas to apply fertilizer. In Hidalgo and Starr counties, citrus, sugarcane and vegetable harvesting was put on hold by light rains. Willacy County reported a delay on the planting of sorghum in that area also due to rain.

South Plains: Most counties received a little moisture, either as rain or snow or both. Southern counties received rain last week and most counties received a rain/snow mix on Feb. 12. However, topsoil remained very dry and much more moisture is needed to make an impact. Pasture and rangeland were in fair to poor condition. Winter wheat was still suffering from drought. The recent rain and snow was expected to help producers begin field preparations for the spring.

Southeast: Daytime highs were in the 60s; nighttime lows in the upper 30s to low 40s. Many counties reported rain, from 1 inch to 2 inches in some cases. Winter annuals in pastures showed good growth with warm temperatures, though winter weeds were a big problem. Ponds and stock tank water levels improved. Armyworms were reported in oat and ryegrass pastures. Livestock producers continued supplemental feeding of cattle. Field preparations for spring planting were delayed due to the rain.

Southwest: Continued mild temperatures and showers raised soil-moisture levels. The body condition of many cattle improved as result of a flush of winter grasses. Farmers continued planting corn and grain sorghum.

West Central: Days were warm and nights cool. Some areas reported light showers, which continue to improve wheat, barley and oats. Cotton producers began spraying for winter weeds and applying some pre-emergent herbicides. There was also an increase in plowing and other preparations for spring planting. Rangeland and pasture conditions also continued to improve, with winter weeds and grasses showing green-up after recent rains and warm days. There was heavy grazing pressure on wheat and oat fields. Livestock producers were still providing supplemental feed to cattle, but most were going through the winter with smaller herds due to the drought and the high cost of hay.

Pressure departures: El Nino vs. La Nina.

End-of-2011 predictions called for the La Niña Pacific Ocean phenomenon to prolong extreme drought conditions in areas of North America through 2012.

But now, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting a transition to “ENSO-neutral conditions during March-May 2012.”

ENSO stands for El Niño/Southern Oscillation

From the NWS CPC FAQs Page:

ENSO-neutral refers to those periods when neither El Niño nor La Niña is present. These periods often coincide with the transition between El Niño and La Niña events. During ENSO-neutral periods the ocean temperatures, tropical rainfall patterns, and atmospheric winds over the equatorial Pacific Ocean are near the long-term average.

Of course, the prediction is based on computer models, which can be inaccurate. Does a weakening La Nina mean more rain for the Southwestern U.S? Not necessarily.  From the report:

A majority of models predict La Niña to weaken through the rest of the Northern Hemisphere winter 2011-12, and then to dissipate during the spring 2012.

. . . Over the U.S. during February – April 2012, there is an increased chance of above-average temperatures across the south-central and southeastern U.S., and below-average temperatures in the northwestern U.S.  Also, above-average precipitation is favored across most of the northern tier of states (except the north-central U.S.) and in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and drier-than-average conditions are more likely across the southern tier of the U.S. (see 3-month seasonal outlook released on 19 January 2012).

El Nino / La Nina Influences on pressure differentials.

The fluctuations in ocean temperatures during El Niño and La Niña are accompanied by even larger-scale fluctuations in air pressure known as the Southern Oscillation. The negative phase of the Southern Oscillation occurs during El Niño episodes, and refers to the situation when abnormally high air pressure covers Indonesia and the western tropical Pacific and abnormally low air pressure covers the eastern tropical Pacific. In contrast, the positive phase of the Southern Oscillation occurs during La Niña episodes, and refers to the situation when abnormally low air pressure covers Indonesia and the western tropical Pacific and abnormally high air pressure covers the eastern tropical Pacific. These opposite phases of the Southern Oscillation are shown above.

By Kevin Welch    Amarillo Globe-News    Dec. 29, 2011

The largest water transaction in Texas Panhandle history became final Thursday. The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority paid wealthy oil and gas man T. Boone Pickens’ Mesa Water $103 million for about 211,000 acres of water rights. The deal covers about 4 trillion gallons of water.

Amarillo is one of 11 cities that make up the authority. It uses about 40 percent of the water produced by the group and will repay that much of the bonds used to finance the deal. Lubbock is the other large member of the group that started out using water from Lake Meredith in 1965 to supplement the cities’ own supplies.

The EPA Has a Duty to Protect Aquifers

By Adam Friedman and Jim Blackburn    Houston Chronicle    Dec. 28, 2011

In a recent op-ed, the executive director of the Texas Mining and Reclamation Association argued that “inconsistencies in Environmental Protection Agency regulations are hampering our ability to access Texas’ uranium reserves and are making it nearly impossible for companies to operate.”

We represent Goliad County in a dispute over uranium mining and groundwater contamination, and we challenge the accuracy of that piece. In Goliad County, where one proposed uranium mining operation is seeking EPA approval, groundwater is the sole source for water supply. If the drinking water were to be contaminated by uranium mining, there would be no surface water alternative. There are about 5,000 water wells used for residential, domestic and livestock purposes in Goliad County. There are approximately 50 wells within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of the proposed mining boundary, with many more within two miles.

2011 Was Driest Year on Record for Texas

By Eric Berger    San Antonio Express-News    Jan. 7, 2012

The National Weather Service says 2011 was Texas’ driest year on record as well as its second hottest. The agency said Friday the average rainfall for the drought-stricken state last year was 14.88 inches. The previous driest average total was in 1917 with 14.99 inches.

The weather service says 2011’s average temperature was 67.2 degrees. Texas’ warmest year on record was in 1921 with an average temperature of 67.5 degrees.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/2011-was-driest-year-on-record-for-Texas-2447306.php

Eddie Baggs: Nature’s Water Filter—Land—Is Disappearing

By Eddie Baggs   Denton Record-Chronicle   Jan. 7, 2012

As the population increases so does the demand for water. Our reliance on water for agriculture and household use has been very prevalent during the severe drought across the state this year.

Texas has more than 191,000 miles of rivers and almost 2 million acres of lakes. The state’s rangelands play an important role in the quality of the water we depend on. Rangelands, grasslands, shrub lands, marshes, deserts and woodlands account for about 60 percent of Texas’ land. These rangelands support livestock production as well as habitat for native wildlife, but most importantly they serve as the state’s watershed . . .

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/business/stories/DRC_Biz_Baggs_0108.3b67610ea.html

Is De-Sal the Answer?

By Amy Hardberger    Texas Water Solutions      Jan. 6, 2012

As concerns about water supply continue, more and more stories seem to point to desalination as the answer. Until now, most Texas desal plants are small and regionally located, but a seawater desalination plant will open on South Padre Island in 2014 again opening conversations about importing water from the coast to Central Texas. El Paso is the largest municipal user of desal technology in Texas. The plant on Fort Bliss is capable of treating 27.5 million gallons of water a day for regional users. Like other technologies, desalination can be a useful tool for water resources, but there are other important considerations to be made before it is hailed as the final solution.

Price

To date, one of the stopping points for using desal as a water supply alternative is it’s price. Treatment of brackish groundwater can be 4 times as expensive as freshwater supply and the price increases considerably for salt water. Of course price is also contingent on location. Brackish groundwater often has the advantage of being local without additional pipeline costs, whereas some discussed projects such as hauling treated Gulf water instate would have exponential costs added for pipeline construction and transport. Property owners along the way might also wonder where that pipeline is going to be located and through what legal means will it be placed there . . .

Because of the pricing and energy drawbacks of desalination, other supply options such as water efficiency programs should be fully implemented before additional treatment plants are built . . .

http://blogs.edf.org/texaswatersolutions/2012/01/06/is-desal-the-answer/

Posted: December 29, 2011

By Kevin Welch amarillo.com

There was talk of a “momentous occasion” and many thanks for making the largest water transaction in Texas Panhandle history final Thursday.

“I don’t think you owe me any thanks,” said wealthy oil and gas man T. Boone Pickens. “You paid for the water.”

The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority paid Pickens’ Mesa Water $103 million for about 211,000 acres of water rights, mostly in Roberts County in the northeast panhandle. The deal covers about 4 trillion gallons of water…………………………………………………………….

The water authority and Pickens have talked about water sales since about 1996, but the deterioration of Lake Meredith’s performance got everyone’s attention. Reaching a deal took nine months of serious negotiations after a phone call from Amarillo City Commissioner Jim Simms.

“He called and said ‘Lake Meredith’s drying up,’” Pickens said. “I got to feeling guilty. I didn’t want my family to say, ‘That’s one of the Pickenses that sold the water to Dallas.’”

http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2011-12-29/authority-seals-water-deal-pickens#.TwNnIVZmkrp

Bill Dawson

October 23, 2011

A drought for the centuries: It hasn’t been this dry in Texas since 1789

 There was only one other year in almost five centuries when Texas’ summer drought was as severe as it was in 2011, federal climate experts have concluded.

Instrumental weather records used to measure drought severity don’t go back much before the 20th century. (In Texas, they date to 1895.)

To establish a longer-range record, scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have analyzed tree-ring data and calculated how drought conditions dating back hundreds of years (to 1550 in Texas) ranked on the standard Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI).

Positive numbers on the PDSI represent wet conditions and negative numbers indicate dry conditions. The more severe a drought is, the lower its PDSI number.

Texas’ average PDSI this past summer (June through August) was -5.37 – the lowest, indicating the most severe drought conditions, since the start of the instrumental record in 1895.

And according to the federal government’s National Climatic Data Center, there was apparently only one other year during the last 461 years when Texas had a drought so severe.

Going back to 1550, the tree-ring reconstructions reveal that only in 1789 was Texas’ PDSI number so low, the center reported recently. (For our readers who don’t readily recall key historical dates, 1789 was the year when George Washington was inaugurated as the United States’ first president and also when the French Revolution started.) Here’s part of the National Climatic Data Center’s report:

The tree-ring record can put the droughts of the last century across Texas, including 2011, into a much longer perspective. The frequency of severe one-year statewide droughts appears not to have significantly changed between the “paleo” period (1550-1894) and the instrumental period (after 1895). Both the instrumental and reconstructed PDSI records indicate that “severe” or “extreme” statewide summer drought (PDSI below -3) occurred in about 1 in 15 years. “Extreme” statewide summer droughts (PDSI below -4) such as 2011 and 1956 are seen in about 1 in 40 years in both the instrumental and reconstructed records.

So how does the 2011 summer PDSI (-5.37) compare to the worst one-year paleo-droughts? We first need to consider that the tree rings are imperfect recorders of past drought, and so the reconstructed values have confidence intervals (or “error bands”) associated with them. When this error band is taken into account, there is only one value in the paleo record, 1789 (-5.14), that can be said to be equivalent to the 2011 observed value. Thus, 2011 appears to be unusual even in the context of the multi-century tree-ring record.

The current drought in Texas has been unprecedented relative to the century-long observed record in a number of ways: the record-low precipitation, the extreme summer heat, and the enormous wildfires. The tree-ring record of PDSI confirms that, in a much longer context, the 2010-2011 Texas drought is an extraordinary event.

And it appears no relief is in sight, the federal Climate Prediction Center said last week in its Winter Outlook for December through February:

With La Niña in place Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and parts of surrounding states are unlikely to get enough rain to alleviate the ongoing drought. Texas, the epicenter of the drought, experienced its driest 12-month period on record from October 2010 through September 2011.

– Bill Dawson

Image credit: © pixonaut, iStockphoto.com

http://www.texasclimatenews.org:80/wp/?p=3355

TEXAS CLIMATE NEWS

November 3, 2011 | A magazine about climate & sustainability

October 23, 2011

(These are some ideas I have proposed in our Stakeholder Committee’s report writing – they will be developed, or dropped or whatever over the next six months.  Every major river basin in Texas is going through this process, so get involved locally.  Anyone have any good ideas or changes?  Please post them if so……. thanks, Mike

DRAFT              STRATEGY  PROPOSALS                  DRAFT

                    GUADALUPE RIVER BASIN & BAYS

                         STAKEHOLDERS COMMITTEE

                                            AUG. 2011

OVERVIEW 

As the population of the basin continues to grow, it becomes even more important that ALL people – from headwaters to estuary – become as conservative of their water as possible.  Climate Change, it seems, as evidenced by more frequent, serious droughts and intense heat waves is more rapidly forcing these changes upon our basin and state.

 Every gallon or acre foot that is conserved is one less that will be needed from the rivers in the basin, or from the aquifers and springs which feed them.  Texans are just scratching the surface of maximum water conservation – we have long prided upon our being conservative people – now we must prove it again in how we manage our most precious natural resource.   Agua es Vida!

 Fortunately, we have numerous options or strategies available in order to improve our basin’s catchment, its rivers and the ways we affect these resources.   

  Such as:

 CONSERVATION – both agricultural, rural and urban dwellers.

 RAINWATER HARVESTING – on homes, public buildings and businesses.  Additionally, applications on streets, parking areas and farm and ranch lands can catch and hold rain and stormwater for recharge, human use and agricultural benefits.

 RIPARIAN ZONE & WETLAND RESTORATION AND STEWARDSHIP – Proper stewardship of riparian zones on the basin’s creeks and rivers can build up the in-bank water holding capacities which serve to maintain base flows during dry periods and provide a healthy riparian habitat for both aquatic species and other wildlife.  Floods are reduced and water quality improved as well as other benefits.

 Restored and healthy wetlands on the rivers or on the Gulf provide not only the cleansing actions desirable for inflows and a very productive wildlife habitat, but also protection for inland communities from hurricanes.

 DESAL of SEA WATER or BRACKISH GROUNDWATER

WATERSHED or “CATCHMENT” STEWARDSHIP  - It is a proven fact among hydrologists, rangeland specialists and other field water personnel, that a well-managed, healthy watershed not only provides a desirable livestock and wildlife environment, but increases groundwater penetration and recharge, reduces floods and other benefits. 

 On many karst limestone watersheds, as are common across the Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, selective brush management and subsequent improved rangeland management, has proven to sometimes increase ground recharge and springflows.  Normally, ashe juniper (cedar, mountain cedar) has been the target brush species, but in other cases water thirsty mesquite or redberry juniper control has also produced desirable hydrological benefits.  There are numerous cases and studies that have given rise to these efforts from San Angelo south to San Antonio.

 ALTERNATIVE  OPTIONS – Permit buy-outs, dry year irrigation options, WW effluent dedications, riparian well buy-outs, cooperation and coordination with key riparian Groundwater Districts and Headwaters Groundwater Districts to improve and maintain spring flows, etc.