Water Woes!
The Edwards Aquifer supplies San Antonio and the surrounding area with our drinking water. Keeping the clean and vibrant is essential to the health of the area. Keeping it at a comfortable level is part our job and part Mother Nature’s. For the past six months or so Mother Nature has dealt us a bad hand. The citizens of the area will have to step up to the plate and begin to make things happen if we don’t get rain soon.
Last year we had record rains early in the year. The aquifer rose to 700′ and almost made record levels. Since last September we have had about 6″ of rain. We are in a pretty big drought.
On May 18th the aquifer level was 674.6. This morning it was 659.9. That’s a drop of almost 15 feet in a about a month. In that time we have had 0.06″ of rain. That fell on May 21, almost a month ago. As you can see the level of the aquifer is falling fast. In that period there has been about 8 billion gallons of water pumped from the ground.
Mandatory conservation measures kick in at 650.0′. Stricter levels kick in at 640.0′. So we are heading for some rough times with our water if we don’t get rain soon. And there is really none in sight. We have not had a chance for afternoon and evening thunderstorms for a while.
So we are in a bit of spot here in south central Texas. We need rain in the worst way. We need it for lawns and gardens, but it’s really need to replenish the Edwards Aquifer. The area will have to conserve as much as possible until we can get some rain. Does anyone know how to do a rain dance?
