Texas Water Officials Deaf on Climate Change

Texas officials are ignoring a growing water crisis, warns Erin Douglas in the Texas Tribune, writing that state politicians and agency officials fail to take into account the intensifying effects of climate change. “By late October, water storage in Texas reservoirs had fallen to 67% of capacity, down from 80% a year earlier, according to state data,” Douglas writes. 

“Surface water — mainly rivers and reservoirs — accounts for roughly half of Texas’ existing water supply, and is becoming less and less reliable for the state’s fast-growing population as the effects of climate change intensify, experts say.” Yet additional surface water storage is the main tool in Texas’ long-term water plan. “And the Texas Water Development Board, the state agency charged with managing the state’s future water supplies, does not attempt to account for the effects of climate change in its long-term planning,” relying instead solely on data about past droughts.

While state leaders have supported efforts to shore up coastal infrastructure in anticipation of more violent storm surges, “they’ve resisted federal efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change — arguing that such efforts would hurt oil and gas jobs in Texas” and have consistently avoided using the term ‘climate change.’

As Dougles explains, “By 2070, demand for water in Texas is expected to increase 9% to 19.2 million acre-feet during a severe drought, up from 17.7 million acre-feet in 2020.” During the same time, the water supply is expected to drop by 18 percent.

See the source article for profiles of several Texas residents affected by water politics and a history of the fight over a new reservoir in the Rio Grande Valley.