Skip to main content

Drought

Two days into Stage One water restrictions, and I looked out of the window to see the guy over the road washing his car.

Admittedly, the restrictions don't actually forbid you to wash your car.  They limit you to using a hand-held bucket (does it count if you put it down on the driveway?) or hand-held hose "for quick rinses".  But they are pretty much "if you don't mind" rules at this stage anyway, with holes large enough to lose whole buckets of water through (hand-held or otherwise).  For example, we are now limited to watering our lawn twice a week, but this only applies to sprinkler systems.  You can still use a hose as much as you like, presumably on the assumption that you will get bored of standing there holding it very quickly.  And besides, everything you read about good watering technique says it's better to water thoroughly just once a week.  Our garden would think Christmas had come early if it got watered every three days!

So hopefully these regulations will make a few people think, anyway.  Goodness knows it's needed.  According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than three quarters of Texas is suffering from "exceptional" drought - the most severe stage.

Temperatures have been consistently above normal, while rainfall has been pretty much non-existent.  Recently we have had a few scattered showers, which is meteorologist code for "rain everywhere except here".

Data from Office of Texas State Climatologist. We are in DFW, just right of top centre.

Scary figures.  This year is officially the second worst drought that Texas has experienced.  The first was in 1950-1957, when there were significantly fewer people living in the state - 7.7 million in 1950 compared to 25 million in 2010 (source).  Fort Worth in particular is one of the fastest-growing cities in the USA right now, adding over 200,000 residents between 2000 and 2010 (of which we were three, of course!)  That's 200,000 more people taking showers, washing clothes, cooking and drinking.  And where is the water coming from?

Right now, nowhere very much.  A recent news article lists Fort Worth as one of the top 10 cities likely to be suffering water shortages in the near future.  The water district has gone so far as to sue Oklahoma to try and force it to sell Texas some water - a lawsuit that has so far been denied.  Even if it wins, it is still not clear that that would solve Fort Worth's water problems for very long - not if people continue to pour into the city.

So here's to yellow lawns and dirty cars.  Before too long, we may all have to drink to that.

Comments

Amie said…
I'm here to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. You have a sharp, witty and consumable form of observation that is made even more delectable because it features my home state. Viva Martha's Marvellous Munchies! Amie
PS Really hoping Texas gets the rain it so desperately needs.
Martha said…
Thanks Amie! Hope you and your family are all well.

Popular posts from this blog

One hundred churches

About the middle of January, I was walking to school one afternoon when it occurred to me that I must have visited quite a few churches on my explorations. I started counting them. But I quickly ran out of fingers, so when I got home I plotted them on Google Maps. Not only was the number much higher than I was expecting, it was also tantalisingly close to one hundred. Only a few dozen to go. So of course, every walk since then has had to include at least one church! Last Monday I visited my hundredth church: St John the Baptist, Dethick. It was a beautiful little 13-century building with an unusual tower - I was glad it had claimed the 100 spot. I haven't been inside every church. Sometimes they were locked; sometimes I was in a hurry and didn't try the door. St Leonard's Church in Alton had bellringers practicing, and I almost interrupted a funeral when I stuck my head through the door of St Mary's, Marston-on-Dove. A few, such as St Oswald's, Ashbourne, and St Wys...

Derwent Valley Heritage Way: Steep drops ahead

It's been a long time since I fitted that much up and down into an eight-mile walk! 740m of steep climbs and steps. My legs were not very happy with me the next day. Between Matlock and Cromford, the Derwent River runs through a deep valley, with Matlock Bath - a landlocked town which pretends to be a seaside resort - down at the bottom. The ridge of high ground used to run all the way round to Scarthin Rock, cutting off Cromford from the rest of the valley, until somebody blasted a hole through it to build the A6. Matlock Bath: pavilion and amusement park I started in Cromford and climbed over the ridge at Harp Edge, then followed a path along through the woods, with the ground dropping sharply away to my right. There were a few small caves among the trees. At Upperwood someone had thoughtfully provided a bench. I wasn't in need of a rest just yet, though. In fact, I was feeling so bouncy that I went down an entirely unnecessary flight of steps, instead of staying on the reaso...

Limestone Way - the end! (for now...)

Bonsall is a pretty little village just up the road from Cromford. It was the centre point for my final Limestone Way walk. First I walked one way, back towards Ible, then I walked the other way to Matlock. I started at the fountain and climbed up to a tree in which a mistle thrush was singing loudly (helpfully identified by the Merlin app). A few fields took me across to the hamlet of Slaley. Then there was a pleasant walk through the woods, which dropped steeply to my left down to the Via Gellia. At Dunsley Springs the stream went right over the edge.  I made my way down more gradually, and then was faced with the long climb up again to the point near Leys Farm where I was rejoining the Limestone Way. Tree down! Rejoining the Limestone Way Once I'd reached the top, it was a very pleasant walk across dry grassy fields. There were signs of old mining activity, which suddenly made the ground feel less solid under my feet - how many holes were hiding under the turf? Back at Bonsall, ...