The DeWitt County Commissioners Court approved implementing an extension of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s almost four-year-old drought disaster proclamation Monday, April 13.
Abbott’s most recent extension came March 18. The proclamation was first issued on July 8, 2022, and has been reissued regularly since then. DeWitt County officials have followed suit.
The March declaration, which covers more than 100 of the state’s 254 counties, authorizes the use of all necessary state resources to manage the disaster, and it allows for the suspension of regulations that might hinder the emergency response with written authorization from the governor’s office.
The most severe drought conditions are in South Texas, the Coastal Bend, West Texas and the Panhandle. Other states nationwide are also experiencing critical droughts.
Scientists attribute the current drought to an exceptionally dry, warm winter and low rainfall. It is part of a multi-year dry spell that began in the early 2020s and has led to record-low reservoir levels and reduced soil moisture in the state, they say.
Corpus Christi is one of the hardest-hit areas in the state with water reservoirs at record- low levels due to the long drought and an ever-growing demand. The city has implemented Stage 3 water restrictions.
Texas is no stranger to droughts, but the worst on record occurred in the 1950s. It lasted almost a decade from 1949 to 1957 and affected 244 of the state’s 254 counties. Massive agricultural losses occurred during that time and forced many farmers off their lands to urban areas.
The year of 2011 during the 2010 to 2014 drought is the driest year on record in Texas.
