Texas has received rain, but drought is still an issue as 35 percent of the state is still in extreme or exceptional drought status, reports Drovers CattleNetwork.
“By 2060, Texas will be short 8.3 million acre feet of water if current water plan goals are not met,” said Carlos Rubinstein, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board.
Rubinstein said “there’s no magic bullet” to solving Texas’ future water needs, but the agency does have dedicated financing to fund local water projects, something that wasn’t available in the past. The funding is a result of Texas voters passing an amendment last year authorizing $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to create the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT).
“Economic losses have been staggering to Texas agriculture,” said Dr. Travis Miller, interim director for state operations for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The 2011 drought led to $7.6 billion in agricultural losses, which were on top of $3.6 billion in losses in 2009 and $4.1 billion in 2006. In 1998, drought losses were estimated at $2.4 billion.
Hardest hit has been Texas’ beef cattle industry, Miller said. Texas beef cow numbers were 5.35 million head in 2005. In 2014, that number was cut to 3.91 million head.