The Brazos River Authority has announced that a Stage 1 – Drought Watch has been implemented for nine of the 11 reservoirs within the BRA water supply system. Reservoirs affected by the Stage 1 Drought Watch are Lakes Possum Kingdom, Whitney, Aquilla, Proctor, Belton, Limestone, Somerville, Stillhouse Hollow, and Georgetown.
The current Stage 1 – Drought Watch declaration was issued when areas near these reservoirs recently reached a trigger level associated with the Palmer Hydrologic Drought Index (PHDI). The PHDI, a product of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is an indicator of the level of wet or dry conditions within a particular area and is included as a drought trigger in the Brazos River Authority’s Drought Contingency Plan.
Due to the drier-thannormal conditions, the monthly PHDI has dropped below -2.4, triggering the condition for the affected reservoirs. In addition to this trigger, Lake Somerville has dropped below its Stage 1 – Drought Watch trigger elevation of 234.9 feet above mean sea level.
The goals of Stage 1 – Drought Watch are: ■ to raise awareness of the developing drought situation and
■ to achieve a voluntary 5% reduction of the water use that would have occurred in the absence of any drought contingency measures.
Contract holders that obtain water supply from any of the affected reservoirs are asked to: 1. Activate their individual Drought Contingency Plan.
2. Increasepublic education efforts on ways to reduce water use, 3. Notifytheircustomers of actions being taken, and 4. Any other actions they deem appropriate for their situation.
Additional information on Stage 1 – Drought Watch implementation can be found on page 5 of the BRA Drought Contingency Plan on the BRA website. Current drought information is also available in the same section of the website.
—submitted