We've been dealing with drought or near-drought conditions in Central Texas for a number of years. No more: we've had ten inches above the average yearly precipitation to date, and now we've been dealing with some severe flooding. Insert your own "when it rains it pours" joke here.
Global warming concerns aside, this kind of fluctuation has been par for the course in this part of the world - we're basically a semi-arid region that goes through long dry spells punctuated by deluges. This is one of the reasons why the Hill Country has the kind of vegetation it has, and why planting all those water-sucking plants from the Eastern coastal regions is such a bad idea here.
It's also the reason why we have six of the most beautiful lakes I've seen anywhere on Earth - because we created them for flood control! Lakes Buchanan, Inks, LBJ, Travis, Austin, and Marble Falls were all created after the Lower Colorado River Authority was created in 1934 to help control flooding and to provide drinking water in between. It also had the side effect of immeasurably enriching the local area's ecology, and creating a very lively recreational sports and tourism industry. Check it out here.
Unfortunately, even the most aggressive flood control measures fail. The lakes are up to beyond full, and the literal floodgates are open. There have been a number of people in Marble Falls, a wonderful little town just outside of Austin, that have been inundated - over nineteen inches of rain have fallen in the area, with more expected tonight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment