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Texas Drought Over, But Doesn't End Water Woes

via flickr.com/photos/dionnehartnett/ (CC BY-NC 2.0)

For the first time since 2010, none of Texas is in drought condition.  But that doesn’t mean water worries don’t still plague many parts of the state as KUT's Ben Philpott reports.

The latest drought report from the Texas Water Development Board doesn't signal the end of the state's water woes, but it's still good news. After more than 5 years, spring rains saturated the ground enough to finally end our long drought. Well, I guess I mean our long soil moisture drought.

Robert Mace is with the Texas Water Development Board and will be providing a voice of caution in this story. 

"So we have hydrologic drought," Mace said.

Mace says the ground is doing great. But parts of the state need much more rain to replenish their reservoirs.

"If you look at Lake Abilene, which is believe it or not, it's near Abilene, 3.4 percent full. And that was last full in 2011,” Mace said. “Another example is Lake Meredith with is up north of Amarillo, 15.6 percent full currently."

But he's optimistic those and the rest of the state's reservoirs can recover this winter, when El Nino conditions are expected to bring us more rain. He says that rain should be able to more efficiently run off into our rivers and lakes…because our Texas turf is no longer parched.

Copyright 2015 KUT-FM. To see more, visit http://www.kut.org/

Ben Philpott covers politics and policy for KUT 90.5 FM. He has been covering state politics and dozens of other topics for the station since 2002. He's been recognized for outstanding radio journalism by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated, the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters and twice by the Houston Press Club as Radio Journalist of the Year. Before moving to Texas, he worked in public radio in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Ala., and at several television stations in Alabama and Tennessee. Born in New York City and raised in Chattanooga, Tenn., Philpott graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in broadcast journalism.