With Severe Drought Hitting Tarrant County, Agencies Say Fort Worth's Water Supply Is Holding Steady – For Now

Arlington TX

12 April, 2022

8:19 PM

Description

By Haley Samsel, Fort Worth Report April 12, 2022 With headlines dominated by the impact of extreme winter weather, Texans could be forgiven for overlooking another climate event: a historic lack of precipitation over the past several months that has left 85% of the state, including Tarrant County, experiencing drought conditions. The seven-month period between September 2021 and March 2022 was the driest September-March period in Texas since 1967 and the eighth driest measured in 127 years, according to the Texas Water Development Board's April 11 "Water Weekly" report. That reality has left nearly 18 million Texans affected by the drought as of April 7, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Ninety-five percent of the state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, or the precursor to drought – a sharp increase from the drought of 2020, when 58% of the state was abnormally dry. Drought conditions are most severe in south and west Texas, as well as parts of the Panhandle. But North Texas has not been spared from the most recent dry spell, with rainfall falling below average in the first three months of 2022. Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist for the water development board, said Tarrant County had a "terrible January," with only one inch of rain across the county. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.