Texas Panhandle drought worsens as East Texas flooding continues

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – The Texas Water Development Board on Monday reported that the overall area of the state impacted by drought conditions decreased for the first time in 11 weeks. However, that overall decrease was due to recent rains mostly falling in areas that have already recovered from drought, and even contributed to flooding in parts of the state.

In the most recent “Water Weekly” report from the TWDB, overall drought conditions across Texas stood at 27% compared to 28% the week before, 23% three months ago and 54% one year ago.

Despite recent rainfall decreasing the total area of the state impacted by drought conditions, the Texas Panhandle area saw a slight worsening of its drought impact.

Drought conditions remained mostly stagnant in “abnormally dry” to “moderate” intensity in both the far northeastern and far southwestern counties of the area, but Lipscomb County saw the appearance of “severe” drought intensity in its northeasternmost corner.

While parts of the Lone Star State continued to contend with drought conditions and other communities struggled with heavy storms and flooding, the TWDB noted that some water supply reservoirs have benefitted from recent rains, including in the Brazos River Basin.

In particular, the TWDB reported that Lake Belton in Bell County, which supplies water to the Temple and Killeen areas, recently saw the lake fill for the first time since August 2021. In contrast, the lake volumes were recorded at 30-year lows for all of 2023, before the rainfall caused a massive recovery spike.

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