The Drought: One More Thing to Worry About

-TIME image

If you have any doubt that droughts are a big deal, just take a look at what’s happening in Kenya right now. Hundreds of thousands of people have had to leave their homelands as ‘drought refugees’. The number of people suffering in these lands is so high that my mind literally can’t fully comprehend it.

A lot of other factors come into play, of course. These are third-world countries that lack infrastructure such as irrigation systems, or even just essential things like a stable government that can attempt to organize to come to solutions, but in spite of that, the horrible drought conditions are still dominantly to blame for what’s going on there. What about the drought conditions here in South Texas?

US Drought Monitor

Is the same thing going to happen here in Rio Grande Valley? Not really, but we’re not in great shape either. As can be seen from the image of the US Drought Monitor Map, drought conditions in our area, and pretty much the whole state, are substantial.  We’ve been following several stories from local media on just how the drought has already had some significant effects locally, such as a report from Starr County about how local farmers have been forced to sell their cattle into beef production earlier than usual because drought conditions are just making it too tough to keep cattle alive.

The scariest thing about droughts is that ultimately, there is nothing that can be done about them. They are, in the end, forces of nature we can not control. But there is a lot we can do when it comes to water conservation. Being aware that droughts are something to worry about, taking steps to help save a little water where possible just makes sense. A quick Google search of “water saving tips” will yield a lot of helpful suggestions, a lot of which we could very easily and effortlessly apply in out daily lives.