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River flow down by nearly 50 percent
Published February 20, 2009
After the third-driest year on record for Kerr County, the Guadalupe River flow is down nearly 50 percent below normal flow levels.
According to Tara Bushnoe, natural resource coordinator for the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, the current flow is 50 cubic feet per second. The normal flow rate is 93 cubic feet per second.
“Right now the flow is very low,” Bushnoe said. “The river primarily is spring fed and it fully recharged in ’07. When we get into April and May, if we still don’t get any rain, the springs won’t be able to keep up with it.”
According to the U.S. drought monitor, Kerr County is in the highest stage drought conditions possible. Along with affecting our local rivers and streams, the drought is having an even greater affect downstream.
“Canyon Lake is at a historic low,” Bushnoe said.
However, the news isn’t all bad. Currently, Kerrville is only at stage one of its drought management plan.
According to Kerrville Public Works director Charlie Hastings, the reason for this is because “the KPWD has effectively administered, constructed, maintained and operated a nationally recognized conjunctive-use water system, and City Council has successfully implemented an effective water conservation and drought management plan.”
However, residents will be called upon to be even more careful with water usage in the coming months, especially if Kerr County doesn’t see any significant rainfall during the spring.
Another reason Kerrville isn’t in dire straits, yet, is because the drought hasn’t been felt during the summer months when water usage rises significantly as people water their yards and usage rises for a number of other reasons.
According to Diane McMahon, president of the Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District, the agency monitors wells throughout the county, and “the groundwater levels show some fluctuation, but not as serious a drop as you’d expect.”
“If well levels go down and drought persists, people really need to think about (water usage),” McMahon said.
A month-to-month assessment done in January showed increased levels in 18 of 33 wells, decreased levels in 11 of 33 and no change in four wells.
“These numbers tell us people aren’t using as much water this time of year, and it also shows our aquifers are very slow to recharge,” she said.
Since January 2008, the aquifer has seen an eight-foot decline, from 1,608 to 1,600 feet last month.
If it wasn’t for the tremendous amounts of rain the area saw in 2007, which still is helping the aquifer, the situation could be much worse.
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