Drought
Texas is no stranger to drought. This page describes our role in monitoring drought and providing assistance in times of drought as well as providing links to learn more about current conditions in Texas.
Drought FAQ
Weekly Report
TWDB Social
TWDB and Drought
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) serves on the Texas Drought Preparedness Council. The Council is charged with supporting drought management efforts in the state and with conducting drought monitoring, assessment, preparedness, mitigation, and assistance. The Council prepares monthly drought situation reports on the status of drought conditions in the state and delivers these reports to state leadership. The latest monthly report can be viewed at the Council's home page.
In an effort to provide updated drought information the TWDB has been compiling drought index data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Texas A&M University, and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln since August 2009. The TWDB maintains a database for these data in addition to a dataset of reservoir storage and streamflow conditions. This information is provided in a user-friendly application in terms of drought summaries, maps, charts and animations.
TWDB staff also prepare monthly Texas Water Conditions reports. These reports document storage in the state's reservoirs as well as groundwater levels in the state's aquifers. In addition, the TWDB maintains information on reservoir storage for different regions of the state as well as for individual reservoirs (Note that we only have information for those reservoirs with level gages).
The Board is also a cooperator with the U.S. Geological Survey in monitoring real-time stream flows across the state.
The TWDB, in coordination with regional water planning groups across the state, develops a state water plan that plans for a repeat of the drought of record. The latest state water plan and planning efforts are available at Water Resources Planning & Information.
Current Drought Monitoring
- Texas Drought Preparedness Council
- Office of the State Climatologist
- County Burn Bans
- U.S. Drought Monitor
- Palmer Drought Severity Index (weekly)
- National Weather Service
- Streamflow Conditions (U.S. Geological Survey)
- Texas Drought Information - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Drought and Public Water System - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Map of Water Systems under Water Use Restrictions
- TWDB Daily Ground Water Levels
- US Drought Monitor 12 Previous Weekly Drought Condition Maps
- Real-time Reservoir Storage Information
- Statewide Reservoir Storage Curves
- Vegetation Drought Response Index
- Amount of Rainfall Needed to Come Out of Drought
Drought Outlook
- U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook
- Predictions on La Nina (tends to be dry for Texas) and El Nino (tends to be wet for Texas, inhibits hurricanes) cycles:
- Predicting Drought (at National Drought Mitigation Center)
Emergency Water Supply Planning
Accessibility note: The Emergency Water Supply Planning Tool may not be fully accessible for users of certain assistive technologies; however, if you need help please contact the webmaster and we will provide a text-based copy or otherwise make every effort to assist you.
The Bureau of Reclamation provides the information contained in this Tool as a service to the public. We offer a wide range of information, including links to other organizational sites, to meet as many needs as possible. Reclamation makes every effort to provide accurate data according to the resources available to us. However, neither the authors, Reclamation, nor any other party involved in the preparation of the material and data available on or through this tool, represent that the information provided here is in every respect complete and accurate and are not responsible for errors or omissions.
Presentation of information on commercial products does not constitute an endorsement of that product or commercial enterprise.
What You Can Do to Help
- How to Prepare for Droughts
- Earth-Kind® Drought Preparedness
- TWDB-Kids
- TWDB Water IQ Program
- Avoid wasting water at home, in the lawn and garden and on the farm or ranch
For more information about the drought and drought assistance, please contact the TWDB staff.