Texas’ strategy of planning for a repeat of the 1950s drought is no longer enough. While historic evidence identifies droughts that were longer and more severe than the Drought of Record, contemporary data points to a likely future of increasing drought severity.
History is learned for the betterment of posterity. Despite this, we’re failing to apply key lessons for how we plan and prepare for drought. In 1840, immediately after the storms of revolution swept across Texas, the plague of drought followed in their wake. Between the time of our state’s independence as a republic and the Civil War, a lengthy, withering drought wreaked havoc on the fledgling republic and young state. That drought was just one of several devastating droughts that have impacted our state over the past few centuries.
Read more from Jeremy B. Mazur and Todd H, Votteler with Texas 2036 here.