Drought sparks water war in Texas
(CBS News) DALLAS - The amount of the continental U.S. in drought has fallen slightly over the past week, but the record dry conditions are still intense in the heartland. And in Texas, two-thirds of the state is in drought. It's meant tough choices when water is scarce.
"We've just basically got a barren wasteland here because we didn't have water," said Ron Gertsen, whose family has been growing rice on their Texas land since 1910. But this is their worst year ever.
"So you can drive out across this prairie here and see nothing green for miles in some cases," he said. "It's never, ever been that way."
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Drought maintains grip on lower 48 states
Video: Drought causing problems for homeowners
Drought maintains grip on lower 48 states
Gertsen and other central Gulf Coast rice farmers get much of their water supply from Lake Travis, a reservoir managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Last year, the drought caused lake levels to drop by more than half. So this year, for the first time, state officials cut off most farmers' water supply. Just five percent of the area's normal rice crop will be harvested this year.
"The drought just highlighted a condition that was already coming to be," he said, and then added, "not enough water to go around for everybody to continue doing things in the way that they're used to."
That's because Lake Travis also supplies drinking water for cities including Austin, and supports recreation around the lake, like Janet Caylor's marina. She points out last year, in the middle of the severe drought, nearly 60 percent of the water drained from the lake system went to the farmers.
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