LCRA cutting off water to rice farmers

[TexasTowelie]

The Lower Colorado River Authority is cutting off irrigation waters to downstream rice farmers for the second consecutive year.

The LCRA says Saturday a persistent drought that has depleted reservoirs has forced it to again cut off water. The farmers were also cut off last year.

The move is not a surprise because the authority announced in January that barring significant rainfall, the lake levels would be too low to release water to rice farmers in Southeast Texas.

Ronald Gertson is chairman of the Colorado Water Issues Committee, a group that represents rice farmers in the three impacted counties. He says the lack of water will result in a loss of about 55,000 acres of rice.

Texas is one of the largest rice growers in the nation.

Source: http://www.kvue.com/news/LCRA-Cutting-Off-194539961.html

[hobbit709]

1. The stupidity of growing rice in a drought amazes me.

Not that TX is overly blessed with abundant rainfall to start with.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Central Texas coalition urges buyout of rice farmers

Follow-up story from AAS:

A consortium of Central Texas businesses and communities has floated a novel solution to the tug of war over Colorado River water: Pay downriver rice farmers not to farm rice.

Members of the Central Texas Water Coalition are asking the Lower Colorado River Authority to pay rice farmers at least $100 million not to farm rice in perpetuity. They figure that’s cheaper than the cost of a proposed downriver reservoir, whose costs the LCRA estimates at $206 million.

The idea is only broadly conceived, said coalition president Jo Karr Tedder. “We’re trying hard not to get into a battle over every drop of water and where it’s going to go,” she said.

The payout, she said, could benefit rice farmers by next year — faster than the reservoir, which will not be built until 2017, at the earliest.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/central-texas-coalition-urges-buyout-of-rice-farme/nWf6J/ .

[hobbit709]

3. What good is another reservoir when there's not enough rain to fill it?

The reason they're not getting water now is there's no rain upstream of Austin.

[They_Live]

4. I really wonder where fracking

fits into all of this. Fracking uses a lot of water and ruins it.