More fallout from Texas drought...rice

[Zizzle]

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drou ... roduction/

Come March 1, if there is less than 850,000 acre-feet of water in reservoirs along the Lower Colorado River, water managers will be forced to take the unprecedented step of withholding water from agricultural users, which will mean severe cuts to Texas rice production this year.

...the combined direct and indirect economic benefits of rice production and processing in these three counties alone amounts to $675 million, including the support of nearly 9,000 jobs.

[Stanz]

Gotta love global warming, they'll be growing rice in Canada soon.

[tex]

The LCRA is apparently reneging on it's mandates to supply the needs of downstream users. Consider this, from one of their own sites:

Texas law declares that the state must give preference to certain types of water uses when granting water rights. LCRA's practice of giving preference to downstream rice farmers when distributing interruptible stored water — a water supply that is curtailed during water shortages — is consistent with the Texas Legislature's directive. The contracts for this water are negotiated during development of the LCRA Water Management Plan, which is subject to state approval.
According to state water law, first in time is first in right. Downstream rice farmers were given first water rights in the Colorado basin, and these rights are senior to LCRA's water rights for the Highland Lakes. In fact, without the support of the rice farmers, the Highland Lakes and dams might never have been built. Rice farmers were among the strongest supporters of building the Highland Lakes and dams in the 1930s. They recognized the value of the dams in easing flooding and making water available during droughts.

http://www.lcra.org/water/supply/irrigation.html

I'm not surprised. Over the decades, the LCRA has grown into a relatively powerful autocratic organization, with a lot of political ties. Who set that arbitrary 850,000 acre-feet threshold? I'm just guessing, but I'm pretty sure it was the LCRA.

Fortunately, there are 17 other Texas counties that produce rice, and the river basins north of the Colorado have been getting a lot more rain lately, so many of those other counties may be in a better position than the three that depend on the LCRA. To give you an idea of the LCRA's control over the rice industry in those 3 counties, over the years, they also bought water rights in several major irrigation districts in those counties. I'm not sure that they should have had the right to do that, but they did it anyway:

Over the years, LCRA acquired three irrigation systems from private operators: Gulf Coast in 1960, Lakeside in 1983 and Garwood in 1998. Through these acquisitions and the purchase of the Pierce Ranch water rights, LCRA holds senior water rights for direct diversion of water from the Colorado River. The water rights allow the operations to pump water from the river without calling upon LCRA to release water from storage. Often, in the height of the growing season, river flows are insufficient and LCRA makes up the deficit by using water stored in the Highland Lakes. This is sometimes difficult to understand for Central Texans wanting to enjoy recreation on the lakes.

That little trick leaves the rice farmers high and dry, at the LCRA's whim. Talk about a coup de grâce.

Tex