Hot Diggity Dog Days

WHEW. THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A SUMMER.

Literally.

Heat records fell like wilted leaves, not just across Texas, but all over the U.S. and in places around the world that never saw it coming. A hundred and four degrees in London? Blimey! 

As much as we’d like to think—now that September is here—that it’s almost over, it’s not. To Texans, “summer” is a fluid term. We can legitimately use it to describe our weather in as many as ten months out of the year. When the calendar turns over to Autumn every September 21, we rarely notice. This year, thermometers could be flirting with triple digits well into October.

Along with the heat, scary dry conditions have prevailed across Texas for months. In a large swath of the state, those conditions have persisted for years. Lakes are drying up—48 of the 120 major impoundments measured by the Texas Water Development Board are below 75% capacity, and the statewide storage level has fallen by almost 20% since a year ago. Falcon, less than 10% full, is basically now just a wide stretch on the Rio Grande. The Frio River stopped flowing in July.

These overheated and arid conditions play havoc on both fishing and hunting. Wildlife species are especially vulnerable to unrelenting high temperatures and lack of water. Deer, upland birds, waterfowl, and other wild game suffer as food sources shrivel up and watering holes go dry.

 

Some anglers welcome lower lake levels. As fish populations concentrate into smaller areas, they become, theoretically, easier to catch. But this exacts a price. Falling lake levels increase stress, reduce oxygen, and interrupt normal patterns. The only upside to cycles of drought and recovery for freshwater fisheries is something called the “new lake effect.” We published an article on this effect back in February 2014, after the devastating 2011 drought, considered to be a historic crisis (fishgame.com/2014/03/the-new-lake-effect/). The effect is, in essence, when lake levels drop, new vegetation grows on the exposed lake bottom. When the lake re-fills, the newly inundated areas are reborn with fresh structure. Great. But for this “new lake” effect to work, the lakes have to re-fill.

Some West and South Texas lakes never came back to much over 50% capacity after the 2011 drought, and if they did, not for long. In the decade since that historic drought, the population of Texas has exploded. Commercial and residential real estate development has also boomed. As a result, this latest extended dry spell hit us at a time when demand for water has risen exponentially, and our battered resources face even greater threat from dozer blade wielding developers. 

Droughts and heat waves are a way of life in Texas. Sure, next February we will probably be freezing our butts off and feeling a bit nostalgic for the July blast furnace. A Hill Country gully washer could re-fill Lake Travis in an afternoon. And some will be like, “See… everything is back to normal. Nothing to worry about.” Except, it’s not. Worldwide temperatures are rising and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a natural cycle or if it is due to gas guzzlers and cow farts. Either way, ice caps and glaciers melt. Storms get wilder and more unpredictable. Wildfires burn from Malibu, California to Huntsville, Texas. Gulf waters get hotter and lakes evaporate. Fish and wildlife suffer great stress.  

Like it or not, we in the outdoors are on the front lines in this war with Mother Nature. And, to mix the metaphor, she brought her A game. If ever the world needed conservationists, it does now.

Rather than argue about hoaxes and pseudo-scientific rationalizations, we hope that our collective voice, as true conservationists, can be heard above the din. We’re stewards of the planet’s wild resources. It is our duty to take this threat seriously and to not only contribute, but lead, the fight against it. If there is anything that humans can do to blunt Mother Nature’s rage, the best ideas are more likely to come from our camp than from the camps of industrial interests or political grifters.

E-mail Roy at rneves@fishgame.com and Ardia at aneves@fishgame.com

 

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