Maintaining Mission Focus in the Face of a Historic Texas Drought

Texas was in a major drought from 2010-2015. In Wichita Falls this record drought was the result of 60-inches of rain from 2010-2014 when normally 100-inches of rain would have fell resulting in reservoirs levels >20-feet below conservation-pool.. The City of Wichita Falls had gone to extreme lengths to extend the life of local water supplies and thus the life of the community. Efforts included ordinances imposing water restrictions, cloud seeding, experimental efforts to minimize evaporation, and development of a direct-potable reuse facility. Although area fisheries were challenged, the TPWD Mission has remained steadfast. Traditional fisheries management options were unavailable because of the drought, but opportunities still arose. Some lakes that completely dried up were dominated by roughfish&stunted sportfish. When water returned these lakes were restocked and managed to provide a more publicly desirable fishery. The ability to drive in parts of lake beds increased staff capacity to deploy many large piles of woody debris that, when inundated, aids in increasing catch rates of anglers. Staff have been able to expend greater effort on outreach events. Finally, the drought has changed the social climate sufficiently to pursue a major lake restoration project that would otherwise not have been palatable.