Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Proposed constitutional amendment aims to diminish effects of drought

In the midst of one of the worst droughts in Texas history, an upcoming election will give voters the chance to amend the Texas Constitution to support water project funding, while UT professors stress the importance of being aware of water-related issues.

For the past three years, most regions in Texas have been experiencing drought conditions. In November, Texas voters will have the chance to approve Proposition 6, a Texas constitutional amendment which would finance water projects by allocating $2 billion from the Economic Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund. The proposition would create two new water project funds.

David Maidment, associate director for UT’s Center for Integrated Earth System Science, said the state has good long-term plans to address the drought conditions, but should work on its short-term plans.


Many organizations in Texas measure water levels, but there is not a centralized source of all water-related information, Maidment said.

“We need to manage water like a bank account,” Maidment said. “What comes in, what goes out, what’s the current level … we need a more structured, systematic approach to this.”

Maidment said Texas should learn from the way Australia handled its drought in the early 2000s because the two regions have comparable populations.

“[Australia now publishes] … national water accounts each year that quantify just what the state of the water system is in critical regions of the country and how it’s changing over time,” Maidment said. “I think we need something like that. They also built an Australian water resource information system to integrate information on water across the country … I think we need those things in Texas too.”

The low moisture levels in the soil are the most concerning part of the drought, Maidment said.

“We’re in a frail situation compared to what we were three years ago,” Maidment said. “The capacity of the state to recover is dependent on how quickly water can get into the soil and get into the groundwater system because that’s where the real deficit is … If you look at the total volume of water that Texas has lost because of drought conditions, [lake water is] only about 10 percent of it. The other 90 percent is in the soil water system and the underground water system.”

Bridget Scanlon, hydrogeologist and senior research scientist for the Bureau of Economic Geology in the Jackson School of Geosciences, said power plants use water for cooling purposes, so the lack of water presents problems for power grids, especially in the summer.

“Because the electricity system is all connected in a grid, when you have a problem at one power plant, it could impact a much larger system because it all is connected,” Scanlon said. 

Earlier this year, the University began using Austin Water Utility’s reclaimed water system — which involves using water that is unsafe to drink — for cooling the electricity towers, Austin Water Utility spokesman Jason Hill said.

Hill said it is important for people to be aware of how their individual actions impact the water supply.

“At a university the size of UT, you have students that come from all over, and some of those places aren’t really concerned about water — Michigan for instance — so it’s great … for folks to understand the school is in an area right now that’s experiencing a drought, so every little bit helps,” Hill said.

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Proposed constitutional amendment aims to diminish effects of drought