The Age of Thirst in the American West

[Bob Wallace]

6. A couple more years of drought in Texas...

And I think you'll see people leaving.

This drought is killing ranches. They were already in shaky shape as the younger generations are largely not taking up ranching and we had a group of older ranchers. Now these folks are having to sell off their herds.

One doesn't just go to market and get good breeding stock when/if the rains come back. It takes many years to build up good stock. Not every cow can throw a good calf and not every bull is up to the job. We took more than one bull to the meat packer because he was more interested in the other bulls than the cows.

Someone in their 50s, 60s or 70s is not likely to be willing to spend the money (if they've got it) to rebuild. Many won't have the time.

Water shortage doesn't just hurt livestock and lawns. It also means not enough water to cool thermal electricity plants. Coal and nuclear plants have to be shut down if there's not enough water to cool the steam. I seem to recall that Texas had to shut down some of their generation last year in the middle of their hottest weather. That means cutting back on air conditioning and thoughts of moving north.