Dealing with a Drought

Ed: As a long-term resident of Baton Rouge, I used to be moderately interested in the weather news about southwest Louisiana and especially Lake Charles, where my son lived and worked. Usually, weather—rain in particular—seemed to happen over there the day before we could expect it in Baton Rouge, but often the rain seemed to slip diagonally up the various weather fronts and drop in the Alexandria area, especially in dry periods. An ice storm one winter that damaged my son’s house and hurricane Rita that completely destroyed it, got more of my attention. When I moved to Lake Charles a couple of years ago I became aware that this area of the state has been suffering severe drought conditions for two years—almost as bad as things in Texas. Although my wife and I now live in an apartment without any yard, we share my son’s distress in trying to get a nice lawn at his new location.

The local newspaper, American Press, always has excellent hunting and fishing news, and I was aware that Toledo Bend reservoir was at an extremely low level after two years with about twenty inch deficits in rainfall (based on long term averages). People were faced with having to re-locate piers and boat launches, while boat traffic had to be very careful in moving about the lake.

In early January there was an editorial in the American Press and comments from the management of the local TV station alerting people that the Louisiana Sabine River Authority (SRA) would hold an open meeting in January at Cypress Bend Resort to discuss an offer by a group of capitalists, called Toledo Partners, to buy “raw” water from Toledo Bend reservoir, which would be sent to Texas, to be refined and sold as potable water, possibly as early as 2018.

The Executive Director of the SRA is quoted in an article by Todd Elliott in Lake Charles’ Lagniappe Magazine, (January 19 issue) saying that the staff had for almost eight years pursued developing water supply as a supplement to power generation as a source of income, and during this time had made several public presentations to civic and government organizations throughout the Sabine River basin.

A crowd of more than five hundred people packed the Cypress Grand conference room for the January meeting. The director addressed the crowd, saying that he and his office had received a total of 386 written comments, of which only seven favored the sale. He said the primary concern was the impact on the lake level. Others were concerned about the length of the proposal (fifty years, with an option to renew for forty-nine more) and the inability to predict rainfall for such a long time. He said that in light of the perceived drought conditions that began in 2010 and lack of a comprehensive water plan for state, he and his staff recommended the SRA suspend consideration of out-of-state water sales until there is a reasonable water plan for the entire state. This was moved and seconded to the loud cheers of the record crowd.

Leon: Ed and I usually agree on broad points and argue about the details. We agree that the idea of selling water to Texas at a maximum of 50,000 acre feet per month, with a potential ninety-nine year lease, is absurd. Friends, that is a little over 300,000 gallons a month and we would be selling it at around twenty-eight cents per gallon. Granted, Toledo Bend is a big, big lake and might be able to furnish that, even during a drought. Toledo Bend is also a recreational lake, with fishing camps, boat docks and piers that would have to be moved — frequently. Also, the entire South has been suffering through droughts for the past few years and people are saying that this is evidence of global warming. I prefer to call it climate change, meaning that the climate is changing around here and may, or may not, continue to do so. I am reminded of an old Boy Scout camp song: “– how in the world can the old folks tell that it ain’t gonna rain no mo?” (There is a revised version of the chorus that says: “It isn’t going to rain anymore, anymore, – The grammar’s correct, but what a bore, we’ll sing it as before.”)

Our point is that throughout recorded time, and long before, there have been terrible droughts in some parts of the world, while it rains too much in other areas. Even we old folks can’t tell whether this drought will continue in the South, but it probably won’t be nearly so long as the vividly remembered mid-west drought of the thirties when the Okies all moved to California. We should also point out that Mother Earth has an excellent, fool-proof, water purification program. The sun shines on the oceans, evaporates water, and winds transport it back to the land—then it rains. If it isn’t raining here, that water will go somewhere else. Satellite photos show that once, long before Ed and I retired, the Sahara desert was a large grassland with several shallow lakes. We don’t know why it rained there and not someplace else. We are pretty sure that the earth won’t give out of water, but we also know that water will become a more critical resource as the world population increases.

Now, we need to get back down to water shortages and our home gardens. This will only be an overview because of time restraints. If you want the details, look them up in our book Gardening in the Humid South. It is now in paperback and doesn’t cost much, but you can also find copies in your library. We both enjoy having nice green lawns and don’t think you should water them—especially during a drought. If your soil has decent drainage the grass roots grow much deeper than you think they do. Those grass slabs that the turf man sold you had roots that were about two inches long, but they have grown much longer now. Back when we kept up with the literature there was an article that showed St. Augustine plants would produce roots to a depth of six feet! Of course that was in very good soil but the grass in your lawn has roots that will survive almost any drought. Of course the leaves will turn to a beautiful beige color, but not to worry. Rains will come and new, green leaves will return.

But your garden, vegetable or ornamental, will need water when the drought comes. There was a time when we favored using raised beds and furrow irrigation but new drip irrigation systems have made that obsolete. They aren’t very expensive and the types are so varied that you should study them and make your own choice. Try to avoid sprinkler systems because so much of the water evaporates before it hits the ground. If you must use a sprinkler, get a timer attachment so that you can water very early in the morning when evaporation is low. When the drought is severe the water company will discourage any kind of watering, but if you use drip or “before dawn” irrigation you can cheat a little. Or maybe not. Neighbors will wonder why your garden looks so green when the plants should be dying.

Ed O’Rourke, Jr. and Leon Standifer are the authors of Gardening in the Humid South (LSU Press, 2002), now available in affordable paperback.