Texas’ plan to provide water for a growing population virtually ignores climate change

Red River County residents view a hand-drawn map of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir at Cuthand United Methodist Church. Twenty-three new large reservoirs are expected to be built in Texas over the next five decades, according to the Texas Water Development Board. (Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune)

ZAPATA — This small South Texas border community 200 miles southwest of San Antonio hugs one of the largest reservoirs in Texas, along what was once one of the nation’s mightiest rivers. But on a hot summer day in mid-August, Zapata was dangerously close to running out of water.

Joe Rathmell, the Zapata County judge, remembers getting the call from a worried water plant manager. It wasn’t good. The only thing flowing into the county’s intake station seemed to be mud. The pumps were failing as they struggled to suck the silty water from Falcon Lake.