To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs

Water marks are seen on the gates and concrete at the Falcon Dam in Starr County on Aug. 18. This area of the reservoir is normally underwater, but because of an extended drought, water levels have been below 20% since earlier this year. (Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune)

As Texas faces an increasingly fraught environmental future from climate change, a new approach to conservation is growing.

Drought conditions have created a two-pronged problem for Texas aquifers, natural bodies of water that move through porous rock underneath the Earth’s surface, and reservoirs. Without rainfall, farmers and ranchers are relying more on those well-established water supplies in the state. And without that same rainfall, the aquifer and reservoir levels can’t be replenished as quickly as they are being depleted.