Drought?

This past winter Mother Nature was very good to us. Lots of slow soaking rains that replenished our “perched aquifer” along with winter weather - cold weather that we haven’t enjoyed for years and even snow. My fireplace consumed three cords of wood! It was so nice that many nights I woke up at 2 a.m. still sitting there. . . .

Snowfall on Selah.
Photograph taken by J. David.

It was a good winter in many ways, especially since we had the driest, hottest summer of the past 60 years. Most of our springs quit flowing, our creeks dried up as well as most stock tanks. We came within days of having to buy water. . . . Now with that wonderful winter behind us, we’re back to normal. . . . But what is normal?

It’s been three years since this scene greeted you as you came into the ranch. This water is collected from many hillsides and seeps for four miles before coming together near here. Photograph taken by J. David.

Just a quarter mile upstream, near the Historical Marker. It’s the same creek as in the previous picture. Photograph taken by J. David.

This tributary is on higher ground. It brings runoff from an entirely different canyon which our neighbor at Walnut Springs provides. It’s been rather dependable in the past. Photograph taken by J. David.

This was the first concrete dam we built, about 1972. The water is eight foot deep. It stopped running for the first time last year, but still had stock water behind the dam. This location, years ago, was named Jacob’s Ladder . . . but that’s another story. Photograph taken by J. David.

Ah, yes ~ Madrone Lake, the Jewel of Selah! Full and going through a draw down tube. The lake is surrounded by the Natural Arboretum and Nature Trail. It will be good swimming for the kids with clear, cool water all summer. Photograph taken by J. David.

So Why Is This Posting’s Title About Drought?

There are still people that do not believe that global warming and climate change are for real. I am not one of them. These last five years I have witnessed the loss of 2,000+ trees from extreme heat and lack of rain. I’m watching certain plants expand their range, Sotol and Twisted Leaf Yucca. Even now, today May 19, after receiving three inches of rain my testimony is that we’re entering a drought!!! It’s beautiful here, wildflowers aplenty, new growth on the trees, birds, butterflies and bees seem happy enough, but, while the rangeland is green, on close examination it’s not all grass and what grass we have is not full and tall. Weeds/forbs fill in the spaces left bare from last year’s heat and lack of rain. Grass that has been stressed is slow to recover. While we’re looking good out the picture window, there are ominous signs out there. . . . First, we have been experiencing temperatures in the low nineties every day this month. We’re still having “March winds,” regularly. Ninety degree temperatures are expected in July and August – not in April and May. The high temperature and wind dry out surface moisture and this is bad for grass.

Our aquifer is full – all eleven springs are producing and as my pictures illustrate – we’re looking good, but summer isn’t here yet. Let’s not forget the fear we had these last few years. Everyone, please stay focused on conservation. It’s a good habit to develop.

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There are so many, many good causes that need financial help. Preserving the earth itself is important. So, if you would like to help us with a donation, we are a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation and gifts are deductible to the extent of the law. You can send your contributions to: Bamberger Ranch Preserve, 2341 Blue Ridge Drive, Johnson City, TX 78636.

Victims of Drought

Looking back to my blog of August 2, 2009 about the drought, I reported that Robert Edmonson, our Texas Forest Service representative here in Johnson City, estimated that we had lost 1,000 Spanish Oaks due to the drought. ~ Our range conditions have made an amazing comeback because of good rains that began in October and continue to date ~ but not to be overly optimistic, the drought is NOT over. We are a long way from replenishing our “perched” or “local” aquifer that supplies us of all our drinking water here on the ranch . . . Now back to the losses of Spanish Oaks (also called Texas Oak and Red Oak). We have had time to look closer and were shocked and saddened to discover our losses of this species are closer to 2,000!

I suspected that this beautiful tree was dying when I took this picture in October, however I was advised to wait until next spring to be sure. As a general rule when the leaves lose their color early and do not fall off the branch, the tree is dead. Photograph taken by J. David.



This is the same tree 4 months later. A close look shows the canopy somewhat smaller than the first photo. Photograph taken by J. David.

You’re looking at a section of the trunk on the same tree. No need to wait until Spring. This tree is dead . . . You’re looking at a tree disease called Hypoxylon ~ I’m told it strikes Post, Blackjack and some Live Oaks as well. I didn’t notice it back in October because it was between the bark and the trunk. Now the bark has fallen and you can see the canker fungus which when scraped, even lightly, blows off into the air. I’m told Hypoxylon is an extremely weak pathogen, a Saprophyte fungus that eats dead wood . . . Now here’s the confusing part – it’s most likely the prolonged drought and the 60 days of heat over 100 degrees that killed these 2,000 ± trees. They were extremely stressed and that’s when the Hypoxylon spores move in. The Spanish Oak – Oh, and for the record the scientific name for Spanish Oak is Texas Red Oak, Quercus buckleyi. Photograph taken by J.David.

There are so many, many good causes that need financial help. Add to these the natural disasters like the Haitian earthquake and closer to home the very needy or homeless. However, preserving the earth itself is important too. So, if you would like to help us with a donation, we are a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation and gifts are deductible to the extent of the law. You can send your contributions to: Bamberger Ranch Preserve, 2341 Blue Ridge Drive, Johnson City, TX 78636.

The Drought Continues

September brought some relief from the all time record hundred plus degree days and we finally received some good rain - 6.15 inches. Every bit of which soaked into the ground. This was very good for the range grasses. It always amazes me how grasses can respond so quickly. All the pastures were brown and with no growth at all, yet in four days everything was green again. Wildflowers were blooming and grasses were shooting up and producing seed heads . . . . but this doesn’t end the drought. Remember that up until September we received only 11.24 inches for the year and during the hot summer months of May, June, July and August we only had 1.69 inches!

Since there was basically no runoff, our lakes, tanks and creeks are still, with a few exceptions dry. I hesitate to say the drought has a benefit, but it did give us the opportunity to remove silt from the lakes.

This tank was built in the late 1970’s. It has never been dry before and it was still boggy as the one loader got stuck in the mud. Photograph taken by J. David.

This pile of silt is 270 feet long, 50 feet wide and 6 foot high! Removal increased the tank capacity by 30 percent. After a prolonged drying out, we will spread it on the ranch. Photograph taken by J. David.

Madrone Lake, our most used recreation lake, on May 31, 2009. The creek that feeds it stopped flowing on July 28, 2008. Photograph taken by J. David.

Madrone Lake on October 8, 2009. The September rains soaked into the very dry earth. There has been no runoff to the lake nor spring activity to fill the lake. Photograph taken by J. David.

My observation of the effects of this drought on trees is that the most affected were Spanish Oaks. A Texas Forest Service representative estimated that we’ve lost 1,000! It surprised me that we lost at least five Bur Oaks. They have a tap root which goes deep into the ground. On the entire 5,500 acres I found only one Bur Oak. It’s probably 150 years old and in my 40 years here, it has never produced an acorn. We have planted all the other Bur Oaks on the ranch. Those five that died from the drought were seven to ten years old. Lacey Oak, some call it Blue Oak, and Live Oak have survived without loss. There has been some loss of Native Pecan, Walnut, BigTooth Maple, and Bald Cypress. It’s important to withhold judgement on this until next spring as some of these may come back to life.

This nice Spanish Oak shut down in late August. Aesthetically, it is a real loss as it was positioned along the road for all to see. Notice on the right a dead Bald Cypress. Photograph taken by J. David.

These are just two of many Bald Cypress we’ve introduced. Naturally there weren’t any on the ranch. I knew it was a risk to plant them at higher elevations, but since the creek had begun to run it was a good gamble. These are 40 foot tall and I don’t expect them to spring back to life as they got severely stressed in 2008 as well as in 2009. Photograph taken by J. David.

We call this the Catfish Tank. It has never gone completely dry. It has one spring and a 500 acre watershed to feed it. Photograph taken by J. David.

Obviously this tank has been dry long enough for cracks to develop and grass to grow. Photograph taken by J. David.

Because of the recent rains, one may want to declare this current drought over. This is not true. Conservation practices one may have developed due to the drought should become part of one’s life. Water is the single most important issue facing all of us.

The Drought Continues

Before you begin this post, you may want to look at my postings of June 7 and June 14th concerning the drought.

Water transfer. Phototgraph taken by J. David.

The seriousness of this drought cannot be overstated. Four households on the ranch now depend on a spring that is now producing slightly less than a gallon per minute. At best, that’s 1,440 gallons or 360 gallons per household per day. We can easily get along with this, but the dry, hot weather continues with no end in sight and the spring flow weakens daily. Last week all livestock, principally cattle, were removed from the corrals and traps around the pens. Would you believe that one cow can consume 25 gallons of water per day? Here is the method we developed to transport 500 gallons of water per trip. We were transporting water from the west side of the ranch where we had only one household to the east side where we have four. This task required 8 hours each day. Scott Grote, Ranch Manager, solved this by moving all the cattle to the west side, but herein lies another problem: because of the drought there isn’t much forage available over there for them. Well, that’s ranching! You can only hold out so long and then the cattle must be sold. Buying feed for cattle in July, August, September – this early in the season is a guaranteed prescription for financial failure. Selling cattle in a drought also hurts because the market is flooded with cattle experiencing the same conditions.

Watering trough. Photograph taken by J. David.

I’ve bragged for years that because of the restoration here, we had no functioning water wells. This was true, but not now. An old inoperative well that delivers small amounts of gipwater - non potable water – has been explored and equipped with a submersible pump. While it’s only good for a few gallons per minute, we’re using it in watering troughs and carrying it into waterless pastures for wildlife. It’s a bit ironic that we’re struggling to keep deer, turkey, raccoons and other critters alive so that we can shoot them during hunting season!

Math Camp – Photograph taken by Justin Duke.

Fortunately, our “people ranching” is over until September. These large groups of young people were challenged by Colleen Gardner, Executive Director, to use our solar toilet as it requires no water. She’s been making the challenge all summer, but I think this group of Math Camp kids from Texas State University broke the record - 283 uses saving the ranch 1,132 gallons of water. There were 68 kids.

There is a long spoken phrase “everyone talks about the weather, but no one can do anything about it.” If you believe as I do that global warming – climate change – is for real then the statement is not totally true. Our actions as a society are the cause and we can do something about it. Time is running out though, so we need to act. What an opportunity this nation has to provide the model, the leadership to the world. Let’s quit wasting lives and resources on war and lead the world by example.

Spanish Oak. Photograph taken by J. David.

Bald Cypress. Photograph taken by J. David.

Pecan. Photograph taken by J. David.

Bigtooth Maple. Photograph taken by J. David.

Carolina Buckthorn. Photograph taken by J. David.

Wafer Ash. Photograph taken by J. David.

Escarpment Cherry. Photograph taken by J. David.

Fig. Photograph taken by J. David.

The Spanish Oaks (Texas Oaks) have taken the worst beating of the drought. I counted 113 dead from the Wildlife Preserve to the Chiroptorium. That’s a small area when you consider 5,500 acres. Robert Edmonson of the Texas Forest Service said we’d probably lost 1,000!

I looked closely at these trees. It may be, that some have “shut down” to save themselves – we won’t know until next spring although I’m not encouraged. There are 47 Bald Cypress suffering. A lot of these shut down last year and came back, but with basically no water this year I don’t see how they can survive. I have pushed the Cypress to the limit by planting at higher elevations than nature did. The Pecan is a surprise. This is probably a 50 year old tree. Only three of the Bigtooth Maples look this way. I’m surprised at the Carolina Buckthorn and the Wafer Ash as they are naturals. I didn’t plant them. The Cherry and Fig I planted and they have been watered, but the extreme heat seems to have won.

Last year I stuck stubbornly by my preaching and refused to water trees I planted after their first summer. I lost a beautiful Monterrey Oak. It was 18 foot tall with an 8 inch diameter trunk. This was in the “forest” across from the Country Store. While I still teach this principle, I now agree that if it’s one or two trees in your yard or some strategic place then go ahead and water it.

Drought

“A prolonged period of dry weather, a lack of rain” as defined by Webster Dictionary.

If you could be here today walking the land as I am, you would see verdant hills and valleys. It’s still spring and we had a quarter inch of rain earlier this week. The native grasses respond within 48 hours, brown turns green. But looks can be deceiving as the following pictures show.

I was new to Texas in 1950 when a gas station attendant noticed my Ohio license plate and asked me how I liked Texas. My response was very positive. He replied, “Well, if you like it now, you’ll really like it when it rains.” This was my first experience of a drought. But fifty-nine years later, I’ve come to learn from experience the value of every drop of rain that falls and to appreciate conservation and land management principles that allow us to have water for ourselves, for livestock and wildlife . . . But even with all the land management practices we’ve implemented, there is a limit to how long our fragile “perched or local aquifer” can meet our needs. As the dictionary definition says, we are deeply into “a prolonged period of dry weather” and this has been exacerbated by above normal temperatures and high winds.

The creek that kept Madrone Lake at a fairly constant level stopped running in late July 2008. Photograph taken by Lois Sturm.

The lack of fresh water combined with high temperatures heats the remaining water which depletes oxygen and encourages bacteria growth which most likely caused the death of this three foot triploid carp. Photograph by J. David.

The Bromfield Trail is one of my favorite trails. We used to sit on the stone outcroppings with our feet in the water. It was our thinking spot with the limestone bottom and the sight and sound of the crystal clear water flowing through it. The water disappeared in September 2008. Photograph taken by J. David.

The Bridge to Nowhere. An unusual name! Justin and Poncho built this bridge for us when water was flowing under it. They were unaware that we are designing a trail to start there. As you can see the creek is bone dry and has been since October 2008. Photograph taken by J. David.

Carter Tank. This was originally built by a previous owner of the ranch whose last name was Carter. We have worked on it a number of times because it didn’t hold water. We’ve also enlarged it. Under normal rainfall years it is 25 feet deep and backs water up the draw. The tires are not trash! They are put there to protect fish spawn. The two cement cisterns store our drinking water. Each holds 5,000 gallons piped in from one of our spring boxes unseen further up the draw. They have float valves that divert the water into Carter Tank when the tanks are full. Photograph taken by J. David.

Dependable Clay. We’ve put no name on this small tank. This is a remarkable stock tank entirely dependent on runoff water from the surrounding hillside. Leroy has cut ditches 100 feet long that direct runoff water to the pond. What’s remarkable is the bed of clay that forms the bowl – this clay is impermeable. The only draw down is from livestock and surface evaporation. Finding this kind of clay is somewhat rare. In spite of this good material, the pond will be dry if we don’t get some rain soon. Photograph taken by J. David.

Oryx Pasture. This pasture is set aside for the exclusive use of our herd of Scimitar horned Oryx. They are a sub Saharan antelope from Africa that can go as long as 90 days without water. This tank is normally kept full from runoff as well as spring water piped to it. You can tell by the green vegetation and the cracks in the earth that there hasn’t been water here for months. Not to worry. We do have a number of watering troughs throughout this pasture. Photograph taken by J. David.

Four Cypress. Once again we haven’t named this small cattle and wildlife drinking spot. There was a small seep that we discovered above it 35 years ago, as well as, a small swale in the land above that would direct water to the pond. It worked so well until this drought. As you can see, there is not more than a week’s water left. The four cypress trees might not survive the summer. These were “planted” 14 years ago by throwing the seeds on the water! Photograph taken by J. David.

Summary

These pictures are but a few that show how critical our water problem has become. Wildlife, cattle and even we who live here are threatened. I believe this to be the worst drought of the century. Our Texas Forest Service agent, Robert Edmonson, stated that we have lost over 1,000 Spanish Oaks so far and other species are showing stress. Is the current condition a harbinger of the future? Is this our first sign of climate change?

Tune in next week to see some of the unique and innovative methods we are doing to sustain all life here at Selah.