Heavy rain forecast could boost Rio Grande water supplies
Several inches of rain from Eagle Pass to Del Rio could send runoff into Amistad and Falcon while Val Verde County stays in drought and under a Flood Watch.
Several inches of rain from Eagle Pass to Del Rio and deep into Mexico could send runoff toward the Rio Grande, Amistad Reservoir and Falcon Reservoir, giving Val Verde County a possible boost in water supplies even as a Flood Watch remained in effect through July 16.
The July 9 U.S. Drought Monitor map, valid July 7, showed 8,004 people in Val Verde County affected by drought, or 16.4% of the county’s population. It also estimated 225 acres of hay, 6,468 sheep and 977 cattle in drought conditions.
Falcon Reservoir was 23.9% full on July 14, with 491,046 acre-feet of storage out of a conservation capacity of 1,562,367 acre-feet, according to Water Data for Texas. The Rio Grande Basin reservoirs were 28.1% full, and the South climate division’s monitored water supply reservoirs stood at 20.7% full. Even a modest inflow event can move those numbers, but the effect depends on how much rain falls upstream and how quickly it reaches the channel.
The International Boundary and Water Commission stores deliveries to Mexico at the international reservoirs of Amistad and Falcon. Texas has rights to 56.2% of Amistad’s conservation capacity, and NOAA’s gauge page for Lake Amistad lists flood-impacts thresholds and historical crests that water managers use to judge how much inflow the system can handle.
The National Weather Service in Del Rio posted a Flood Watch after flagging thunderstorms that could produce heavy rainfall. The pattern involved a boundary along southern Texas, with upper-level low pressure tapping Gulf moisture and pushing the heaviest rain across the Hill Country and the Big Bend. Saharan dust was still a separate concern for the Valley, with air quality affected even as temperatures, winds and sky cover stayed close to normal through the weekend.
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