Texas government should pay more attention to preparing for future drought conditions that hit every year. Texas droughts not only affect farmers and ranchers, but also those who live in cities and even those in other states. There are warning signs cautioning people about the dangerous drought conditions and insisting them to conserve water as much as possible. Texas droughts can strongly increase the prices of food and clothes for a significant portion of the population.
Texas provides a large fraction of cotton, fruits, and vegetables. However, much of it is fatally affected due to drought. For example, about half of this year’s cotton has been discarded. This is fatal, because Texas is the nation’s leading cotton producers. This should remind us Texans, and especially the Texas government that we should better prepare for the next droughts. According to the Palmer Drought Severity Index, it shows that most part of Texas deals with extreme drought conditions.
There were some attempts to help with this drought season. Monsanto Co. is researching to develop ways to genetically change corn so that these crops will be able to survive droughts better. Texas Tech University and Texas A&M are also researching and doing projects to find ways to deal with drought conditions.
The government of Texas should encourage and support better preparation for Texas’ upcoming droughts. The legislators missed a chance this year to make a way to support Texas’ long-range plan that could have helped cope with the current drought. The more the government ignores this critical issue, the worse it will become, and the more problems it could lead to. We need to change, and be better prepared for droughts.
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