Three months after heavy July storms flooded much of San Angelo and central Texas, conditions are returning to drought. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) says drought conditions have increased for three consecutive weeks, and almost 40 percent of the state is “abnormally dry,” and likely transitioning to drought within the next few weeks if the trend continues.
Autumn Rainfall Data
| Year | Sept. Rainfall | Oct. Rainfall | Combined Rainfall |
| 2015 | 0.45 | 2.44 | 2.89 |
| 2016 | 5.24 | 1.49 | 6.73 |
| 2017 | 3.46 | 0.81 | 4.27 |
| 2018 | 6.66 | 11.37 | 18.03 |
| 2019 | 0.27 | 0.53 | 0.80 |
| 2020 | 4.87 | 0.50 | 5.37 |
| 2021 | 0.39 | 2.64 | 3.03 |
| 2022 | 1.77 | 2.31 | 4.08 |
| 2023 | 3.92 | 3.25 | 7.17 |
| 2024 | 5.04 | Trace amount | 5.04 |
| 2025 | 1.80 | 1.80 |
Average Rainfall Down For This Time Of Year
Mean average rainfall for September over the last ten years is 3.387, which makes last month around 1.5 inches below average.
Future Water Supply Depends on Rainfall
Read more about the water supply in San Angelo from the previous installment of Water Monitor.
San Angelo is part of TWDB’s water plan Region F: home to almost 700,000 residents, and encompasses the northern western Colorado river in Texas. Portions of the Ogallala Aquifer in the north, meeting with the Edwards/Trinity in the south. Currently Region F’s surface water supplies are tied up in reservoirs. Region F does not import a significant amount of surface water from outside the region, however it does export to Sweetwater and Abilene.
San Angelo’s main source of water, O.H. Ivie Reservoir currently sits just under 50 percent capacity. With a total capacity of over 500,000 acre feet of water. The City of Abilene currently purchases water from Ivie.
At current consumption rates, future water supply relies on Indirect Reuse, a process in which highly treated wastewater is recycled into the river before being pumped to a final treatment plant, where the water is then treated to EPA standards.
