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Experts are sounding the alarm as Texas enters yet another year of punishing drought — pushing major lakes toward historic lows and raising concerns for communities across the Hill Country.

South-Central Texas has been stuck in a rainfall deficit since 2022, with San Antonio hit especially hard. According to a report from the San Antonio Express-News, the city is now short nearly 45 inches of rain. That kind of prolonged dry spell doesn’t just wilt lawns — it drains the region’s lifelines: its lakes.

A new scientific study found that boulders in mountain ecosystems are changing how snow melts.  As glaciers rapidly melt and expose what lies beneath, those rocks actively alter snow behavior.

Led by a McGill University team, researchers studied the Yukon’s Shár Shaw Tagà Valley and took detailed measurements of snow melt around boulders. They used 3D laser scanning, infrared cameras, and drone photogrammetry and published their findings in the journal Cold Regions Science and Technology.

California reservoir water levels are in “incredible shape,” with all of the state’s major reservoirs at or above 100 percent of historical average for this time of year, according to data from the state’s Department of Water Resources (DWR).

Publicly owned systems deliver more than 80 percent of the water that is a survival necessity for homes and industry. Their general reliability masks long-term neglect.

Much of the country’s water infrastructure was built in the 1970s and ’80s. Years of deferred maintenance for many systems have created serious problems — the American Civil Society of Engineers this year gave the country’s water infrastructure grades ranging from a C- to a D. At the same time, states have become increasingly responsible for funding water systems. In 1981, the federal government provided more than $25 billion in capital investment for water infrastructure, almost half of the total for the year. By 2021, this had decreased to $4 billion, 7 percent of total funding.