Recent Borderland Drought Could Cost You

EL PASO, Texas -- Local irrigation experts said this is the worst drought the Borderland has seen in 20 years and there is no end in sight. "This is one of the worst we've seen in a long time," said Bert Cortez, a manager at the El Paso Field Division Office of the Bureau of Reclamation. Cortez said this is the build up of years upon years of declining rain and melted snowfall runoff. As a result, local reservoirs are at record lows, reaching only 22 percent capacity. Average numbers have the reservoirs at between 50 and 60 percent. This drought could also end up costing consumers long-term. Local ranchers said cattle prices have already gone up nearly 20 percent. In the near future, ranchers said consumers could expect them to rise up to an additional 20 percent. The reason: Ranchers said this drought is a vicious cycle. With this drought came wildfires all across Texas. The combination of the lack of rainfall and burned vegetation, the amount of cattle feed, or hay, has been severely reduced, driving prices up for ranchers. "We feed everyday," said Jimmy Bowen of Bowen Ranch in Northeast El Paso. "It gets very expensive to do that." Bowen has recently reduced his cattle herd from 1500 to 300...more