The drought of 1996, for example, caused greater economic losses than longer, less intense droughts in previous years. These pages are updated weekly and provide information such as a list and map of public water systems affected by the drought. In June 1998, the division distributed a Drought Reference Manual to 4,201 community water systems in the state. Through a contract with the Texas Rural Water Association, contractors visited 160 water systems ranked in priority from the 1998 drought database. The contractors met with water system operators and managers to identify areas for technical assistance, conservation measures, and other drought management options.
Weather modification is another response to drought conditions.
There were five rainfall-enhancement projects permitted in Texas as of September 1998. The successful results led the agency to expand the campaign into a statewide effort to raise awareness about direct, practical ways to conserve water during the drought. A public relations firm was hired to expand the campaign, which was tailored to the needs of the state's most water-strapped regions. In the Lower Rio Grande, for example, the problems include unauthorized diversions, actual water shortages, and conflicts over uses. By contrast, in northeast Texas, the recurring problem has not been supply but intense demand from consumers for water that many systems lack the capacity to deliver on a sustained basis.