SAN ANTONIO, Texas. In San Antonio, Texas, this past summer, this
scene was common: Off-duty police officers patrolled streets, looking for
people illegally watering their lawns and gardens. The nation's most
drought-stricken state was deep-fried under unabated 100-degree days,
and waterways dried up, especially across south-central Texas, the
hardest-hit area. Residents worried about the water supply—and how long
it might last.
"The water table [is] fallin' and fallin' and fallin' … ," said Wendell McLeod,
in July. McLeod is the general manager of Liberty Hill Water Supply
Corporation, which serves Liberty Hill, a town that is northwest of Austin.