Co-op News
Co-op Powers Pump for Texas Ranchers
A Texas co-op is relieving drought-stricken ranchers in the central part of the state by providing free power for an emergency source of water for livestock.
The prolonged drought in Texas is making it hard for cattle on a private ranch near San Angelo, Texas, to find food and water. (Photo By: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Heart of Texas Electric Co-op, McGregor, is providing a meter box and pole to run a two-horsepower electric pump at Rosebud Lake, a man-made lake located outside the city of Rosebud. The free power, paid for by the co-op’s Operation Round Up funds, will allow ranchers, whose stock ponds and wells have dried up during the severe drought, to tap into the lake.
“We’re in the middle of a pretty severe drought, one of the worst ever,” said Rick Haile, general manager of Heart of Texas Electric Co-op. “Stock tanks are running dry, and we thought it would be a good idea to help out farmers in that area.”
More than three-quarters of Texas is in an “exceptional drought,” the worst category possible, according to meteorologists. The area has experienced triple-digit temperatures for more than 90 days, and rainfall in the eastern counties of central Texas and the middle Texas coast is more than 20 inches below normal.
Sixteen ranchers so far are paying the $1 registration fee to pump and haul water back to their herds. One cow drinks about 20 to 30 gallons a day, according to a local engineer, and there’s about 100- to 200-acre feet of water in the lake.
One of those ranchers is Leslie Lorenz, a member of Heart of Texas Co-op and coordinator of the emergency water distribution program.
“Things are pretty severe,” said Lorenz, who hauls water from the lake to care for 75 cows and 50 calves on his ranch outside Rosebud. “Some ranchers are dispersing their herd,” because they can no longer afford to care for the animals.
“I’m holding on to my herd for as long as I can,” Lorenz said.
It’s not the first time that Rosebud Lake has been tapped for emergency use. During the 1996 drought, the local chamber of commerce approved use of the lake for ranchers and bought a pump.
That same pump has been pressed into service now, while city officials closely monitor lake levels to ensure that enough water remains for firefighters.