TexasDroughtAwarenessCampaign2013

The Texas Water Development Board, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Department of Agriculture invite Texans to share their photos of the drought stricken state.

The purpose of this statewide photo campaign is to promote awareness of just what is happening across the state due to the drought conditions.  Organizers state, “Over 95 percent of Texas is in drought. But because we’re a big state, we don’ t always get to see what is happening far away, or sometimes even right down the road from our community.”

In August and September 2013, the Texas Water Development Board, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Department of Agriculture invite Texans to share their photographs of drought through Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/texasdrought/) and Instagram (account name texasdrought;hashtag #txdrought). These photographs will be featured on the “What does your Texas drought look like?” Flickr page and the texasdrought Instagram account. Each agency will also feature photos on its respective social media accounts and websites.

What kinds of photos are organizers looking for? It could be a dry creek bed, withered crops, wildfires, and burn bans. But it could also be native plants that are flourishing despite the drought, creative water conservation measures, or other innovative water solutions to the drought-prone climate. If your community has new water treatment plants or storage tanks that are helping to survive the drought, those pictures could be submitted as well.

These agencies want to create a photographic record of what the Texas drought looks like, and they hope Texans, who are the stakeholders in the drought, will participate in this effort.