AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Drought in Texas could reach historic proportions and water planners need to prepare for worse than what they've seen so far, the state climatologist said.
Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said the current drought could last until 2020 with the region in the grip of a 20- to 40-year dry phase, the Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday.
Water planners, including state agencies and river authorities, have based current plans on the longest drought on record, a nearly 10-year dry spell in the 1940s and 1950s.
"Sooner or later there will be a drought that's worse," Nielsen-Gammon said. "The planning needs to be able to cover the bases not just for the worst that we've seen but also have a plan going forward in case conditions become worse than that."
Agricultural losses in this year's drought were estimated at $5.2 billion through August.
The Lower Colorado River Authority, Austin's primary water provider, said the current drought could be declared the worst on record by spring.
