*We've got a messed-up climate, and we're beset with peevish idiots who can't believe their own eyes about it, and will likely die in denial. But: we're not done yet. The rains still come.
*The tribes of SXSW are gathering, the clouds are lifting and it looks gorgeous out there.
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/big-swing-in-lake-levels-333105.html
"Late last summer, Central Texas faced a near emergency. Wracked by unrelenting heat and deprived of regular rainfall for two years, the reservoirs that supply water for more than a million people were drying up.
"Cities large and small across Central Texas demanded that residents cut their water use, threatening fines. Schools were forced to let their playing fields go brown, cattle grew lean and congregations prayed for precipitation. Rice farmers southeast of Austin were told they would probably not get the water they wanted. By mid-September, lakes Travis and Buchanan were less than 40 percent full, and the Lower Colorado River Authority, which oversees the lakes, considered halting new water contracts.
"But then, in the fall, after two years of drought, the rains came, moistening the soil, replenishing streams and, eventually, refilling the lakes. By the first of the year, most cities had rolled back drought restrictions, and the dry spell was over."
