New county burn ban goes into effect Oct. 27

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A hard rain’s going to have to fall or 90 days will have to pass before a new burn ban approved Monday, Oct. 24, by Gonzales County commissioners gets lifted.

The emergency order officially takes effect at noon Thursday, Oct. 27, and prohibits burning “any combustible material outside of an enclosure which serves to contain all flames or sparks” in the unincorporated areas of Gonzales County.

The purpose of the order is to mitigate wildlife hazards as the county is in an extended period of severe to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

County Judge Pat Davis said he had received numerous calls asking about the possibility of putting on a burn ban, while Commissioners Collie Boatright Jr., Donnie Brzozowski and Kevin La Fleur all stated they, too, had received similar calls and saw the need for a ban until the area can receive enough rainfall to help relieve drought conditions.

A violation of the burn ban is considered a citable Class C misdemeanor offense, punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 per occurrence. The ban is in effect for 90 days or until Davis rescinds the order, whichever comes first.

There are exemptions within the order for “non-commercial preparation of food and burning of prickly pear for livestock feed” as well as “prescribed fires conducted in compliance with guidelines set forth by federal and state natural resource agencies and burned under a burn plan” approved by those agencies. Any burn plan has to be filed in the county judge’s office prior to a burn and notice has to be given to first responders.

KDBI at 688

Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS), which monitors wildfire conditions for the state, uses the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) for determination of drought conditions within the State of Texas. KBDI was developed by John L. Keetch and George Byram with the US Forest Service Southeastern Research Station to correlate the effects of drought on wildfire potential.

The KBDI is based on a daily water balance, where a drought factor is balanced with precipitation and soil moisture (assumed to have a maximum storage capacity of eight inches) and is expressed in hundredths of an inch of soil moisture depletion.

The KBDI attempts to measure the amount of precipitation necessary to return the soil to full field capacity. It is a closed system ranging from 0 to 800, where 0 represents a saturated soil, and 800 an absolutely dry soil. At any point along the scale, the KBDI value indicates the amount of precipitation it would take to bring the moisture level back to zero, or saturation.

On Monday, Oct. 24, Gonzales County had a KBDI average of 688, with a high of 741, especially in the southern and western portions of the county, and a low of 605 towards the northern end of the county.

This represents an increase of 151 points over the average of 537 reported on Sept. 1, two days after the last burn ban was lifted. It also represents an increase of nearly 40 points above the low of 566 reported in the south end on Oct. 11.

When the KDBI falls between 600-800, this is often associated with more severe drought with increased wildfire occurrence. Intense, deep-burning fires with extreme intensities can be expected. Live fuels can also be expected to burn actively at these levels.

Drought conditions

According to the US Drought Monitor’s latest update, conditions for Gonzales County remained unchanged as the amount of the county under extreme drought has stayed at 40.77 percent, while 84.47 percent of the county is at least in severe drought and 100 percent is in moderate drought.

Moderate drought impacts include but are not limited to, crops stunted, partial livestock liquidation, and an increase in wildfire frequency. Severe drought impacts include, but are not limited to, very poor pasture conditions; hard soil, hindering planting; crop yields decrease; wildfire danger is severe.

Under extreme drought, impacts are soil has large cracks; soil moisture is very low; dust and sand storms occur; row and forage crops fail to germinate; decreased yields for irrigated crops and very large yield reduction for dry land crops are reported; need for supplemental feed, nutrients, protein, and water for livestock increases; herds are sold.

Under exceptional drought, impacts are exceptional and widespread crop loss; rangeland is dead; producers are not planting fields ;seafood, forestry, tourism, and agriculture sectors report significant financial loss; extreme sensitivity to fire danger; firework restrictions are implemented.

So far, 2022 is the fourth driest year to date over the past 128 years as we have had 14.01 inches less precipitation than normal so far. September was the ninth driest on record over the past 128 years, down 2.78 inches below normal.

Even so, the drought is not as extreme as it was three months ago on July 19. At that time, 99.99 percent of the county was considered to be in at least extreme drought conditions, with 51.19 percent considered to be at the highest level of exceptional drought.

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