The Lord promises to "rain down bread from heaven," says the reading from the Book of Exodus this Sunday. As water levels drop precipitously in Texas, the nation's most drought-stricken state, people are just praying it will rain.

Texas is sizzling under relentless 100-degree days, and waterways are drying up, especially in the hardest-hit area covering about 350 miles of south-central Texas. Residents are worried about the water supply--and how long it might last.

There are 230 Texas public water systems under mandatory water restrictions, including those in and near San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Another 60 or so have asked for voluntary cutbacks. Water levels are down significantly in lakes, rivers, and wells around Texas.

"The water table's fallin' and fallin' and fallin,'" said Wendell McLeod, general manager of Liberty Hill Water Supply Corp. and a 60-year resident of the town northwest of Austin. "This is the worst I can recall seeing it. I tell you, it's just pretty bleak."

According to drought statistics released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 77 of Texas' 254 counties are in extreme or exceptional drought, the most severe categories. No other state in the continental U.S. has even one area in those categories. John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas state climatologist at Texas A&M University, said he expects harsh drought conditions to last at least another month.

In the bone-dry San Antonio-Austin area, the conditions that started in 2007 are being compared to the devastating drought of the 1950s. There have been 36 days of 100 degrees or more this year in an area where it's usually closer to 12.

Smatterings of light rain have occurred in the area this week, but not enough to make much difference. But hopefully the end is in sight. Victor Murphy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said an El Nino system is developing in the Pacific Ocean. That phenomenon is usually followed by increased rainfall in Texas in autumn.

Source: An article by John McFarland for Associated Press