Dried Up: Photos Reveal Devastating Texas Drought

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Drought-Striken Longhorn

A skinny longhorn in west Texas drought.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Dried Lakebed

Lake Travis near Austin, Texas, during drought.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Lake Travis, near Austin, Tex., at 46.5 feet (14 meters) lower than usual.

Uncovered Treasures

Cell phones from the bottom of Lake Travis.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Lost a cell phone? As Lake Travis dried, the receding waters revealed gadgets dropped by boaters.

Blood-Red Lake

OC Fisher Reservoir in Texas turned red in the drought.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

As water levels dropped in OC Fischer Reservoir west of San Angelo, Tex., bacteria took over the stagnant, low-oxygen water. These bacteria turned the lake the color of blood. Dead fish, unable to survive without oxygen, float in the blood-red lake.

Dwindling Lake

OC Fisher Reservoir in Texas turned red in the drought.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Little is left of the O.C. Fischer reservoir, which once has a maximum depth of 58 feet (17.6 m).

Fish Die-off

Fish in O.C. Fischer died due to low oxygen.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Dead fish dot the remains of blood-red O.C. Fischer Reservoir.

Belly-up

OC Fisher Reservoir in Texas turned red in the drought.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

A dead fish floats in O.C. Fischer Reservoir. Without enough oxygen in the water, the fish could not survive.

Cracked Earth

Drought conditions in Buescher State Park, Texas.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Dried ground in Buescher State Park near Smithville, Tex.

Before and After

Lake Texana before and after the 2011 Texas drought.

(Image credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Lake Texana between Houston and Corpus Christi. Above, normal conditions. Below, drought conditions.

Dead Cow

Dead cow during the 2011 Texas drought.

(Image credit: Earl Nottingham, Texas Parks and Wildlife)

The carcass of a cow that became mired in the mud in a dry stock tank in Knox County, Texas during the summer drought.

Bastrop Fire

The Bastrop fire burned in Texas in summer 2011

(Image credit: Alan Fisher, © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)

The sky stained red over the Bastrop fire, which burned more than 34,000 acres in September 2011.

Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.