Burn ban on as rainfall not enough

November 27, 2012, 11:50 am by Staff Reports

Burnet County got some rain Monday afternoon and evening, mostly in the southern part of the county, but it was not enough to alleviate the dry conditions that have prevailed most of the fall.

It also wasn't enough to head off an expected recommendation by Herb Darling, the county's environmental services director, that a burn ban be adopted for unincorporated areas.

The Burnet County Commissioners voted unanimously to institute the burn ban at their regular meeting Tuesday.

"We have regressed and it is just getting drier and drier,” Darling told the commissioners in recommending the implementation of the burn ban.

Burnet County's Keetch-Byram Drough Index (KBDI) two-week average was 558 with a high of 654 and a low of 480, Darling told the commissioners.

The KBDI attempts to measure the amount of precipitation necessary to return the soil to full field capacityIt is a continuous index, relating to the flammability of organic material in the ground.