NewsWest 9
MIDLAND COUNTY - It's been month's since we've seen any substantial rain in the Basin. The drought is affecting our water supply and creating dangerous fire situations, but it's also having a major impact on the roads.
As the number of days without rain keeps rising, so does the number of caliche roads that need fixing.
"Roads are deteriorating because of the heat and we're maintaining as best we can but we really cant keep up," Felipe Acosta, with the Midland County Road and Bridge Department, said.
Acosta said they're hoping for rain just like the rest of us. The caliche roads out in the County are also suffering from this dry spell.
"Any moisture that's in the roads right now, the heat is taking it out," Acosta said. "It's affecting us real bad."
He said the roads need water to keep them compacted together.
A pile of caliche used to be hard as a rock, but now because of the lack of moisture, it's turned more into a powdery substance. It's causing big problems for county roads in Midland.
"If the road becomes powder then it starts having potholes in it, ripples and everything and that's where the complaints start coming in," Acosta said.
Complaints that also deal with the dust affecting people's asthma.
Acosta said the department goes out everyday bringing water to repair damaged caliche, but it's only a quick fix, and it comes at a cost.
"It's real expensive because instead of taking two or three loads a day of water to process a road, it's taking us six to eight loads," Acosta said.
But it doesn't stop there. One pallet of materials costs more than $4,000. Acosta said they've doubled their load in materials too, but they haven't had to cut back on funds just yet.
"We barely started having all these problems about in the last about a month and a half ago," he said. "Pretty soon we'll have to do it to see where we're at."
Midland County has nearly 350 miles of county roads. Acosta said they're spread thin and it'll stay that way if this drought continues.
