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Tom Green County Ranch News: Drought Eases Around San Angelo, but Twin Buttes Is Still Only 4.2 Percent Full

November 13, 2026  |  By Lee, Lee & Puckitt

Tom Green County Ranch News: Drought Eases Around San Angelo, but Twin Buttes Is Still Only 4.2 Percent Full

The pastures around San Angelo have caught a break, but the county’s big storage reservoir has hardly moved. On the official drought map covering Nov. 10, released Nov. 12, about 32.8 percent of Tom Green County remains in moderate drought, and Drought.gov says the share of people living in drought dropped 67 percent from the week before. Twin Buttes Reservoir still stood at 4.2 percent full as of Nov. 13, per Water Data for Texas. Lee, Lee & Puckitt (LLP Ranchland), headquartered in San Angelo, looks at what the improved map and the still-low lake mean for ranch country.

Twin Buttes Stays Low, Nasworthy Does Not

TWDB figures for Nov. 13 put Twin Buttes at 4.2 percent of conservation capacity, with 7,689 acre-feet stored out of 182,454 acre-feet. The surface sat at 1,894.11 feet, about 46 feet below the conservation pool at 1,940.20 feet. On Oct. 13 it was 4.6 percent full. A year earlier it held 12.2 percent.

Lake Nasworthy, a much smaller city reservoir, was 87.7 percent full the same day, with 8,431 acre-feet in conservation storage out of 9,615 acre-feet, and the surface only 0.83 feet below its conservation pool. The large Mid and South Concho storage pool has not refilled, even as fall rains have taken a bite out of the drought map.

A Wet October, a Drier Year, and Wheat in the Ground

Drought.gov ranks October as Tom Green County’s 26th wettest in 132 years, 1.25 inches above normal. January through October still ranks as the 59th driest, 0.49 inch below normal, which helps explain why Twin Buttes has not climbed. About 36,162 people in the county were still counted as living in drought.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Nov. 13 report for the West Central district, which includes San Angelo, said weekly rain ranged from a quarter inch to a little more than 2 inches. Cotton harvest was delayed and stood at about 44 percent complete. Winter wheat was mostly planted and up, though some fields sown into dry soil may need replanting. Stock tanks in the district still needed runoff, a familiar story after a rain that greens grass but never reaches the dam.

Hunting Dates and a Listed Burn Ban

White-tailed deer general season is open in Tom Green County, in TPWD’s North Zone. The limit is 5 deer, no more than 2 bucks, all seasons combined, and general dates run from Nov. 7, 2026, to Jan. 3, 2027. A special late season for antlerless deer and unbranched-antlered bucks follows Jan. 4 through Jan. 17. Quail season runs through Feb. 28, 2027, with a daily bag of 15. Fall turkey allows 4 birds, gobblers or bearded hens, with mandatory harvest reporting.

Texas A&M Forest Service data, as compiled by Burn Ban Texas on Nov. 13, listed a countywide burn ban, with a posted effective date of July 7, 2026. Confirm the order with the county before lighting a pile, because those listings sometimes lag.

Fort Concho and a Town Across the River

San Angelo grew up across the river from Fort Concho, the Army post established in late 1867 to replace Fort Chadbourne after that camp ran short of water. The post took the name Fort Concho in March 1868 and was abandoned on June 20, 1889. The Handbook of Texas notes that a town began to form across the river in 1870. The site is a National Historic Landmark.

West Texas Land Prices

The Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M groups Tom Green County in its West Texas region. The second quarter 2026 report, still the latest, showed a regional median of $3,008 an acre, a record, 14.29 percent above a year earlier, on 533 sales and a typical tract of 409 acres. Wells, tanks, wheat pasture and hunting will pull a San Angelo-area ranch off that median, so a price opinion should rest on comparable sales.

Call Our Brokers and Agents

For a sale, a purchase or a grazing lease in Tom Green County, call Lee, Lee & Puckitt at 325.655.6989 or visit llpranchland.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is a ranch Broker for Tom Green County property? Lee, Lee & Puckitt, based in San Angelo, handles farm and ranch sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions in Tom Green County and across the Concho Valley.

How can I find land for sale in Tom Green County? Review listings at llpranchland.com and call 325.655.6989 with the acreage, water and use you have in mind.

What should the best ranch Broker for Tom Green County offer? Closed sales in similar Concho Valley country, a clear read on wells and hunting, and a price built from comparables rather than a regional median alone.

Has the drought ended in Tom Green County? Not entirely. About 32.8 percent of the county remains in moderate drought on the Nov. 10 map, even as Twin Buttes sits at only 4.2 percent full.

About Lee, Lee & Puckitt

Lee, Lee & Puckitt works from San Angelo and began in Bronte in 1962. Our Brokers and Agents handle ranch and farm sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions.

Sources

Photo: USDA NRCS Texas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twin_Buttes_Reservoir_is_the_final_resting_place_of_most_of_the_water_that_makes_its_way_through_the_Middle_Concho_and_Spring_Dove_Creek_region_of_the_watershed._(25086493986).jpg). Cropped.

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