Latest Drought Stories

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "We don't have to slaughter America's wild horses because their herds are supposedly too large; horses can actually help us improve lands that are suffering from drought," says Peter Holter, CEO and Executive Director of the international environmental non-profit Holistic Management International (HMI, www.holisticmanagement.org). His organization works on four continents with stewards of large land holdings to restore damaged lands to...

A Texas A&M researcher said central Texas is suffering from extreme drought conditions that are expected to get worse during the next few months. Steve Quiring, a professor in the Department of Geography, said Austin is experiencing the sixth driest year ever recorded, with only 15 inches of rain this year -- half the normal year-to-date rainfall of 30 inches per year. (Hurricane) Ike didn't really make much of a dent in the drought, Quiring said Thursday in a release. And the outlook...

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) will hold a workshop in San Diego on October 21, 2008, to summarize current water conditions and preparations for the possibility that 2009 may be a dry year. The workshop is relocating to the North City Reclamation Facility from the originally announced City Administration Building. The workshop will still begin at 10 a.m. and end at approximately 2 p.m.; location information and the agenda are below. North City Reclamation Facility...

By Tanalee Smith The Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia - For farmer Malcolm Holm, water now is just like a new shovel or tractor - he has to buy it. The amount of water he is allowed to take from nearby Murrumbidgee River has dwindled to nothing for the past three years because of Australia's crippling drought. And so, except for rain he can catch and store himself, he needs to buy water for his 1,000 acres at Finley in New South Wales state, where he grows crops to feed his 600 dairy...

An anticipated increased incidence of climate-related extreme rainfall events in the Great Lakes region may raise the public health risk for the 40 million people who depend on the lakes for their drinking water, according to a new study.In a report published Tuesday (Oct. 7, 2008) in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a team of Wisconsin researchers reports that a trend toward extreme weather such as the monsoon-like rainfall events that occurred in many parts of the region this...

U.S. scientists say whether another Great Plains 1930s-type "dust bowl" again develops depends on underground water storage depth. Recent modeling results show the depth of the water table, which results from lateral water flow at the surface and subsurface, determines the relative susceptibility of regions to changes in temperature and precipitation. "Groundwater is critical to understand the processes of recharge and drought in a changing climate," said Reed Maxwell, an atmospheric...

By Matt Garfield / mgarfield@heraldonline.com A bailout plan of sorts for the fall planting season won approval Tuesday, clearing the way for homeowners in Rock Hill and much of York County to water their yards twice a week through November. The change takes effect immediately within city limits. Other jurisdictions that buy water from Rock Hill, including Fort Mill and York County, have said they would switch to the same policy. A landscaper applauded the move, saying it will encourage...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Seven southern counties are experiencing a moderate drought as West Virginia's fall forest fire season approaches. The U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday shows the worst conditions are in Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Wayne and Wyoming counties. All or portions of 33 other counties have abnormally dry conditions. Rain is expected to bring some relief today, although the National Weather Service says the most significant amounts are expected to fall...

The Department of Water Resources will hold a workshop in Santa Rosa on October 9, 2008, to summarize current water conditions and preparations for the possibility that 2009 may be a dry year. The workshop will begin at 10 am; location information and the agenda are below. Santa Rosa State Building 50 D Street, room 410 Santa Rosa Opening remarks & statewide water conditions Meteorological...

By Stephen Speckman Deseret News The past few wet winters have been good to arid Utah, but history has proven that drought conditions will be here again, and the Utah Foundation wants to warn people about wasting water. A foundation report released Thursday said that over a 29-year period, Utah was the second driest state in the nation. Nevada was the driest from 1971 to 2000, receiving less precipitation than any other state. In Utah, two thirds of all nonpotable and potable water sources...