Archived Water News Headlines | Drought

The following news headlines and archives cover the first three quarters of 2003. Some of the archives may have decayed links.

Drought Conditions

Nebraska
Inadequate snowfall in the Rockies forces closure of Nebraska irrigation rights -- Farmers who irrigate 224,000 acres of land will be barred from taking water from five canals off the North Platte River starting the end of August. Normally, allocations last until the end of September. Statewide, 1,884 permits to divert water from a stream or river for irrigation were closed by the Department of Natural Resources as of July 23, said spokeswoman Susan France. Those are the most recent figures available. [Source: Panhandle farmers hope for rains, Journal Star - 8/16/03]

Montana
Hopes Wilt in Montana -- Spring wheat and barley were hard hit after a searing hot summer, and prospects are drying up for this fall's planting season as well, as soil moisture evaporates and irrigators shut down their canals early. The Greenfields Irrigation District in Fairfield shut off its canals two and a half weeks earlier than usual and one of the earliest shutoffs in its 98-year history. Its source, Gibson Reservoir, is at 5,000 acre-feet, the lowest it's allowed to drop in order to preserve fish populations. [Source: Heat turns bounty to bust : Spring wheat, barley wilt hopes after promising winter harvest, By KAREN OGDEN, Tribune Regional Editor, Great Falls Tribune - 8/16/03]

Nebraska
More Irrigation Pumps Shut Off From Big Blue River -- More pumps are being shut off from the Big Blue River. River levels are so low that notices will go out to about 500 farmers who use the water for their crops. Already this week, 150 farmers have been told to shut down their pumps. [Source: The Omaha Channel - 8/13/03]

Arizona
This past July, Arizona experienced one of its hottest and driest months in recorded history, worrying water providers who observe that reservoirs are at half capacity. According to the Ahwatukee Foothills News, Phoenix officially entered Stage 1 of its four-stage drought management plan this January.. Stage 1 brings a mandatory 5 percent reduction in water usage by city departments along with a voluntary 5 percent reduction by customers. If the drought intensifies, the city could shift into Stage 2 that would mandate a 10 percent cut by city departments and a voluntary 10 percent reduction by the public. Phoenix government has reduced water usage by 30 percent and the public has cut usage by 5 percent.

Colorado
According to Denver Channel 7 on August 8, the state is 1 million acre-feet short of the 6.5 million it should have in reservoirs. Restrictions on water use will remain in place as the state attempts to recover from one of the worst droughts in state history. Legislators say that wells are going dry and caving in, land is being abandoned, and cloud seeding does not help.

New Mexico
The Ruidoso News reported that effective August 4, 2003, Ruidoso officials banned all lawn irrigation. The continuing drought, tenuous storage tank levels and the rapid consumption of water rights from the Ruidoso River watershed prompted the move. Noncompliance could result in a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

The West
UPDATE - Spring drought seen in US West, Plains - NOAA (03/20/03 - Reuters) - A severe drought parching the Midwest, northern Plains and western United States will not improve in coming months because of light snowfall and scant spring rains, federal weather forecasters said on Thursday.

Colorado
Aurora imposes garden ban (02/12/03 - Denver Post) - Residents will have to leave their vegetable and flower gardens bare this summer as the city enacts the area's toughest drought restrictions.

The West
Ranchers suffering due to drought (02/07/03 - Houston Chronicle) - The West's persistent drought is forcing many ranchers to quit or send their cattle to greener pastures.

Relief and Planning

Nevada
Vegas golf courses told to limit water use due to drought (8/6/03 - San Diego Union Tribune) - LAS VEGAS – Twenty-five southern Nevada golf courses must cut water use 10 percent or face potential fines under a drought plan that goes into effect Sept. 1.

Arizona
AZ Governor orders drought plan (03/21/03, The Arizona Republic) - Janet Napolitano ordered the creation of Arizona's first statewide drought management plan, calling for a detailed blueprint to address possible water shortages, damage to livestock and agriculture and potential losses from wildfire and insect infestations.

Nevada
Reno water board eases drought reserve standards (03/20/03 - Las Vegas Sun) - Directors of the Truckee Meadows Water Authority voted to prepare for only a nine-year drought, down from the existing 10-year standard and more than the eight years that officials previously proposed.

General
Drought aid holds up bill on spending (02/12/03 - Washington Times) - One major hurdle remains to passing a nearly $400 billion spending bill that would wrap up last year's unfinished budget: a dispute about $3.1 billion in disaster aid to U.S. farmers.

Arizona
Statewide water conservation plan in Arizona (02/03 - US Water News)

Drought Effects - Bark Beetle

Grizzly Bears Affected. With overall warming and the continued drought, the bark beetle is making its way to higher altitudes, such as the Yellowstone National Forest, where it has consumed at least 150,000 trees. Officials worry that the infestation is killing off the primary source of food for grizzly bears. Article: Pine beetles destroying crucial food for grizzlies (By Mike Stark, Gazette Wyoming Bureau )

Feds Pledge $5 Million. After visiting the San Bernardino National Forest last week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced the federal government will spend another $5 million to reduce wildfire danger. More than 1 million dead conifers are standing in the forest, victims of the always-present bark beetle, which has thrived on drought-stressed trees. Beneath the conifers sit dried tangles of overgrown brush and smaller plants, caused, experts say, by the flawed legacy of old forest policies that demanded 100 percent fire suppression. Experts say the conditions could produce a wildfire capable of wiping out entire communities. Article: Feds pump $5M to forest - Agriculture secretary tours devastated area (By Alan Schnepf, Staff Writer, San Bernardino County Sun)

Californians' Petition for Help. Citizens of California have an online petition for help in dealing with the bark beetle infestation. Here is the text of their petition:

The mountains in California have been invaded by a beetle that is destroying the entire population of pine trees. It is stripping the land of precious resources. Homeowners are in desperate need for the government to subsidize them in the removal of the infected trees. The fire hazard is huge. We need help immediately. The beetle can kill groves of trees in a matter of weeks. Please help us get the help we need to protect the forests and our homes.

Link: California Bark Beetle Infestation Petition

Interesting links:

US Forest Service (Southwestern Region) - Beetle Information

Arizona's NAU Study - Forest Fire In the American Southwest, Beetle Bark Outbreaks (includes a section on bark beetle control)

Published Study on Water Quality - Influence of Bark Beetle Infestation on Water Quality in the Catchment of Grosse Ohe, Bavarian Forest National Park

Drought and Extreme Weather Studies

Warming Oceans Linked to Four Year Drought

By Cat Lazaroff

(Reprinted with permission from ENS)

CAMP SPRINGS, Maryland, February 4, 2003 (ENS) - Droughts that spread across the United States, southern Europe and southwest Asia over the past four years may have been linked by a common thread: ocean conditions created by a warming climate. A new study suggests that cold sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific and warm sea surface temperatures in the western tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans worked together to cause widespread drying. 

Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) studying the 1998-2002 droughts discovered the link when they took a closer look at ocean conditions during the same time period. According to lead author Martin Hoerling, a scientist at the NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center in Boulder, Colorado, it was the "perfect ocean for drought." Drought leaves behind cracked mud near Mobile, Alabama. 

Hoerling and his colleague Arun Kumar, from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, published their findings in the January 31 issue of the journal "Science." 

During 1998-2002, a prolonged period of below normal rain and snowfall, and above normal temperatures, caused the United States to experience drought in both the southwest and western states, and along the eastern seaboard. These droughts also extended across southern Europe and Southwest Asia. "During the four year period, as little as 50 percent of the average rainfall fell in these regions," said Hoerling. He explained that this was an abrupt change for the United States from what had been ranked as the wettest decade since at least the 1890s. 

Using climate simulations, the scientists assessed how the ocean conditions over the four year period influenced climate. "We used the true monthly varying sea surface temperatures and then, using high speed computers, ran several climate models more than 50 times and averaged their responses," Kumar said. "By running them multiple times, we could identify the common, reproducible element of the atmosphere's sensitivity to the ocean." 

What the researchers found was that the tropical oceans had a substantial effect on the atmosphere. "There were unprecedented warm sea surface conditions in the western tropical Pacific, while at the same time, we had three plus consecutive years of cold La Niña conditions in the eastern tropical Pacific," Hoerling said. "Usually, the La Niña conditions would have cooled the whole ocean." However, he added, the warmth of the western Pacific during 1998-2002 "simply has no precedent in at least the past 150 years." The researchers say that the combination of the warm and cold oceans shifted the tropical rainfall patterns into the far west equatorial Pacific, leaving the mid-latitudes high and dry. 

What caused the remarkable conditions that occurred in the 1998-2002 period? The researchers say that while the cold sea surface temperatures were unusual, they were not unprecedented. But the warmth of the tropical Indian Ocean and the west Pacific Ocean was unsurpassed during the 20th century. "Climate attribution studies find that this warming (roughly one degree Celsius since 1950) is beyond that expected of natural variability and is partly due to the ocean's response to increased greenhouse gases," they wrote. "What is suggested by the atmospheric modeling results of 1998-2002 is an increased risk for severe and synchronized drying of the mid latitudes in the future, if these oceanic conditions continue to occur." 

Randall Dole, director of the NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center, said the study provides "compelling evidence for the crucial role that the tropical oceans played in producing widespread severe and sustained drought over the period 1998-2002." Dole said that while the study's primary focus was not to analyze the causes of the warming of the tropical oceans, the study does suggest that these droughts may be partly related to climate change and that further work needs to be done to completely understand the unprecedented warming of the western Pacific. Some parts of the United States, particularly the Pacific Northwest and the northeastern states, are still facing drought conditions, according to NOAA's 2003 predictions. "It is an open question whether such tropical oceanic forcings will become more prevalent during the 21st century," the researchers wrote. While current models of the interactions between oceans and the atmosphere do not offer much confidence regarding predictions of future droughts, the researchers conclude that the modeling suggests that much of the Earth could continue to face severe, simultaneous drought if tropical sea surface temperatures continue to rise or to become more variable. 

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Other Weather News

Crews bring freedom to snowbound residents (03/23/03 - CNN) - Many people got out of their Denver neighborhoods for the first time since the region's biggest snowstorm in 90 years dropped as much as 11 feet of snow.