Impacts Summary, April-June 2009: CA, TX, FL Hit Hardest

This information is summarized from the Drought Impact Reporter, online since July 2005 at http://droughtreporter.unl.edu.

California, Texas, and Florida had the greatest number of drought impacts between April 1 and June 30, followed by Minnesota, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, where drought was developing. We added more than 400 impacts to the Drought Impact Reporter in the second quarter of the year, based on scanning thousands of reports from media, government, and individuals. In Florida, fire and the diminished water supply ranked as the main concerns, while in Minnesota, low water levels affected recreational opportunities, and in New Mexico and Wisconsin, wildfires posed problems.

California
California’s water and agricultural woes continue with many farmers not receiving their usual allotment from water agencies, although allocations were revised upward. Restricted pumping from the San Joaquin Delta and environmental issues are contributing to the current water shortage. Social impacts for unemployed farm workers persist as fallowed fields offer little hope of work and paychecks in the near future. Southern California is preparing for a summer of reduced water supplies and resulting water restrictions.

A sample of the impacts experienced in California from April to June 2009:

April

• Residents in Sonoma and Mendocino counties were ordered to cut their water use in half through September 2009.
• Environmental activists sued the state’s Department of Water Resources, Natural Resources Agency, and the governor of California over the Drought Water Bank.
• Thousands of farm workers marched from Mendota to the San Luis Reservoir to raise awareness of unemployment and social difficulties arising from the lack of irrigation water.
• The Metropolitan Water District announced plans to cut water deliveries to Southern California by 10 percent effective July 1.

May

• Kern and Tehama counties were seeking federal disaster declarations.
• Small towns on the west side of California’s Central Valley were struggling with social issues and store closings.

June

• Tehama County ranchers lost more than $5.7 million in rangeland production since July 2008.
• Wells in Butte County are losing productivity.
• More stringent water restrictions are being enacted in Southern California.
• Marysville had a population explosion of toads because there were no fish in drought-shrunken ponds to consume the toad eggs.

Texas
Agricultural impacts remain at the forefront in Texas, with crop losses reported in various parts of the state. Ranchers are struggling to feed and maintain their livestock in such dry conditions. Wind-driven wildfires raged across the state, consuming land and taking lives. Dry conditions are leading many counties to consider fire restrictions on open burning and firework use as the Fourth of July holiday nears.

April

• About 1,500 cattle in Williamson County died from lack of food and water, becoming mired in drying ponds.
• Travis County lost 97 percent of its wheat and oat crops to drought.
• A spate of wildfires in Texas driven by winds and dry conditions burned more than 100,000 acres.

May

• Dust on power lines is increasingly leading to arcing and pole fires when mist or fog moisten the dust.
• Reports of crop failure and low yields are keeping custom harvesters away from Texas this year.

June

• In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, 75 percent of cotton, 87 percent of corn, and 44 percent of grain sorghum failed.
• About half of the wheat, corn, grain sorghum, and cotton in the Coastal Bend died in drought. Farmers were very discouraged.

Back to DroughtScape Summer 2009