More than half of Kansas counties were placed on the updated Drought Declaration by Gov. Sam Brownback this week. 105 counties are either in an emergency, warning or watch status according to the Hays Daily News.
“Kansans need to know no matter where you live in the state, the drought is not over. Some areas have been experiencing drought for almost five years,” Brownback said. “Continued below normal precipitation patterns are not only depleting the little soil moisture we have, but is resulting in below normal levels in our reservoirs and further decline of our stream flow conditions.”
The action was recommended by Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office and chairman of the Governor’s Drought Response Team.
“It is imperative we closely monitor conditions for the state as they could deteriorate quickly with no reserves as we start to enter warmer and drier months,” Streeter said. “Some areas of Kansas are behind more than 7 inches in soil moisture, and the seasonal outlook shows increased drought conditions shifting farther east than originally projected.”
County drought stage declarations:
Drought Emergency:
Barber, Barton, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Decatur, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Lyon, Meade, Morton, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Rice, Rush, Russell, Scott, Sedgwick, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Wichita
Drought Warning:
Cherokee, Cloud, Coffey, Crawford, Dickinson, Douglas, Elk, Greenwood, Jewell, Labette, Marion, McPherson, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Rooks, Republic, Saline, Smith, Washington, Wilson
Drought Watch:
Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Clay, Doniphan, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Marshall, Miami, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Woodson, Wyandotte.
