Drought Declaration Expanded in Eastern Kansas by Governor
Drought conditions in the western half of Kansas have improved since the start of May when much of the area was experiencing widespread dryness. However, the eastern half of the state has continued struggling with moisture prompting Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer to add 22 counties into a drought emergency designation.
The designation of drought emergency means counties are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes. They also become eligible for water in some Federal reservoirs.
Reports of low feed supplies and declining water availability for livestock helped spur the decision.
There are currently 72 counties in drought emergency, they are as follows (new counties added in bold):
Anderson
Atchison
Barber
Barton
Bourbon
Brown
Butler
Chase
Cherokee
Clark
Clay
Coffey
Comanche
Cowley
Crawford
Dickinson
Doniphan
Douglas
Edwards
Ellsworth
Finney
Ford
Franklin
Geary
Grant
Gray
Greenwood
Hamilton
Harper
Harvey
Haskell
Hodgeman
Jackson
Jefferson
Johnson
Kearny
Kingman
Kiowa
Labette
Leavenworth
Lincoln
Linn
Lyon
Marion
Marshall
McPherson
Meade
Miami
Montgomery
Morris
Morton
Nemaha
Neosho
Osage
Ottawa
Pawnee
Pottawatomie
Pratt
Reno
Rice
Riley
Saline
Sedgwick
Seward
Shawnee
Stafford
Stanton
Stevens
Sumner
Wabaunsee
Washington
Wyandotte
Kansas is one of eight states that is experiencing the highest ranking of drought known as “exceptional drought” by the Drought Monitor. The other states according to the Aug. 8 Drought Monitor are Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.
The following map shows the counties in Kansas that are listed in the drought declaration and counties that have improved:
Wyatt Bechtel
Tue, 08/14/2018 – 14:27
Category
Kansas
Dairy (General)
Hogs (General)
Beef (General)
Drought
Comments
Drought
Kansas
News Article
Image Caption
Cows drinking from water tanks.
Image Credit
Wyatt Bechtel
Source: Dairy Herd