View Full Version : How's the drought looking where you are?
Ours looks like a bad movie remake. At least a couple of communities are starting water restrictions on Monday, April 1, including Denver. The snowpack (our ONLY source of meaningful water) is at 60-70% normal after 2012 that was staggeringly below normal esp for the spring. At least this year we've had moisture in March, which is historically one of our wettest months. Last year the big cities that sit along the mountains, called the Front Range (including Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins) got 0 precip in March and wildfire season started then, too, with the North Fork Fire. This year we've already started wildfire season, which sort of never really ended though has had lulls here and there. Friends of mine who work for fire departments and natural resource or water management departments are not optimistic. Sigh. On the bright side, our front yard has not been grass for the last 10 years, after the drought of 2002. People were *literally* painting their lawns green, and I think at least one small town totally ran out of water and residents had to take sponge baths and drink bottled water shipped in.
Stupidly, water rights in Colorado prohibit legally saving water: either grey water use or rainwater container collection. Thus I have been working on passive rainwater collection (ie slowing). I plan to do more work this weekend with mulching and planting the front yard. The backyard is beyond my layperson abilities so we will need some consulting: it's very sloped and has mature trees at the crest of the hill. At least I don't really care if the sloped part is brown, and maybe for kicks I'll get some clover seed to throw down. Also I plan to use small bits of grey water that are simple and in the (ha ha) grey area: putting post-lettuce wash water on the rhubarbs, for example.
We'll see what the spring and summer bring, though snow is the best. lots of rain, especially quickly, could actually cause worse damage than low rainfall because then there may be erosion and flooding where stuff burned last year. Sigh again.
iris lilies
3-28-13, 11:38pm
Things are good here. We just, two weeks ago, recovered the groundwater from last year's drought and we are at normal.
We had a pleasingly cold winter and that fun snowfall a few days ago, ten inches! Now it nearly all gone.
So far, this is not an early spring.
Back to normal weather. SPring should be pretty.
The snow here has really helped.
still on-going. we are on water restrictions.
Wildflower
3-29-13, 7:22am
We've had 28 inches of snow in the past 2 weeks alone, so we are at least temporarily out of the drought. But local weather guy says if we go without any moisture for more than 2 weeks we'll be right back where we were...
It seems the last few years we're either flooding for months or desert dry. Gardening has been a challenge to say the least...
I am in the Denver area/front range, too. I have noticed that our water board is continuing to propose more reservoirs and storage expansions which is usually a bad deal for fish and wildlife habitat. I was involved a little in one of the proposed projects in an especially sensitive natural area. I think urban dwellers in the arid west just have face up to the fact that traditional lush landscaping just isn't in the picture, but probably the worse parts of it are the fires and effects on farmers and ranchers.
We have lucked out. Have had alot of snow and rain after last Fall. But.....who knows what will be in store for us. The weather is very inconsistent.
The Storyteller
3-29-13, 8:38am
Bad enough we are selling off almost all of our birds and ceasing production until the drought is over.
Which is ironic, since sustainable agriculture requires much less water than industrial ag.
Bad enough we are selling off almost all of our birds and ceasing production until the drought is over.
Which is ironic, since sustainable agriculture requires much less water than industrial ag.
OMG!!!! I'm sorry to hear this.
Ours is predicted to be the worst in recorded history - eclipsing the drought here of the early 1950s. We are currently allowed to water once a week but that will probably be pulled back to every two weeks or not at all. The irony is that people are still worried about their d--- lawns. My elderly neighbors on both sides both have their auto sprinklers set to go off in the middle of the nights so I am about ready to turn them in. I am currently saving our shower water in buckets to keep my new xeriscape garden alive. Honestly, I have forgotten what rain looks and smells like.
Bad enough we are selling off almost all of our birds and ceasing production until the drought is over.
Which is ironic, since sustainable agriculture requires much less water than industrial ag.
:-(. Yeah our society seems not to value local farming, still. Many times the farmers here get the short shrift, esp if they don't have the clout of a large operation. But residential areas must have green lawns! >:-(. Not sure when people will realize there are worse things than not having a green lawn.
The snow fall in the Sierras is only about 60% of normal. Irrigation districts in the central valley of California are already putting in place water conservation plans.
The drought is still very much in evidence here in Texas. I live along the coast where irrigated rice is a big crop. I live in Fort Bend county and we still are allowed some irrigation for rice but just south of us in Matagorda county rice farmers are out of luck--no water for irrigation hence no rice.
We got rain today. After DH was out transplanting, the weather cooperated and watered his transplants. It's a chilly,wet, but nice spring.
The snow fall in the Sierras is only about 60% of normal. Irrigation districts in the central valley of California are already putting in place water conservation plans. Yep, down here in the south we have our restrictions in place almost all year round but ramp them up a bit more in summer. Of course we'll just "borrow" some of your NorCal water when we have a "desperately water emergency" here in SoCal. You know, those emergencies where we need to keep our golf courses green, our water parks running, and to fill up pools for our backyard pool parties - I mean that IS a true emergency by SoCal standards you know! Fortunately more parks, greenbelts and golf courses are using reclaimed water but no so for the many pool owners.
Might need to move to St Louis...if this keeps up!
Might need to move to St Louis...if this keeps up!
You westerners are welcome here.
I'm a midwesterner through and through. I've got to have seasons and rain and greenery. I lived in the desert for a few years where everything is brown and it is just not for me.
Santa Fe and the Sangre de Cristo mountains nearby predicted to have the driest summer in 100 years.
I'm about 100 miles west of Iris and yes, we seem to be getting back to normal. Our Big pond is not quite to the levels of before, but doing very well and healthy. The back fen has recharged and has levels we haven't seen in a few years, but the county has helped in that some construction it preformed last year rerouted some water sheds our way. All the little (and big) woodland critters are thankful for the increased water and we have seen lots of deer, wood ducks, mallards, and heron on the fen.
I added a hundred little goldfish last week and will add more in a few weeks as the drought last year reduced the fen to just a few hundred feet by fall affording the heron/turtles/kingfishers a feast like they never knew! Shooting fish in a barrel comes to mind! I plan to add maybe 2 to 3 hundred more as I can bet 1/2 to 3/4 th of them won't make it to next fall. But the ones who do will be the 'founding fathers' of the whole eco system. I put them there to eat (the duckweed and mosquito larve) and be eaten, so they fulfill their purpose pretty well. But it will be a few years before it all ticks along as planned. It took about 3 years before, so I know it will again. I am patient. It will happen. In the meantime, I can skim duckweed to feed the koi in the big pond. It's all good.
I am only planting figs and some daylilies this spring as I'm still not positive the drought has gone. Maybe a linden, or an apple or two, but no more! I still have to water and tend the little babies I planted last year.
About 3/4 of Nebraska is in the exceptional drought category and most of the rest of the state is rated extreme. The long range forecast is for the drought to be "ongoing with some improvement", but still above average temps and below average pecip for the summer. Not the most encouraging forecast we've ever had, but everyone's hanging on that "some improvement" part.
For our part we are implementing all the measures we can think of to make our landscape and gardens less water intensive and to help conserve and preserve as much water as possible. We're lucky that the mature trees on our lot do a good job of shading from the really hot late afternoon sun. They are also big enough to be pretty efficient at pulling any surface moisture we get deep down into the soil.
We got a 3-4 inch rain this week - I haven't seen so much in years. As if by magic, all the plants in my new zeriscape garden are leafing out and blooming from the rain. They can only take so much chlorinated water.
Stupidly, water rights in Colorado prohibit legally saving water: either grey water use or rainwater container collection. Thus I have been working on passive rainwater collection (ie slowing).
We lived in the mountains for many years (Pitkin Co.). When I drew up plans to build a new house with all the water saving bells and whistles I ran head first into those rules. Legally speaking, the downstream owners of the water rights have some real teeth. Its the kind of thing that encourages homeowners with a slight anarchist bent to bury large tanks on the weekend when no building inspectors are around. ;)
Oh Gregg, I'm so sorry! This drought is a nasty piece of work, and I can't imagine going through another summer of the same. Pick now what's important to save, and what you can sacrifice as you can't save it all. Save the fruit/nut trees as they can give shade and food. If you can incorporate swales and berms into your landscape, you might be able to capture some of the water that would otherwise run off without catching the notice of anyone.;)
I just read a short article that says Washington's snowpack is 112% of normal, and the best in the western states. It's raining now and through the coming week, and as far as I'm concerned, it can rain for the rest of Spring. So far, we've escaped the drought.
awakenedsoul
4-5-13, 11:13pm
I'm really glad I have so many mature trees on my property, too. (As Gregg mentioned.) Our summers get into the triple digits, and having my enormous pines, fruitless mulberry, and poplar trees really changes the climate. You can feel the oxygen. The pomegranate bush I planted 15 years ago is now about ten feet by ten feet. It's really powerful. For some reason, many of my neighbors who are in construction get rid of all their trees. I don't get it. I guess it's to preserve their roofs. Many of the houses here just have dirt, nothing growing out in front. But the gardeners are slowly changing that. We're on a shared water system, so I guess it helps with conservation.
YAY! We got ~20 inches of snow this week and the mountains got nearly 3 feet!!! Probably not enough to end the drought completely and fill all the reservoirs but certainly enough to have April be the first month in about a year where there were no wildfires in my county. And, snowpack percent is now in the 90s!!!! Also will not have to water anything for at least a week or more....and we may get more snow on Monday. A bunch of people have been grumbling about being ready for spring, but I say I can stand winter a little longer. Also, despite some, um, interesting drives to work this week (ever go ice skating in your car?) I would say 20 inches of snow is way better than a bunch of rain. <<happy dance>>:~)
iris lily
4-18-13, 11:29pm
We continue to get good rain, 1" yesterday, 3" today. Things are wet and soppy and I can't work out in the garden, but that's fine, I just want to get the water table up again.It's a very late spring, very late. There is one iris that always is in bloom on April 24. I don't see signs of stalk yet, so I don't think she will be in bloom then.
My area has gotten nearly 7" today. It's been pronounced we're out of the drought. But the flooding has been awful.
Our county just posted an emergency.......so many roads covered, after about 5" of rain on an already saturated ground. On our property, half of the property is totally under water. Even so.........we could still have a drought this summer.
fidgiegirl
4-19-13, 2:19pm
You guys in IL/IN must have gotten what we got as rain. Here we have about another 8"-12" of snow. So the drought is looking like a non-issue, at least for now . . . the ground did thaw sufficiently in our area that it should be able to suck up most of this moisture rather than running much of it off.
Gardenarian
4-22-13, 5:59pm
We had a little rain earlier in April but it is dry and 80 degrees in the SF Bay Area today. This year's precipitation has been only 35% of normal. Very, very dry.
We had a little rain earlier in April but it is dry and 80 degrees in the SF Bay Area today. This year's precipitation has been only 35% of normal. Very, very dry.
:( Maybe the drought's moving west? Sounds like our 2012.
And yeah, watching the Midwest flooding. Ugh. When it rains it pours....not sure if it's better that it's happening now (presuming it normalizes) because I'm guessing farmers haven't yet planted?
Very glad to read this, though the reservoirs still need to get filled: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20130423/NEWS01/130423001/Snowpack-close-100-Northern-Colorado
I would be very happy if our snow turned to rain here. But I'm grateful for any sort of precipitation right now.
I just heard on the radio that the LA area only got 5 inches of rain this year and that is the 5th lowest rainfall ever recorded. A serious drought and water restrictions yet people still have their green lawns, freshly filled swimming pools, community ghreen belts of lush lawns, and lovely green golf courses! That may change soon with more restrictions, water rationing and dreaded fireseason (already here!).
Feast or Famine!
Here's how the drought is looking here! Unbelievably wet spring. Doesn't mean we won't still have a drought this summer though. The weather is bipolar!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/IMG_0123_zpsba351e9d.jpg
Wildfires and 97 degrees across Calif. Glad I am free to leave for coolerr, greener pastures - the giant redwoods - or I'd go insane in SoCal now. It's going to be a very bad year here I'm sure. Drought and many many more wildfires. I'll switch with you Cathy :-) . Flooding rain sounds pretty darn good right now :-)
3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, that's how the drought looks. My iris are unhappy, they loved last year's drought. They are desert plants.
3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, that's how the drought looks. My iris are unhappy, they loved last year's drought. They are desert plants.
Ha. Ours look a little crushed from the snow. No blooms yet but I think they usually go later. There are some sad tulips around, though.
Spartana, best wishes for CA! I hope you don't live in a fire area!
Raining here.Under a flood watch.The creek I drive thru was geting up this morning.Suppose to keep raining thru tomorow.I just got most my garden in so I reckon it come just in time
This area had the highest temperatures in the country yesterday (>85). I've had enough already. I hope this isn't a harbinger of things to come.
ApatheticNoMore
5-7-13, 1:15pm
This area had the highest temperatures in the country yesterday (>85). I've had enough already. I hope this isn't a harbinger of things to come.
Yea was really hot even though I was up north the last few days (northern cali). But it was pretty funny to hear people complain about the heat all the time there, haha - because much of the time I barely even felt it - it was not what I consider hot. Has cooled down though. I am getting a bit tired of summer already and much more still to come.
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