The drought continues

[daugen]

Despite Heavy Rains, Drought Persists | Weather Underground

my heart goes out to the folk in Georgia and the MidWest who seem to still be burning up.
I know farmers are always faced with weather challenges, but I wonder if some of these folk think the Dust Bowl
is coming. Will our future require substantially more irrigation? Do we have the water resources to support it?

Wondering how you guys in the dry areas are making out, and as I worry about leaving tracks in the mud, I sure wish I could send some moisture
your way.

are there more drought resistant crops that a farmer can switch to and still work the land profitably?
And then there's the dairy industry which is really hard hit by all this too. Must be a lot of hay and feed getting trucked in.

 

[sweettractors]

We were 11 inches behind in rainfall as of 11-15-12. I am thankful to say that as of today we are caught up and back to normal. Lets hope everyone gets the rain they need. Ken Sweet

 

[daugen]

as smart as we are, which is really debatable, why on an earth that is mostly water haven't we figured out how to redistribute it properly?
Frankly I'd rather have money used on improving that situation than trying to find historic water on the Moon or Mars.

 

[murphy1244]

as smart as we are, which is really debatable, why on an earth that is mostly water haven't we figured out how to redistribute it properly?
Frankly I'd rather have money used on improving that situation than trying to find historic water on the Moon or Mars.

You know there's a political joke in there somewhere.

 

[dave1949]

as smart as we are, which is really debatable, why on an earth that is mostly water haven't we figured out how to redistribute it properly?
Frankly I'd rather have money used on improving that situation than trying to find historic water on the Moon or Mars.

LOL First, we would have to be smart enough to go where the water is, not where it isn't.

 

[lakngulf]

You know there's a political joke in there somewhere.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[DKCDKC]

Right on dave1949. Southern California ... Millions of people living in a desert. Water brought in from more fertile areas hundreds of miles away.

Like most raised on a farm, I had drought. We went through almost five years of drought here in Virginia the first years of this century. I hated it. There is something about hearing the rain, feeling it on your skin that is so essential to comfort and happiness.

We're behind in rainfall for last year and this... Hoping for spring rains to get us back on track. Big snowstorm forecast yesterday gave us an inch. I've about given up on snow for this year.

 

[dave1949]

Right on dave1949. Southern California ... Millions of people living in a desert. Water brought in from more fertile areas hundreds of miles away.

Like most raised on a farm, I had drought. We went through almost five years of drought here in Virginia the first years of this century. I hated it. There is something about hearing the rain, feeling it on your skin that is so essential to comfort and happiness.

We're behind in rainfall for last year and this... Hoping for spring rains to get us back on track. Big snowstorm forecast yesterday gave us an inch. I've about given up on snow for this year.

It is a shame that drought is now affecting areas where normally there is sufficient rainfall. There is still a long-term deficit of fresh water to deal with in many areas. I would rather see conservation measures than redistribution.

Every couple of years, the idea of drawing water from the Great Lakes via pipelines is floated. The Lakes are now at historic lows themselves, and a plan like that would have to involve Canada's interests too. I fear it would be an ecological disaster, the costs of which would never show up on a water bill in Arizona.

I can't see the wisdom of taking water from the Great Lakes so people can have green lawns in the desert. If the uses of redistributed water were strictly controlled, say for agriculture and food production, that would be different, maybe.

 

[daugen]

The Army Corp of Engineers is frantically dredging the Mississippi, the Great Lakes has dropped what, a foot and a half?
All those fixed docks up in the air...hello down there to the boat.

Taking water from inland reservoirs has to be a last resort. We have a couple of very big oceans out there with plenty of water for us to drink,
and we'd better started tapping it, because unlike the lakes, the oceans are going UP.
Seems to me some big solar powered desalination plants would help; guess we ought to call up our close friends in Dubai and see how they do it.

I'm a little concerned that all the fracking going on isn't going to be good for the overall water supply either.
If more land goes under irrigation, the supply below us is often questionable.

 

[Dan Hunter]

This is the second year my pond has been dry most of the year. Even the native grass has suffered. I'm beginning to worry about the viability of the hardwood trees on my ranch.

 

[brin]

Since about 1980 my part of Georgia has pretty much been in drought conditions.....sure there were some periods of heavy rain but for the most part our weather pattern changed then and has never really stabilized....not like it use to be..My small lake was created in 1950 and is spring fed...up until 2005 the spillway never stopped but on and off since 2005 the spring stops and so does the spillway...my lake was down over a foot and a half a month ago...we have had some rain and I will check it this weekend....hope everyone gets the rain they need.

 

[daugen]

Brin, this map below isn't looking too good for you. For fun, I tried to locate Mt. Vernon on Google to see if you were in the red zone, which I think you are,
and your neighboring town is Vidalia. Well....are you living in the Vidalia onion capital of the world? Or wrong Vidalia?....
That's my favorite onion! Hope the supply doesn't dry up. Drew

 

[brin]

Brin, this map below isn't looking too good for you. For fun, I tried to locate Mt. Vernon on Google to see if you were in the red zone, which I think you are,
and your neighboring town is Vidalia. Well....are you living in the Vidalia onion capital of the world? Or wrong Vidalia?....
That's my favorite onion! Hope the supply doesn't dry up. Drew

daugen....No we don't live in Viallia...we are about 40 miles east of Atlanta as the crow flies...so we are in the striped zone on your map...drought but improving....Yep, gotta love those onions ...I eat 'em everyday until they run out for the season...

 

[TripleR]

Ironically, we are 20 inches below normal rainfall and still in drought status and it is too muddy to get to our tractors and are ponds are close to full. Our issues now are ground water, this summer many wells went dry that have never gone dry and people had to drill new deeper ones. We are putting sixty more acres to grade for irrigation at a cost of $40,000; very hard to farm and make a profit otherwise. We no longer farm, but our land has to produce to keep it in the market for good renters.

As mentioned, not far from me, the Mississippi river is being blasted to get bedrock out of the way to keep river traffic flowing. Usually all that is needed is the occasional sand dredge to keep the channels clear.

A few years ago, much of this area was under flood waters and they had to blow a levy to keep cities down stream from flooding; cycle of life thing.

 

[Pete Judd]

I guess that we are lucky here in the PNW. We had 80 some days this summer without rain, but all 3 of my creeks still flowed (spring feed). Still have normal water levels in the well, and can pump out of the pond as well.

But I sure feel for those that lost their crops in the midwest, and now the barge operators on the "western rivers".

 

[Bob77064]

We were 11 inches behind in rainfall as of 11-15-12. I am thankful to say that as of today we are caught up and back to normal. Lets hope everyone gets the rain they need. Ken Sweet

Ken, we are about 50 miles south of you. We had a lot of rain over the weekend, the ground is saturated.

 

[3v0]

Historians more or less agree that the town I live in was dust bowl central. I did not grow up here but I did grow up on a farm.

If the farmers were farming with the same methods and crops used in the 30's we would most likely have the same problem. Thankfully the low and no till methods along with improved crops have reduced the amount of water needed.

In my area we have seen a lot of failed crops and some occasional blowing but nothing even close to that of the dust bowl.

Did anyone else grow up on a tractor working summer fallow ?

 

[daugen]

Drought Killing Trees Across America | Weather News | Weather Underground

this isn't good either.