Drought declaration?

WORLAND – The Washakie County Commissioners met on Tuesday, July 21, at their regularly scheduled meeting and discussed the dry conditions impacting Washakie County and drafting a letter to send to Governor Mark Gordon to seek declaration of a drought and how to move forward with the process.

Representatives present for the discussion were from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA) which is a part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) and University of Wyoming Extension Office.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), droughts are designated based on their severity from a designation D0 through the worst possible scenario of a D4.

“Even if it starts raining I don’t think it is going to save them at this point,” Washakie-Hot Springs County FSA Executive Director Lisa Bower said regarding producers in the county.

According to the Northern Wyoming News archives, the last time that a drought was declared in Washakie County was 2014 and was classified as a “severe” drought which would equate to a D2. Bower believes that the county is at least at D2 and may be past that designation and fall under a D3 drought, A D3 designation, according to the NCEI, would indicate an area where major crop and pasture losses are common, fire risk is extreme and widespread water shortages can be expected requiring restrictions.

According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, Washakie County is currently designated as a primarily D1 zone.

Up to eight weeks at a D2 level is the required length of time to receive payments for producers, and four weeks at D3 is required for additional relief. Urgency is required as it is important to get the designation started early before reports are required on October 15.

Bower told the commissioners that some springs in the county are running at 50% along with other creeks such as Gooseberry and Nowood creeks being way down in capacity.

“I mean there is no question that it is dry and it has been for a long time since March and April,” Commissioner Aaron Anderson said.

Commissioner Fred Frandson said that one of the biggest indicators that the area is in a drought is the Neiber Fire that that burned 17,545 acres this last week, along with recent fire restrictions that have been placed by the Bighorn National Forest and Bureau of Land Management. Related stories regarding the fire and these restrictions can be found on A1 and B5, respectively.

At this time the county is planning to follow the current burning regulations that have been in effect since 2016, with Washakie County Fire Warden Chris Kocher having the ability to ask the commissioners to place bans.

The commissioners would discuss with representatives how they would be able to gather information from producers in the area in order to determine the severity of the drought and be able to present that information in a letter to the governor. Preliminary reports would be important to help provide more data on the situation.

Bower told them she would be able to gather some information through the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) to provide some information on the precipitation in the area for the declaration.

A program called Document the Drought produced through the USDA in partnership with the NOAA and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, allows producers to provide information regarding the drought as a part of the U.S. Drought Monitor.

In this program, producers are able to; provide a written description of drought impacts on livelihood, activities, etc.; select categories to show losses and gains as a result of the drought; report on the duration of the drought event; select affected places – geographic areas ranging from an entire state to a small area within a state; submit images that document the drought and its impact, and provide contact information which includes an option to keep the information confidential.

The reporting tool for producers to record these effects can be found at droughtreporter.unl.edu/submitreport/.

Other information from producers and even recreationists in the area to help this process can be sent to [email protected].

The commissioners approved a motion that would allow them to sign and send a letter to the governor requesting the declaration, once preliminary information was compiled from Bower that indicated a drought declaration should be made.