Drought and the United States

The United States, like almost every other country in the world has been plagued by drought at various times in its history. For example the Great Depression was caused in part by the droughts in 1934, 1936, and 1939-40. Because of long-term drought conditions and poor land management practices, the "Dust Bowl" was caused over large parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Despite government involvement, the desperate situation of most farmers was not resolved until the droughts ended. After World War II, the south and mid-western United States suffered a severe five year drought that left crops depleted by as much as fifty percent. According to the National Climate Data Center (NCDC), "The 1950s drought was characterized by both low rainfall amounts and excessively high temperatures. Texas rainfall dropped by 40% between 1949-1951 and by 1953, 75% of Texas recorded below normal rainfall amounts. Excessive temperatures heated up cities like Dallas where temperatures exceeded 100°F on 52 days in the summer of 1953."
A three year drought covered thirty-six percent of the United States in the late 1980s. Although that seems insignificant compared to the seventy percent of the Great Depression, the 1980s drought was the most expensive natural disaster, an estimated $39 billion in losses, to affect the United States up to that point. In 1988, the drought had spread over the Great Plains area and much of the eastern half of the United States. This year was also memorable because of the number of forest fires in Yellowstone Park. Over fifty fires started as a direct result of the dry conditions. Almost eight hundred thousand acres were affected by the 1988 summer fires, which burned for months and were not extinguished until rain and snow returned to the region in September. Although the western part of the United States is typically the recipient of drought-like conditions, the turn of the millennium brought multi-year droughts to the eastern part of the United States including New York, New England, Washington DC, and even the habitually wet states of Georgia and Florida.
The most serious drought facing our country this year is California's severe drought. Below average precipitation for the last three years coupled with extremely low reservoirs combine to paint a critical picture for the immediate future of California's agriculture and urban scene. Understanding the seriousness of drought situations and what you can do to help conserve water is very important for the future of America's water supply.

For more information about California's drought, please visit www.centralbasin.org