The Governor’s Drought Team examines continued drought conditions as summer temps climb.
Today Governor Jeff Colyer updated the Drought Declaration for Kansas counties with Executive Order 18-16 (attached).
“I’ve heard many concerns from producers and have seen the conditions first hand.
We appreciate our federal partners at the Natural Resources Conservation Service as well as the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts— when we asked them to identify additional sources of assistance they responded quickly to help producers address these extreme drought conditions.” The updated drought declaration has 50 counties in emergency status, 27 in warning status while 28 counties are in watch status.
This action was recommended by Tracy Streeter, Director of the Kansas Water Office (KWO) and Chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team.
“With reported livestock water shortages, low flows at some of our reservoirs and monthly outlooks favoring persistent drought we know it’s imperative to monitor conditions closely,” said Tracy Streeter.
Individuals and communities need to contact KWO for a water supply request prior to any withdrawals from lakes.
They will, in turn, be referred to the appropriate office to obtain the necessary permit to withdraw the water.
Effective immediately: Declare a Drought Emergency, Warning or Drought Watch for the counties identified below; Authorize and direct all agencies under the jurisdiction of the Governor to implement the appropriate watch or warning level-drought response actions assigned in the Operations Plan of the Governor’s Drought Response Team.
# # # As the state’s water office, KWO conducts water planning, policy coordination and water marketing as well as facilitates public input throughout the state.