A life-or-death search for water in drought-parched Somalia – in pictures.
Three years of waiting for rain that never arrived have hit centuries-old traditions of nomadic farming in Somalia, a country where seven in 10 people rely on animals or crops for their livelihoods.
Pastoralists have been forced to travel far from their homes in a constant, poorly rewarded, search for water.
In Somaliland, in the country’s north-west, once green pastures have been scorched to dust by the ongoing drought The need to find clean water becomes more acute by the day.
People dig and dig through dusty layers of dry earth in the hope of reaching a few inches of precious fluid below.
The country is close to famine, with 6.2 million people – more than half the population – in need of aid, and 1.4 million children acutely malnourished The Biyagadud dam stores run-off water, providing vital resources to about 15,000 families and their animals.
The project was initiated by the Somali government together with the United Nations Development Programme to improve resilience in a country highly vulnerable to climate change Ismail began his journey with 150 goats.
Only the small, hardy herd seen here remains; the remainder perished due to lack of water.
The Gu rains, which normally fall between April and June, are beginning to make an impact, albeit small, in parts of the country.
But the land is so parched that rainfall can cause its own problems, as indicated by reports of flash floods in the south-east

Water summary update shows no drought in Iowa.
Iowans are always concerned about the weather and what the upcoming seasons are as far was water is concerned.
For the first time in almost a year, none of Iowa is shown in any form of drought or dryness in the latest Water Summary Update.
Conditions in Iowa continue to improve, especially in the areas of southeast Iowa that had been dry over the winter.
Thanks to a wet and cool April, there are no drought designations in the state and shallow groundwater is now rated as normal to above normal across the state.
Streamflow is above normal across much of the state.
Most of April saw mild weather with temperatures above normal for most of the month.
The statewide average precipitation for April was 3.89 inches, or 0.38 inches above the 30-year normal.
This was the 13th consecutive April with above-average statewide precipitation (for recorded rainfall since 1873).
For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate Water Summary Update is a quick view of four ways to explain the status of Iowa’s water resources and observes events affecting water supplies.

Damage from the 2016 drought is evident across Alabama.
But this year, a disturbing number of trees show no signs of life.
Pines of various ages and sizes are dying, from seedlings to mature trees.
These insects generally infect the pines with associated fungi causing the trees to die more quickly.
Stone said the 2/3 of the north Alabama have been affected by the drought and beetle infestation as a result.
Some of the hardest hit counties are Calhoun, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, DeKalb and Blount.
Much of southeast Alabama is under moderate drought while Tuscaloosa, Walker and Fayette Counties in central Alabama are suffering severe drought conditions.
Lake Guntersville is an Alabama treasure!
Calera, Alabama now has four RV dealerships within three miles of each other making it a great place to shop for an RV.
A great place to visit exotic animals during spring break After a month of traveling over 2,300 miles to all 21 state parks, these are my favorites.

In Drought-hit Kenya, Selling Water Keeps City’s Young People in Business and Off Drugs.
Growing population According to the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC), the capital’s residents need 740,000 cubic meters of water daily to meet demand.
Currently only 462,000 cubic meters of water are being supplied due to declining water levels in the Ndakaini reservoir, said Philip Gichuki, NCWSC’s managing director.
The reservoir, which supplies 85 percent of the city’s water, has a capacity of 70 million cubic meters, but due to poor rains this season, it is only around 40 percent full.
For instance, the Aberdares water tower in central Kenya — the source of rivers feeding the reservoir — has received just 250 mm of rain since December, way below the 1,000 mm it would normally receive in the rainy season, said Gichuki.
"The shortage has forced us to ration water," said Nairobi County’s executive for water, Peter Kimori.
The county government plans to sink 140 boreholes in Nairobi’s fringe estates to ward off future water shortages.
According to the World Bank, there are over 4 million people — around a tenth of Kenya’s population — living in Nairobi and its suburbs.
In 1963, when Kenya attained independence, the city was home to only a third of a million people.
"[It] has not been developed since post-independence days," said Gichuki.

The league’s coaches have heard about it, and they say (on the record, at least) that they’re not concerned about it and, frankly, they’re tired of talking about it.
“You have cycles.
You have waves,” Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
I don’t think it’s panic mode yet.” Added West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen: “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.
I’m a little tired of [the media] making it a big deal.” And TCU’s Gary Patterson: “I don’t go out and recruit saying, ‘This guy, the only reason I’m going to take him is he fits the NFL model.
‘” While it’s true that the Big 12 coaches’ jobs is to find players that win games first, second and third and find players the NFL may one day like somewhere around sixth or seventh, it’s impossible to NFL’s tepid interest in Big 12 players as anything other than another problematic data point in a disturbing ongoing trend for this once proud conference.
It’d be easy to ignore last weekend’s NFL Draft if the Big 12 didn’t also produce a then-low 17 picks in 2014.
It’d be easy to ignore last weekend’s NFL Draft if the Big 12 wasn’t also consistently behind its peers in signing top 250 recruits.
There’s nothing saying that can’t change.
More than anything else, though, the conference’s fortunes won’t turn until its coaches find a way to recruit a large influx of talented players.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — From “farmageddon” to good fortune.
Five years after the drought, farmers across California’s Central Valley say produce is finally plentiful, but that doesn’t mean better prices.
But after five years of California’s devastating drought, farmers markets are ripe for business.
“The quality is exceptional this year,” said Missy Gotelli of Gotelli Farms.
And fans know it.
But perfection doesn’t come cheap.
And prices are only going up he says, to make up for the drought years.
“I don’t know they said the same year about charging more for the wet year,” said a shopper.
When farmers catch up with planting crops, after harvests were disrupted by too much water this winter.
“Because of the drought, we weren’t able to produce our black button sage but this year with the increased rain, and the super bloom, these fields are blooming with sage again,” said Ms. Zamora at the honey stand.

The City Council is getting a briefing Tuesday on proposed change to our drought contingency plan.
Under our current drought plan, we are always in Stage 1 restrictions.
The plan presented to the City Council would drop the Stage 1 threshold to 50%.
As for Stage 2 restrictions, right now that kicks in if lake totals drop below 80%.
Those measures include restrictions like watering once a week.
The new plan would allow Stage 2 to kick in at 40% lake levels.
With combined lake levels at 53.4%, under the new plan, we would not be in a drought stage.
But the city would ask residents to not water between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.
The biggest thing right now is getting the water circulating.
We don’t want it to sit in the pipes and get old," said Clarence Wittwer, City Water Department Director.

Tennessee finally declared drought-free.
For the first time in well over a year, Tennessee is officially free of drought conditions.
In its latest update, issued Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor declared that no part of Tennessee is in a drought.
That was not a surprise, considering the Drought Monitor classified only 0.52 percent of the state — the extreme southeastern corner, east of Chattanooga — as being in a moderate drought, or a level one drought, one week earlier.
During the same week in May 2016, nearly a quarter of the state was in a moderate drought.
The drought has long been over along the northern Cumberland Plateau, but southern portions of the state continued to be classified as being in a drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is a collaborative effort of several federal agencies, including the National Weather Service and the Department of Agriculture.
At its worst, part of East Tennessee was in a chart-topping exceptional drought, while the northern plateau was in an extreme drought.
At the start of the calendar year, nearly half the state was in at least a moderate drought, with 20 percent in a severe drought.
The drought conditions contributed to an unusually busy wildfire season during the months of October and November, before an uptick in the amount of rain seen across the state began to improve conditions in December.

Florida now in ‘extreme’ drought, feeding rampant wildfires.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 1:28 – About two-thirds of Florida and most of southern Georgia are in a drought, according to latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The agency upgraded areas north of Lake Okeechobee in to the "extreme" drought level, with officials warning for the potential of serious crop loss in that region.
In mid-April, a water shortage warning was issued to 8.1 million residents from Orlando to the Florida Keys.
Officials continue to encourage residents and visitors to be mindful of water usage and implement water conservation practices until conditions improve.
RELATED: Schools close as smoke billows from Pasco County, FL, fire "The warning is a proactive step toward increasing water awareness and conservation for the entire district,” district executive director Noah Valenstein said in an inter view with News4Jax.
The chance for rain in Florida’s near future is looking quite dim, with no significant relief in the next 7 to 10 days.
Wildfires and Drought As a result of the drought, wildfires have been spreading rampantly this year.
Predictive Services with the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise forecast that the state will have above normal Significant Wildland Fire Potential throughout the rest of May and into June.
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DeKalb County reminds residents that drought restrictions are in effect.
“The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management reminds businesses and residents that the county is still under a Level 2 drought response,” the county said in a press release.
More from DeKalb County: Even-numbered addresses and sites with no numbered address may water Wednesdays and Saturdays, while those with odd-numbered addresses may water on Thursdays and Sundays.
Watering is only permitted before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m.
· Irrigation of new and replanted seed, turf or plants for a period of 30 days following installation.
· Watering with drip irrigation or soaker hose.
· Water from private wells and bodies of water on property.
· Hydroseeding.
– Use of fire hydrants, except for the purposes of firefighting, public health, safety or flushing.
– Non-commercial washing, or pressure washing, of buildings or structures, except for immediate fire protection.