No change to Oklahoma drought despite rain, at least not yet.
Despite the wave of heavy rain Tuesday night across central Oklahoma, there was little change to the drought conditions, at least not yet.
Click the image above to see the current drought levels across Oklahoma.
The reason is simple.
The cut off for drought data for the weekly Thursday drought update is 6:00 a.m. Tuesday.
That being said, the heavy rain from Tuesday night is not calculated in the latest drought update, but it will be include in the next drought update.
What kind of changes can you expect to see in the next drought update that includes Tuesday’s heavy rain?
The most noticeable change will be the drought levels along the I-44 corridor where the heaviest rain fell, and across parts of central Oklahoma near El Reno and Kingfisher.
Expect to see at least one drought level drop in that area.
For example, the severe drought level in Oklahoma City may drop one level to a moderate drought.

by Ly Nguyen, originally posted on April 4, 2016

 

Since the end of 2015, unusually dry conditions and a shortage of rainfall have seriously affected Viet Nam. These conditions which are associated with El Niño, have led to severe drought  in parts of the central, central highlands and southern regions of the country, including the Mekong Delta. Some water levels are at the lowest recorded in 90 years.

“In 2015, there was lower than average rainfall during the rainy season which ended two months earlier than in previous years. Water shortage has been compounded by saltwater intrusion. Salinity is four times higher than seasonal averages,” said Phan Duy Le, Vice Chairman of Quoi Dien commune in Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province. “The consequences are very concerning. The drought and salty water have been threatening crops and agricultural production, and most importantly, access to drinking water for local people.”

Saltwater intrusion has affected fifty percent of the Mekong Delta region, reaching 70-90 kilometer inland, 20-25 kilometers further than seasonal averages.

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society has been monitoring the situation in coordination with the Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (NCNDPC) for months. They estimate that over 400,000 households have been affected to date, including over 195,000 households who have no access to safe water.

In the Southern Central region, 23,000 hectares of rice paddy (accounting for 45 percent of total farming land) had to stop production. In the Mekong Delta, 160,000 hectares of rice land has been damaged with up to 500,000 hectares of rice paddy in total under threat due to a lack of water. At least 300,000 households (1.5 million people) have not had no income for several months due to the impact of the situation on their livelihoods.

“I have never experienced such a drought and salinity in my life,” said 65-year-old Vo Thi Hoa, who is living with her husband and two nephews in Quoi Dien. “Norrmally, safe drinking water remains available and could be stored in January. I have never bought water before but so far I have had to buy it three times”.

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society has released VND 4.2 billion (USD 188,000) from its emergency fund for the initial response to support 11,000 households in 11 provinces with bottled water, water storage containers and water purification tablets. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is also supporting the response with funds from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society has launched a joint campaign with the NCNDPC titled “Together for the communities affected by drought and saltwater intrusion in the central highlands and the Mekong Delta.” An SMS fundraising campaign is also underway to further support the response efforts in affected communities.

“The Viet Nam Red Cross Society is well placed to continue our work with the authorities, informing communities on the best measures to take for their own health and safety and ensuring they have clean water,” says Doan Van Thai, Viet Nam Red Cross Society Secretary General. “Yet there are many families in need across the country and we need to be prepared for the number to increase.”

While water and food remain immediate needs, in the medium and long term support will be needed to maintain the supply of clean water and educate and create awareness around good hygiene practises and sanitation. Help may also be needed to boost peoples’ livelihoods, such as through the purchase of seedlings to replant lost crops.

El Niño has been affecting a number of Southeast Asian countries since the last quarter of 2015. Viet Nam is one of the most severely affected, largely as a consequence of higher temperatures and below-average precipitation during the rainy season. 39 out of the countries 63 provinces have been affected by drought and saltwater intrusion, of which 12 provinces have declared drought and saltwater intrusion emergencies at different levels

Bank Leumi Board Reinstates Dividend After Six-Year Drought.
Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. will pay a dividend for the first time in six years after shoring up its finances with asset sales and measures to lower costs, including job cuts.
Israel’s second-biggest bank will pay 20 percent of profits starting in the first quarter, according to an emailed statement.
"The high capital adequacy we have reached will enable further expansion," Chief Executive Officer Rakefet Russak-Aminoach said in the statement.
Boosting dividends is a consistent theme for Israeli banks, which for years have lagged their European peers in terms of payouts as a percentage of share price.
Combined with high expenses relative to their incomes, the low dividend yield has depressed their shares, with the price-to-book ratio of the Tel Aviv Bank Index trailing that of the MSCI Europe Banks Index, despite trading near a record-high.
Reinstating the dividend caps a year in which Leumi saw profit dip 2 percent to 2.79 billion shekels ($772 million).
Fourth-quarter income rose 3 percent to 443 million shekels.
The bank recorded a 40 percent increase in a provision for bad loans for the quarter, though at 46 million shekels it was well below its competitors.
Leumi gained 0.6 percent to 16.17 shekels at 11:25 a.m. in Tel Aviv, compared to a decline of 0.4 percent in Israel’s benchmark TA-35 Index.

Rains Having Impact, But Drought Not Over Yet.
The rain and snow storms that have hit during March have had an impact on Connecticut’s two-year-long drought, according to experts, but they point out 2017’s precipitation totals are still below normal.
Federal climate experts are continuing to list 42.19 percent of Connecticut as in “severe drought,” and another 46 percent in “moderate drought,” and the remainder of the state as in “abnormally dry” conditions.
Since Jan. 1, this region has gotten 8.87 inches of snow and rain, which is about half an inch below normal for the period, Dunham said.
In mid-February, 28.4 percent of Connecticut was still listed in extreme drought, according to the official U.S. Drought Monitor website.
Increased rain and snow during the first week in March eliminated that extreme drought category for Connecticut – making it the first time without any extreme drought in this state since November 2016.
State Department of Public Health records show that reservoir levels around the state have also increased significantly in the last couple of months.
The agency’s status report shows that, as of February, reservoirs across Connecticut were at an average of 91.5 percent of capacity.
The last few weeks of rain and snow have finally begun to have an impact on Connecticut’s two-year-long drought, eliminating the only remaining pocket of “extreme drought” in this state, according to federal weather experts.
But National Weather Service experts point out that, despite all the recent rain, precipitation in the Hartford region for March has remained slightly below normal.

The Patriot Ledger @nsimpson_ledger NORWELL – The 10 groundwater wells that supply Norwell’s water are about where they should be this time of year, but longtime Water Superintendent John McInnis says he isn’t taking any chances.
"Because of the experience we had last year, we’re going to be diligent in monitoring those groundwater levels," said McInnis, who at one point last year feared he might not have enough water to keep up with the demands of the town’s 10,000 residents.
More than a week into a wet spring, most of Massachusetts is still dogged by an unprecedented drought that took hold last summer and held on even as the snow began falling this winter.
More than 66 percent of the state remains in a "severe drought," according to to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and state officials recently put out a request for residents to continue limiting water use ahead of the dry season.
"We’re just keeping a close eye on it and we’ll see how it looks."
Restrictions on water use are routine in many Massachusetts towns during the summer months, but last year saw unprecedented measures in some towns as reservoirs and aquifers were drained to levels no one had ever seen before.
"There was a concern we could actually runs some of the wells dry," said McInnis, the Norwell water superintendent Those fears began to ease as fall turned into winter, but the drought itself did not.
Snow pack levels were also below normal this winter, but Rao, who heads up the state Drought Management Task Force, said the wet start to the spring has helped ease drought conditions in some areas.
The Boston area had received 10.7 inches of precipitation so far this year as of Wednesday, less than a quarter inch more than normal, according to the National Weather Service.
That’s been enough for many water management agencies to get back on their feet.

by Danstan Kaunda, originally posted on June 8, 2016

 

KAZUNGULA, Zambia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Munji Malambo and his younger brother used to wake up at 5 a.m. every day to fetch water for their family and livestock. With the nearest working well over two kilometers away, the boys often missed school as they carried enough water home.

That changed when, earlier this year, the government installed a solar powered-borehole at Malambo’s school, the Simukombo Primary School, in southern Zambia’s drought-prone Kazungula District.

Now the local community has quick and easy access to clean groundwater. And Malambo, 16, and his 200 classmates can spend their days learning instead of toting water.

The new well is part of a government project to bring water to the Ndemena and Mabole communities, both of which are among the hardest hit by drought in the district.

The aim of the project, launched in 2015, is to build the resilience to climate change of a county suffering prolonged and unpredictable droughts.

“Before this (borehole) we used to walk long distances every morning to get water before coming back to go to school,” Malambo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Most of the shallow wells in the area had dried up and the closest one was two kilometers away. Sometimes the water would get very dirty and not safe to drink.”

The Ndemena Water Supply Community Project, funded by the Zambian government through the country’s Climate Change Secretariat (CCS) – an agency tasked with developing climate resilience and adaptation in the country – has since installed three solar-powered boreholes in the district, at a cost of 20,000 Zambian kwacha ($2,050) each.

Dug 50 to 60 meters into the ground, the boreholes hold pumps that run on energy from 300-watt solar panels and carry water up into 10,000-litre tanks.

Those involved in the project hope that over 200 such solar-powered boreholes will be installed in selected areas of the country within the next two years.

Chama Nambeye, a spokeswoman for the CCS, said the wells will help the country move toward overcoming some of the challenges brought on by climate change.

According to Zambia’s Ministry of Finance, floods and droughts have cost the country $13.8 billion over the last 30 years. Water – too much or too little – is at the heart of many of the country’s climate-related problems.

Ensuring that drought-prone regions have sustainable access to water is “essential,” Nambeye said.

“These boreholes are not only inexpensive to operate, but also have low maintenance costs, which makes them ideal for rural communities,” she said.

TEMPORARY FIX?

Kazungula District normally receives little rainfall – an average of 600 mm (24 inches) annually. With the added impact of last season’s El Nino-induced drought, the district’s 2,500 inhabits are struggling to find enough water for their families and their cattle, officials say.

The solar-powered boreholes offer benefits beyond simply quench a community’s thirst, their backers say.

The head teacher at Simukombo Primary School, Richard Simfukwe, said that since the well began operating, the rate of waterborne diseases within the community has fallen, while class attendance has improved to above 70 percent.

“Drought this year has worsened compared to the last three seasons, but the provision of a water supply near the school means reduced class absenteeism because (students) have enough time to stay in the school,” Simfukwe said.

But there are doubts that the boreholes can continue to provide enough water throughout the year to an ever-growing number of people in need. According to USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the current season is Zambia’s driest in 35 years.

The most recent statistics from the World Food Program (WFP) show that over 14 million people in southern Africa face growing hunger as a result of drought sweeping across the region.

In Kazungula, water levels are dropping in a nearby river and shallow wells have dried up, forcing more locals and their livestock to walk to Simukombo Primary School to get their water.

“The challenge of constantly providing water to both humans and some 2,000 cattle within the community is still there,” said Simfukwe, who is also a livestock farmer.

WaterAid Zambia, a non-government organization, argues that solar-powered boreholes are not necessarily enough to protect rural communities from increasing drought.

“As we move towards the dry season in the coming month or two, we will definitely be water insecure as a country, particularly when small streams and rivers dry up,” said Pamela Chisanga, WaterAid country representative for Zambia.

She said that in some areas of the county even boreholes drilled 60 meters deep are at risk.

“We should find other options of getting a water supply to rural communities other than drilling boreholes everywhere,” she said.

She said making communities aware of the need to protect forests in order to preserve rainfall was key.

“Because of lack of energy, we have a lot of trees being cut down for charcoal. This has an impact on natural water bodies such as rivers and springs and on ground-water recharging,” Chisanga said.

(Reporting by Danstan Kaunda; editing by Jumana Farouky and Laurie Goering :; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit news.trust.org/climate)

Somalia’s drought once again has thousands on the move.
In this photo taken Tuesday, March 28, 2017, newly displaced Somali mother Sahra Muse, 32, comforts her malnourished child Ibrahim Ali, 7, in their makeshift shelter at a camp in the Garasbaley area on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia.
Drought-stricken families facing a hunger crisis are on the move, trying to reach international aid agencies that cannot distribute food in areas under the control of al-Shabab, Somalia’s homegrown Islamic extremist rebels who are affiliated to al-Qaida.
With no food at the camp and no money for transport, Muse is preparing another day’s hike to the capital, Mogadishu, to help her son.
Somalia’s current drought is threatening half of the country’s population, or about 6 million people, according to the United Nations.
Drought-stricken families are on the move, trying to reach points where international aid agencies are distributing food.
Each day, dozens of new arrivals come into this camp.
So far, no food has been offered to him at the camp, he said.
He barely sleeps and when he does he has nightmares since his wife died of hunger on the trek to the camp.
“I had no other option but to leave,” Salah said, carrying one of his children near his newly erected hut.

‘Weather whiplash’ triggered by changing climate will degrade Midwest’s drinking water.
Now, researchers at the University of Kansas have published findings in the journal Biogeochemistry showing weather whiplash in the American Midwest’s agricultural regions will drive the deterioration of water quality, forcing municipalities to seek costly remedies to provide safe drinking water to residents.
"As rainfall patterns change with climate change, it’s predicted there will be more times of drought, and more times of excessive rainfall — really big storms," said Terry Loecke, assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Kansas and lead author of the new investigation.
"Farmers put on their normal amount of fertilizer, but when we have a drought, plants don’t grow as big and don’t take up as much nitrogen," Loecke said.
But when floods occur, nitrogen is washed into surface waters such as tributaries that feed into rivers.
"But as soon as you wet it, like when you wring a sponge, the nitrogen can flood into the rivers."
"The drinking water is a real problem, especially in Des Moines," Burgin said.
"The average person will pay more to have clean drinking water, like in the city of Des Moines," Loecke said.
"A city can’t predict how many days they’ll have to run a nitrate-removal facility.
According to analysis by the Des Moines Register, 30 percent of them will have this problem — and most don’t have the tax bases to support huge nitrate-removal facilities."

Melting polar ice, rising sea levels not only climate change dangers.
Climate change from political and ecological standpoints is a constant in the media and with good reason, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist, but proof of its impact is sometimes found in unlikely places.
"Discussions of climate change usually are focused on changes occurring in polar and temperate zones, but tropical regions also are expected to experience changes in regional precipitation," said Dr. Kirk Winemiller, AgriLife Research fisheries scientist and Regents Professor in the department of wildlife and fisheries sciences at College Station.
Winemiller and his Brazilian colleagues analyzed a long-term database, 1999-2014, of fish survey statistics and hydrology in the central Amazon and discovered a direct correlation between water quantity and quality with the types and number of fish species found.
"The change occurred following the severe drought in that region in 2005, and the hydrologic regime and fish assemblage have not returned to their previous states since," Winemiller said.
The research report, "Simultaneous abrupt shifts in hydrology and fish assemblage structure in a floodplain lake in the central Amazon," was published recently in Scientific Reports, the online publication of Nature.
"Since the drought, many fish species are less abundant within the study area, while others have increased.
Winemiller said the changes within the fish species appeared to be associated with how the fish species respond differently to changes in habitat quality and the connectivity of the river channel with aquatic habitats in the floodplain at various water levels and times of the year.
"It shows that future fisheries management in tropical regions will need to account for how changes in precipitation and hydrology influence ecological factors affecting fish stocks."
Original written by Steve Byrns.

A panel of state senators on Tuesday took up two bills developed in response to drying-up water wells across arid Nevada.
Senate Bill 271 would protect water for households and livestock during drought restrictions.
State Engineer Jason King says one in five private wells are in areas where his office has approved more water rights than there is water available.
They’re at risk of drying up.
Residents argue they should not be punished for the government’s miscalculation.
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