UN opens regional drought operations coordination centre in Baidoa.
Baidoa, 19 March 2017 – The UN has opened a drought operations coordination centre in Baidoa, the administrative capital of South West state, to promote effective and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance in the region.
The Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Vincent Lelei presided over the official opening of the centre, which will be instrumental in coordinating humanitarian efforts in the state that has been hardest hit nationwide by the drought.
The centre was opened three weeks after a similar facility was established in Mogadishu.
“The humanitarian crisis in South West state has become the worst in the whole country, particularly in Bay and Bakool and Lower Shabelle,” noted Mr. Lelei.
“Priority number two is to work with officials at the regional state and at the district level to make sure our effectiveness is at its best in ensuring that all those who need assistance for water and sanitation, health, food and nutrition are reached very, very quickly,” said Mr. Lelei.
“We know that very many children are malnourished, and we need to reach them very quickly,” Mr. Lelei said.
“I am pleased today that the discussions we have had with the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Peter de Clercq, his deputy Vincent Lelei, humanitarian actors and volunteers, and the UN team in Baidoa, have culminated in the opening of a centre that will address the unique humanitarian needs of the people of South West State,“ Mr Fiqi stated.
The acting ISWA President noted the advantages of establishing a drought operations centre in the epicentre of the ongoing humanitarian crisis instead of a distant national or foreign capital.
Latest statistics indicate that about 6.2 million people – half the total population in Somalia – are in need of humanitarian aid, and of them almost 3 million are facing crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity.

As a wildfire grew and forced evacuations west of Boulder on Sunday, the National Weather Service issued yet another red flag weather warning for the region. Forecasters cautioned about wind gusts up to 40 mph, relative humidity as low as 8 percent and the chance for rapid ignition of dry vegetation in sections of Larimer and Boulder counties. If this warning sounds familiar, it’s because forecasters have been issuing similar warnings with seeming regularity throughout this winter of strange weather. In fact, Sunday’s was the eighth red flag warning for lower Larimer County this year, according to the Wellington Fire Protection District. The warning took effect at noon and was set to expire about 7 p.m. Most of the area in Larimer, Boulder and Weld counties is abnormally dry or in a drought, according to an update last week by the U.S. Drought Monitor. A swath across the east side of Larimer County — which includes Fort Collins and Loveland…

Kenyan Cardinal John Njue on Friday expressed satisfaction with donations of food made by parishioners in the Archdiocese of Nairobi. The donations are destined for Kenya’s drought-stricken dioceses of Isiolo and Marsabit. “The decision to mobilise food from our parishes came about from the realisation that nearly half of the counties in Kenya are adversely affected by drought with millions of people facing starvation and in desperate need of food and water,” the Archbishop of Nairobi said. The donations weighing 80 tonnes and valued at KShs 8 Million (about US$78,000) were received from the 111 parishes within the…

Nairobi parishes donate food to drought-stricken dioceses.
The donations are destined for Kenya’s drought-stricken dioceses of Isiolo and Marsabit.
“The decision to mobilise food from our parishes came about from the realisation that nearly half of the counties in Kenya are adversely affected by drought with millions of people facing starvation and in desperate need of food and water,” the Archbishop of Nairobi said.
The donations weighing 80 tonnes and valued at KShs 8 Million (about US$78,000) were received from the 111 parishes within the Archdiocese of Nairobi.
“We are very impressed that after the appeal to Christians in the Archdiocese of Nairobi, food and non-food items amounting to 80 tonnes have been contributed within the last month.
Along with the donations, funds amounting to Kshs 1.7 million were also received.
Some donations have been dispatched directly to East Pokot in the Diocese of Nakuru,” Cardinal Njue said.
“I extend my appeal to Christians and people of goodwill to join hands in solidarity with the Church and our brothers and sisters in Kenya and continue donating food and non-food items to save lives.
On 10 February, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the ongoing drought a national disaster and appealed for international aid.
(CISA in Nairobi) email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

EU scales up response to famine and drought-affected countries in Horn of Africa with additional €165 million.
On the occasion of an official visit to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica, announced a support package of €165 million to address the multiple crises in the Horn of Africa region.
This package of €165 million will support the urgent needs of South Sudanese people in the country and the region but also the millions of people at risk of famine in the Horn of Africa.
Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said: "The European Union is responding immediately to the needs arising from the severe famine in South Sudan and the dire droughts in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
South Sudan crisis From this package of support, €100 million will be allocated to respond to the humanitarian crisis caused by the violent conflict in South Sudan.
Assistance will offer protection to women and children at risk, or victims, of human rights abuses, as well as support to treat alarming levels of malnutrition, diseases and water and sanitation.
The remaining amount of €70 million will support South Sudan’s neighbouring countries, notably Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Sudan, to continue providing protection and addressing the needs of South Sudanese fleeing conflict and seeking shelter in their territories.
Changing climatic conditions and successive failed rains during the past three years are triggering a humanitarian crisis of huge proportions.
A pre-famine alert has already been issued in February of this year.
It will also complement the €200 million which the EU approved in February this year to support the new Government of Somalia to continue transitioning out of fragility and building a resilience society.

Today was the deadline for comments to be submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board on the proposal for phase 1 of the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan update, which recommends a range of between 30 and 50 percent of unimpaired flow, with a starting point of 40 percent. Earlier today, the Association of California Water Agencies issued a policy statement and a press release as well as held a media call, and separately, the California Farm Water Coalition also issued a press release. Here’s what everyone had to say. From the Association of California Water Agencies: Saying California is facing a defining moment in water policy, the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and local water leaders are calling on the State Water Resources Control Board to embrace a more effective approach to flows and water quality objectives in the Bay-Delta watershed. In response to the State Water Board’s staff proposal for the San Joaquin River and tributaries and widespread concern about its impacts, ACWA’s Board of Directors adopted a policy statement outlining a more collaborative, comprehensive path to achieving positive ecological objectives while maintaining water supply reliability. The statement urges the State Water Board to set aside its proposed “unimpaired flow” approach and heed Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for negotiated agreements, which have proven successful on many rivers and tributaries in the Bay-Delta watershed. “California’s urban and agricultural water managers are united in their vision for a future that includes a healthy economy as well as healthy ecosystems and fish populations,” ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn said. “That vision is best achieved through comprehensive, collaborative approaches that include a broad suite of actions and non-flow solutions that contribute real benefits to ecosystem recovery.” As part of its update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, the State Water Board issued a staff proposal last fall that would require water users to leave significantly more water in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries from Feb. 1 to June 30 each year in an effort to provide fish and wildlife benefits. The deadline for public comment on the proposal is at 12 p.m. today, March 17. ACWA submitted its policy statement to the State Water Board along with a formal comment letter on the proposal. The ACWA statement notes that the proposal could lead to widespread fallowing of agricultural land and would negatively affect water supply reliability for much of the state’s population. It also would undercut the state’s groundwater sustainability goals, cripple implementation of the Brown Administration’s California Water Action Plan, and affect access to surface water for some disadvantaged communities that do not have safe drinking water. These impacts are not in the public’s interest and are inconsistent with the Brown Administration’s water policy objectives. “With this statement, ACWA’s agricultural and urban agencies are sending a clear message that unimpaired flow approach cannot lead us to the future we want in California,” said Quinn. “There is a better path. Negotiated agreements on many streams have succeeded because they include a more comprehensive set of tools and the support of local stakeholders, resulting in even better outcomes for ecosystems and water users. Forced regulations seldom yield those results.” ACWA’s policy statement emphasizes that the state’s flow policy must reflect the best available science, take economic impacts into account and be consistent with the coequals goals of improving both water supply reliability and ecosystem health and the broader policy goals of the California Water Action Plan. Earlier this morning, the Association of California Water Agencies held a media call to present their policy statement. Executive Director Tim Quinn began by reminding that he works for a diverse 36-member Board of Directors. “My Board of Directors represent ag, urban, north, south, east, west – very diverse. They disagree with each other a lot and the way they work through those disagreements is by working on policy documents,” he said. “This is maybe the 13th or 14th in my 10-year tenure as Executive Director, and arguably the most important so far. They unanimously approved the policy document that we’ve shared with you a week ago on March 10th. The reason for this timing is that today, comments are due to the State Board for their Substitute Environmental Document or SED for phase 1 for the San Joaquin River.” “I want to make this very clear that what the ACWA Board wants to do is to solve the problem. They want to do that in cooperation with the State Board and with any NGOs that will roll up their sleeves and help solve the problem,” he said. “It’s really important to define the problem correctly, however. For us the problem is to identify and implement a set of actions that will improve the ecosystem and fisheries of California while providing reliable water supplies for a healthy agricultural and urban economy.” “That may sound to you an awful lot like a policy of coequal goals. If you follow California…

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center added Franklin County to the U.S. Monthly Drought Outlook. With higher than normal temperatures and little moisture recharging the top and subsoil layers, Franklin County is likely to have drought conditions for the month of March. Everyone has noticed the recent up-and-down temperature swings. While some have loved the warmer weather, it can have drastic effects on agriculture in the county. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is predicting a 33 percent probability of above-normal temperature for the month of March. Farmers rely on a number of factors to have good quality, high yielding crops and lush pastures. Weather can affect everything that goes on in a farm, which can affect the product to the consumer. Wild fires from drought conditions across Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma has disseminated cattle ranches, burning thousands of square acres, killing thousands of livestock and six people. The lack of moisture from drought conditions in our area can bring the threat…

Kenya’s president deploys military to quell drought violence.
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s president on Friday ordered the military to deploy to the volatile counties of Baringo and Laikipia in the Rift Valley to calm deadly violence fueled by drought that affects roughly half the country.
President Uhuru Kenyatta announced he has authorized the immediate deployment of the Kenya Defense Forces to support police operations there.
"The deployment will further assist in disarmament and surrender of illegally held arms," Kenyatta said.
The military has been accused of human rights abuses, including torture and executions, in a number of domestic security operations.
At least 21 people have died in fighting between herders in Baringo county since early February.
Thirteen people were killed this week.
And in Laikipia county, a British farmer was killed this month by herders invading ranches in search of pasture and water.
Johnson was in Kenya as part of a regional visit that also stopped in Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Johnson said Britain will give Kenya 4 million pounds ($4.9 million) to mitigate the effects of the drought.

Area, state drought conditions improving.
Much of Morgan, Limestone and Lawrence counties and the state seem to be gradually emerging from the drought conditions that gripped Alabama last year.
Locally, cattle ponds are full again, streams are flowing and moisture is present in the soil, said Mike Reeves, the Morgan County Extension coordinator for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service.
Much of the northern half of Lawrence County is in the severe drought category.
The latest local drought conditions are much improved from three months ago when north Lawrence County, south Limestone County and northwest Morgan County were in extreme drought condition, according to the Drought Monitor.
Reeves said the drought forced farmers to delay planting wheat and small grains that they would normally plant in October and December.
Cattle farmers were not able to plant rye grass for winter grazing because of the drought, Reeves and Stisher said.
Some farmers whose ponds went dry used the opportunity to increase their ponds’ storage capacity by dredging or expanding the size, Stisher said.
Three months ago, the entire state was in one of the five drought categories.
A year ago the entire state was drought free.

North Dakota, Idaho at Increased Risk for Floods This Spring as Drought Worsens in Southern Plains, NOAA Says.
Major river flooding is forecast in northern North Dakota, while moderate river flooding is possible over southern Idaho, according to NOAA’s spring outlook released Thursday.
In addition, drought conditions are expected to expand across parts of the southern Plains this spring (April-June), causing drought to develop in northwest Texas and far eastern New Mexico.
California is also susceptible to additional flooding after a record-wet winter in many cities, due to snowmelt and the threat for more storms through the remainder of the wet season (November-April).
Here are the flooding and drought outlooks for spring 2017.
Flooding Outlook NOAA is most concerned about major river flooding in northern North Dakota, including the Souris River, Devils Lake and the northernmost reaches of the Red River.
Additionally, a moderate flood risk exists in central and southeastern Idaho’s Snake River basin, which received its second-highest snowfall on record this winter.
This trend is anticipated to continue in parts of the southern Plains this spring, with drought development forecast for northwest Texas and far eastern New Mexico, NOAA says.
In addition, the start of Florida’s wet season (May-October) favors improving conditions in the Sunshine State through at least June.
NOAA expects this portion of California to continue experiencing drought conditions, as the dry season will soon be setting in by April or May.