‘Country in grip of drought-like conditions’

ISLAMABAD: The river flows have improved for now with river Kabul in high floods but drought-like conditions have already hit most parts of the country, affecting Kharif crops.
The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Friday said the river flows had more than tripled to 342,400 cusec since May 26 when they stood at 108,000 cusec.
Therefore, the water shares to Punjab and Sindh had been increased significantly and storage had been improved to one million acre feet (MAF).
“This dry condition caused water stress in the agriculture areas of the country that demands availability of more supplementary irrigation water for Kharif crops”, the PMD said.
It said the water availability in major reservoirs was low, however, water situation in major dams would improve with increase in temperature.
As a result, river inflows have further increased from 342,400 cusec on Friday to 356,300 cusec or 13,900 cusec higher than Thursday and 108,000cusec on May 26.
River Kabul was in high flood on Friday with its flows recorded at 91,000cs at Nowshera.
Punjab’s share was increased from 100,200 cusec to 107,000 cusec while Sindh’s share was increased to 110,000 cusec from 90,000 cusec.
Balochistan and Sindh were already getting full share of 14,000 cusec and 3100 cusec respectively.
Kharif cropping season starts from April-June and lasts until October-December in different parts of the country.

Rain welcome but doesn’t break drought

Despite Saturday’s rainfall, Victoria County is still in a severe drought.
Earlier this week, analysis released by the U.S. Drought Monitor showed most of Victoria County suffering severe drought conditions.
Barron said Victoria County would need to receive more than 9 inches of rain to get out of the drought it is currently in.
Because of the lack of rain, the ground is dry and cracking, Barron said.
Kenneth Hanslik, a researcher for Chromatin, a sorghum seed company, said seasonal crops like corn, soybeans and cotton are seeing a harvest decrease.
He said cotton can handle a drought better than corn or soybeans, but it, too, can benefit from additional moisture.
Chris Buzek’s farm south of Victoria didn’t feel the rain’s impact.
“Oh yeah, we’re dry,” said Buzek, 31, of Inez.
All his crops, he said, are being affected by the drought.
“You’re going to have these (droughts) every once in a while.”

Amid drought, desalinated water to be transferred to Sea of Galilee

Desalination provides Israel with some 70% of its drinking water, with the Kinneret providing an ever smaller amount of potable water.
“One is to return desalinated water to the Kinneret.
Now we’re bringing desalinated water to the Kinneret because when we desalinate water in the winter it’s wasted, there’s no use for it.
The quantity of water flowing to the lake is now being surpassed by the amount being pumped from the lake and the amount being lost to evaporation.
If the Kinneret shrinks past that line, increased acidity could cause ecological problems, making it problematic to pump water out.
In response, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz – whose portfolio includes water management – announced on Sunday the construction of two desalination plants, one in Sorek and another in the western Galilee.
The amount of desalinated water is expected to double by 2030, according to a statement by the Energy Ministry – with a goal of pumping 1.1 billion cubic meters of desalinated water annually.
Five currently-operating plants in Israel already desalinate some 585 million cubic meters each year.
And with growing demand, that hardly puts a dent into the problem today.
“The plan… will provide long-term and short-term solutions, which include: increasing water desalination; rehabilitating streams in the north of the country; promoting a plan to connect the disconnected areas from the national system; removing bureaucratic obstacles to accelerate the construction of water infrastructure; and implementing actions to reduce the volume of water consumption.” Tags: Kinneret technology drought

Israel approves $30 million plan to counter 5-year drought

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Cabinet approved a $30 million plan to deal with the country’s drought problem.
The plan would for the first time pump desalinated water directly into Lake Kinneret, or the Sea of Galilee.
“Over the years Israel has shown an amazing ability to deal with the water problem, which has caused endless conflicts in our region for thousands of years, also in the new era.
But thanks to technology, initiatives and creativity, we have succeeded in overcoming it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
“Usually we pump water from the Kinneret and bring to various parts of the country.
Here we are bringing desalinated water to the Kinneret because as we desalinate water on the coast in the water it goes to waste because there is no use for it.
The plan is a response to the latest drought, which began five years ago.
The Sea of Galilee is currently at 213.46 meters, or 689 feet, below sea level, which brings it to half a meter below the lower red line, a serious danger level.
If it reaches the black line, at 214.87 meters, or 705 feet below sea level, the Sea of Galilee could face irreversible ecological damage.
The streams will be rehabilitated in part by pumping desalinated water into them.

UK weather sparks DROUGHT fears as reservoirs dry up and three-month heatwave with 33C World Cup forecast

BackGrid Alamy However, the current high temperatures and unseasonal lack of rainfall has already started becoming a cause for concern in parts of the country, with parts of the Lake District already drying up.
The Weather Company predicted temperatures would soar to 33C from late June, making the summer the hottest since 2006.
There is double the usual probability of this summer having a higher temperature than 2013’s 15.17C – which would make 2018 the warmest summer since 2006 – the hottest summer for a century.
Britain is set to wilt due to high pressure, which brings hot and dry conditions, the Met Office said.
Last year saw grim school holidays spoil summer, summer 2014 was ruined by rain following ex-Hurricane Bertha, and 2012 had the wettest summer for 100 years.
Pacemaker Press Alamy Live News Alamy Live News The Met Office June-August forecast said: “For June-August, above-average temperatures are more likely than below-average temperatures.
“The probability the UK average temperature for June-August will fall into the warmest of our five categories is 40 percent.
“The June to August period only needs to be 1C above average for it to happen.” Leon Brown, head of meteorological operations at The Weather Channel, owned by The Weather Company, said: “33C is expected by early July as heat from high pressure over Britain builds.” Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said: “There’s plenty of sunshine to come this week, with the South generally fine through the week, although the North-West will be changeable from Wednesday.
Temperatures are likely to be warmer than average, with the possibility of very warm or hot spells.” We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team?

Drought Conditions Better, but Spreading in NE Texas

Drought conditions have improved and spread at the same time in Northeast Texas.
Whereas last week showed spots of moderate drought, Thursday’s report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that with the exception of Fannin County and slivers of Grayson and Lamar counties, all of Northeast Texas is abnormally dry.
The extreme southwestern corner of Fannin County is abnormally dry too, but the rest of the county is still in the clear.
All but six counties in the state this week have at least a piece considered at least abnormally dry.
Deep East Texas, along the Arkansas border, is under moderate drought.
Conditions in the Panhandle are still pretty bad, but better than they’ve been.
Eight counties in the Panhandle are still coping with exceptional drought.
A month ago that was true for most of the four dozen counties in that region.
With a few exceptions, the Panhandle remains under at least severe drought conditions.

Drought restrictions and options for parched yards

The rules allow you to use your sprinklers only one day a week between 7 a.m. and 1p.m.
Soaker hoses are counted as sprinklers for the drought restrictions.
They are leaky hoses when you turn them over so that the water seeps directly on the ground.
Ideally, a soaker or leaky hose can be used at low pressure (one half turn) so the water just sweats or leaks out just as efficiently as drip irrigation.
The drought restrictions allow San Antonio to do its part to protect the endangered species and other downstream interests with minimal stress on our landscapes and economic activity, and without having to own extra amounts of expensive water — water that would only be used in drought times but would have to be paid for at other times when it was not needed.
The lawn greens up again as soon as the rains restart.
Well established, well-adapted plants such as oak trees, hollies and Texas mountain laurel should not require supplemental irrigation.
Newly planted shrubs and trees, however, do not have an extensive root system developed so they may need supplemental hand watering at the base to make sure that the root ball is wetted.
Treat plants less than two years in the ground as newly planted.
Use drip irrigation and water enough to keep the foliage thick and green.

North Texas Remains in Abnormal to Moderate Drought, Despite Recent Storms

More Dallas – Watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. is prohibited unless done by hand or with a soaker hose.
More Denton – Watering restrictions in place from June 1 until Sept. 30, watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. prohibited unless done by hand or with a soaker hose.
More Frisco – Residents are expected to adhere to the city’s Water Efficiency Plan and only water based on the city’s weather station data outside the ours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. More Garland – Between April 1 and Oct. 31 residents can only water twice per week but have the freedom to choose which two days.
Watering by hand or with a soaker hose is permitted at any time.
More Grand Prairie – Customers prohibited from watering on Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday or between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Customers must adhere to the city’s schedule.
More Irving – Customers are not permitted to water between April 1 and Oct. 31 unless it’s done by hand or with a soaker hose.
Watering may only be done according to the city’s schedule and can not be done on Monday, Thursday or Friday.
Watering can be done on a customer’s normal trash day and on a second day if necessary.
Customers have the freedom to choose which days of the week they want to water.
More Plano – Customers are restricted to watering only twice a week from April 1 through Oct. 31, outside the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Customers can choose which days to water, but are asked to avoid watering when rain is in the forecast.

Officials wait for lake levels to trigger drought plan

As temperatures rise, city officials are concerned about levels at Lake Corpus Christi.
Lake levels aren’t just affected by the heat, a lack of rain earlier this year has added to the drought.
“We didn’t get a lot of the rain in early April, May that we had the year before,” said Ramos.
“So we started with the glass a little lower than we did in 2017.” The combined capacity of Lake Corpus Christi and the Choke Canyon Reservoir currently sits at 40.7%.
phase one of the city’s Drought Contingency Plan kicks in when the capacity goes below 40%.
According to the city’s Ramos, without the additional water sources from Lake Texana and the Colorado River via the Mary Rhodes pipeline, combined lake capacity would have gone below 40% weeks ago.
“Without those additional sources the city and citizens invested in a long time ago, we would have entered into a drought sooner,” said Ramos.
Even with that extra water, city officials plan on the drought plan kicking in soon.
“We’re still anticipating within the next 2-3 weeks going in to stage one of the Drought Contingency Plan,” said Ramos.
One reminder, is no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Is Australia’s current drought caused by climate change? It’s complicated

Drought is a complex beast and can be measured in a variety of ways.
Climate change may affect these drought metrics and types of drought differently, so it is hard to make general statements about the links between human-induced climate change and drought.
We know that over southern Australia, and in particular the southwest, there has been a rapid decline in winter rainfall, and that this has been linked to climate change.
In the southeast there has also been a decline but the trend is harder to distinguish from the year-to-year variability.
For recent short-term droughts in southern Australia, analyses have found an increased likelihood of rainfall deficits related to human-caused climate change.
Future projections of drought are also difficult to constrain, as they vary across Australia and depend on the measure of drought being used.
Climate models project a continuing decline in rainfall over southern Australia over the next century.
River flows are also projected to decline in parts of the country, with consequences for water supply to cities, ecosystems and agriculture.
Part of the challenge of projecting future change is related to how temperature and precipitation vary together.
There is some evidence to suggest that climate change is exacerbating drought conditions in parts of Australia, especially in the southwest and southeast.