According to the U.S. Drought Monitor released April 12, another week of light precipitation (snow) and subnormal temperatures enveloped the northern Plains, with some heavier amounts (0.5 to 1 inch) falling on northern and eastern South Dakota and the Black Hills.
In east-central South Dakota, 4 to 8 inches of snow fell from Aberdeen southeastward past Watertown, and with this moisture, a slight D0 removal was made where indices out to 6 months were wet, and since this D0 was short term, it was easier to justify its removal; however, the D0 was kept where frost depths were deeper (down to 2 to 4 feet) in the northeast.
After several weeks of gradual improvements in eastern Montana and the western Dakotas, no changes were made this week as precipitation was lighter.
In northern Colorado, some decent precipitation fell on the central Rockies, finally allowing for some small 1-category improvements in northwestern and north-central sections of the state as WYTD indicators climbed above various D0-D2 percentile thresholds.
Farther south, similar to other south-central Plains states, Kansas saw little or no precipitation (less than 0.25 inches) as not only short-term indices (6 months or less) but also longer-term tools (9 and 12 months) indicated drier conditions than depicted.
Accordingly, the D4, D3, D2, and D1 borders were slightly extended northward to reflect the severe conditions and growing deficits (8 to 14 inches at 12 months in central Kansas).
The April 8 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service winter wheat rating for Kansas stood at 44 percent in poor or very poor condition, with Kansas the top state for winter wheat production.
No changes were made between the border of Nebraska and Kansas as a few extra snow events this year across this area have contributed enough moisture to prevent deterioration, at least for now.

The Chama River Basin is at 18 percent of average, and the Upper Rio Grande is at 50 percent of average.
El Vado Reservoir could be nearly empty by July.
On the Rio Grande Project in southern New Mexico, the allocation to the two irrigation districts and Mexico is about 60 percent of a full allocation, the Bureau of Reclamation said.
Little inflow is expected to Elephant Butte Reservoir this spring, and it could be left holding less than 5 percent of its capacity at the end of the irrigation season.
(Photo: Susan Montoya Bryan/The Associated Press) Royce Fontenot, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said the drought has developed rather quickly thanks to a dry winter.
Overall, nearly half of New Mexico and Arizona are facing extreme drought or worse conditions while about 60 percent of Utah is under severe drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
The Bureau of Reclamation is working with its partners to implement a survival strategy for the Rio Grande silvery minnow, as outlined in the 2016 Middle Rio Grande Biological Opinion.
And, they are working with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, Albuquerque Water Utility Authority, and other stakeholders to facilitate silvery minnow egg collection efforts.
Drought is prevalant across the American Southwest as extreme conditions spread from Oklahoma to Utah, according to new federal data released Thursday.
About 20 percent of the state is facing exceptional drought conditions — the worst possible classification.

Most sorghum was planted following the rain.
Producers in some counties that received severe storms may have to replant corn and sorghum, otherwise, corn and grain fields looked good.
Nearly all counties reported good soil moisture and good overall livestock, crop, and rangeland and pasture conditions.
SOUTH PLAINS: Subsoil and topsoil moisture levels remained very dry with high winds and no moisture.
Pasture and rangeland conditions were fair to good apart from Anderson County, which reported poor conditions.
Producers continued to plant vegetables throughout the district.
Early planted cotton was up, but slowed by recent cool weather.
Moisture conditions continued to be dry.
Cotton planting continued.
Corn fields continued to develop and were in good condition.

The prolonged drought has made one of Oxnard’s wells run dry so a small water district is planning to drill deeper.
With the City Council approval on Tuesday, the Rio Manor Mutual Water Company will drill a new well in the Rio Lindo neighborhood to serve its roughly 500 customers.
Established in 1951, Rio Manor is the only one of the small districts in the city that relies on its own wells.
One of its two wells have dried up due to the drought and the district is currently operating with just one functioning well.
I don’t want to fight," Ramirez said.
Residents should expect construction of the new well on St. Marys Drive to last eight weeks with heavy drilling for two weeks.
With the well permit, the city imposed some conditions that will require the water district to have higher water pressure for firefighting purposes.
With the new permit, the city is requiring Rio Manor to meet the current state code.
The council supports the passage of propositions 68 and 69 for the June 5 primary and Senate Bill 3 and the Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe Act for the November election.
Proposition 68 will offer state funding for parks, coastal resources and water projects.

About 20 percent of the state is facing exceptional drought conditions — the worst possible classification.
Nearly half of New Mexico and Arizona are facing extreme drought or worse conditions while about 60 percent of Utah is under severe drought.
according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Like other states, Utah’s drought can be traced to a 12-week stretch of low precipitation this winter, when the mountains saw some of the lowest snow totals in recent history — also an ominous sign for the state’s renowned skiing sites.
"People come here to ski Utah powder, and when you don’t have it snowmaking has to take over," said Brian McInerney, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service.
"Snowmaking is not as good as what you get naturally from the atmosphere."
Much of Utah’s water reserves were replenished last winter, after a bruising period from 2012 to 2016 that nearly depleted the state’s water reserves.
As a result, lack of water isn’t a concern now, McInerney said.
But danger of forest fires will be elevated as the hot summer edges closer, he said.
——— Associated Press reporter Julian Hattem contributed to this report from Salt Lake City.

To the east, light to moderate precipitation fell on the northern and central Rockies, north-central Plains, the western Corn Belt, and most locations in the eastern third of the Nation.
Southeast Most areas of the Southeast region reported light to moderate (0.5-2 inches) precipitation, including moderate to heavy totals in north-central Florida (3-8 inches), eastern Carolinas (1.5-2.5 inches), and western Alabama (1.5-3 inches).
Plus with all short-term indices (SPIs, soil moisture models, CPC blends, USGS stream flows, EDDI) showing drought conditions, D0 and D1 was expanded northward into north-central Georgia and northern South Carolina to reflect this.
In southern Louisiana, light showers (0.5-1.5 inches) fell on the D0 area, but the heaviest rains fell north and south (offshore), thus no changes were made.
In Wisconsin, another round of light snow was enough to remove some D0 in central sections, and D0 was returned to extreme southeastern portions near Lake Michigan where enough short-term indicators were at D0 or drier.
High Plains Another week of light precipitation (snow) and subnormal temperatures enveloped the northern Plains, with some heavier amounts (0.5-1 inch) falling on northern and eastern South Dakota and the Black Hills.
With the continued train of spring storms providing badly-needed moisture to California, additional improvements were made to areas with the greatest weekly totals (3-8 inches) that have also neared their normal WYTD precipitation.
April 10 snow water equivalents (SWE), however, remained below normal, with northern (36%), central (51%), and southern (39%) Sierras seeing some snow melt from lower elevation rains.
D3 now covered southeastern Utah, southwest Colorado, and central New Mexico as another dry and warm week dropped WYTD basin average precipitation to 50, 43, and 19-27% of normal, respectively, while the mountain snows have completely melted in eastern Arizona and most of New Mexico (0% SWE).
In Alaska, drier weather and mostly seasonable temperatures (except in northern locations) prevailed after a wet and snowy March in southwestern, northern, and interior sections.

Iranian farmers in the city of Isfahan are protesting for the second day in a row over water shortages expected to lead to a cut-off by early May, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Thursday.
The farmers claim the drought is being exacerbated by decades-long mismanagement of resources and corruption in local government structures.
Last month, local authorities diverted a river in the town of Varzaneh to the neighbouring province for industrial use after allegedly receiving a bribe.
According to VOA News, a lawmaker in parliament, Hasan Kamran, was quoted by the Iranian state news agency saying that five million people in Isfahan province will cease to have tap water by the end of May.
The rest of the provinces will most likely run out by July.
Protests have taken place all over Iran in the last few months, but the situation has escalated as a mass drought is threatening the livelihoods of rural populations.
According to the Iran Meteorological Organization, 97 percent of the country is experiencing drought to some degree.
Riot police are present among the crowds of protesters and have warned the masses about anti-government chants and possible detentions.
No arrests have been reported thus far.

Lt. Gov.
Tracey Mann hosted Bill Northey, the USDA under secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service, on a trip to south central Kansas on April 6 to visit drought-affected fields and to speak with farmers and ranchers in the area.
They were joined by David Schemm, USDA FSA state executive director in Kansas; Jackie McClaskey, Kansas secretary of agriculture; Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office; and Rich Felts, president of Kansas Farm Bureau.
A roundtable discussion at the Kanza Cooperative in Pratt gave area farmers, ranchers and industry partners an opportunity to talk about their experiences and concerns with the representatives from state and federal agencies who have a voice in policy issues.
The group discussed a variety of issues including crop insurance, the Conservation Reserve Program, trade, farm programs and more.
“Agriculture is the backbone of the Kansas economy, and Governor Colyer and I will work with local farmers and ranchers to understand the challenges they are facing and do what we can to support them throughout this drought,” said Lt. Gov.
The group walked wheat fields near Pratt, Kansas, which have been distressed by the drought conditions currently impacting much of Kansas.
Gov.
Jeff Colyer signed a drought declaration for the state on March 6, and the conditions have only worsened since that time, with the newest U.S. Drought Monitor showing 49 counties in D2 (severe) or D3 (extreme) drought levels and now 6 counties at D4 (exceptional) levels.
Pratt County is at the D3 (extreme) drought level.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s recently released U.S.
The impact is forecast to be especially strong in Arizona and New Mexico, both of which are already almost entirely in the grip of drought.
“These are the worst conditions for this region since spring of 2014.” He said that all of Arizona is impacted by some level of drought and about the half of the state is already at the level of Extreme Drought (D3) on the latest drought monitor.
“Snowpack levels in Arizona are less than 25 percent of average for this time of year, pretty much zero in many locations, and we are bracing for a busy fire season,” Crimmins said.
“This ups the odds of a shortage declaration on the river in the next couple of years, which would impact agricultural water deliveries to central Arizona.” The USDA has already designated most of Arizona as a primary natural disaster area as a result of losses and damages from the drought.
Here is a breakdown of current drought summaries for the Southwestern states as of April 3, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS): Arizona: 6.39 million people, or about 100 percent of the state’s population, has been affected by abnormal dryness or drought; California: 29.9 million people, about 80 percent; Colorado: 4.25 million people, about 85 percent; Nevada: 2.46 million people, about 91 percent; New Mexico: 2.06 million people, about 100 percent; Utah: 2.76 million people, about 100 percent.
Paul Gutierrez, professor and extension specialist for New Mexico State University, has been involved with livestock economics in the state for about 30 years and is no stranger to drought in the “Land of Enchantment.” “In New Mexico, we’re quite accustomed to droughts,” he said.
“In the desert, timing is everything when it comes to rain.
The last drought was followed by record cattle prices, Gutierrez said.
“The old saying is, ‘You can’t feed your way out of a drought,’ but many producers did because the cattle market was so strong,” he said.

Shrinking reservoirs in Morocco, India, Iraq and Spain could spark the next “day zero” water crisis, according to the developers of a satellite early warning system for the world’s 500,000 dams.
Drastic conservation measures have forestalled that moment in South Africa, but dozens of other countries face similar risks from rising demand, mismanagement and climate change, say the World Resources Institute (WRI).
The last time the dam was so depleted, grain production fell by half and more than 700,000 people were affected, it said.
Pressure on this water source will grow later this year when a new water transfer project links it to the city of Marrakech.
Water levels are historically low at Al Massira Dam (Morocco) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Guardian graphic In Iraq, the Mosul Dam has seen a more protracted decline but it is also now down 60% from its peak in the 1990s as a result of low rainfall and competing demand from Turkish hydropower projects upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates.
As in Syria and increasingly also Iraq, water stress has added to conflict and been a driver for relocations of people from the countryside.
Water levels at Mosul Dam (Iraq) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Guardian graphic Tensions have also been apparent in India over the water allocations for two reservoirs connected by the Narmada river.
Water levels at Indira Sagar Dam (India) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Guardian graphic The social risks are lower in industrialised countries that are less dependent on agriculture and more economically resilient.
Water levels at Buendia Dam (Spain) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 10 20 30 40 2005 2010 2015 Guardian graphic All four dams are in the mid-latitudes, the geographic bands on either side of the tropics where climate change is expected to make droughts more frequent and protracted.
“There are lots of potential Cape Towns in the making.