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Drought Response Team plans help for affected Kansans.

October 20, 2022

3 Min Read
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DROUGHT: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly approved updated drought declarations for all 105 counties in the state on Oct. 6. The declaration opens up assistance for affected Kansans.grafvision/Getty

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly approved updated drought declarations Oct. 6 for Kansas counties with executive order No. 22-08. This drought declaration continues to keep all 105 Kansas counties either in watch, warning, or emergency status.

“Much of Kansas continues to experience severe drought conditions, which have impacted the daily lives of Kansans through our hot and dry summer months,” said Kelly in a press release from the Kansas Water Office. “As these conditions are forecast to persist or worsen over the foreseeable future, I strongly encourage all Kansans to be mindful of ways we can conserve water and minimize fire hazards.”

The drought declaration placed 67 counties into an emergency status, 11 counties in a warning status and 27 into a watch status. This action was recommended by Connie Owen, director of the Kansas Water Office and chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team. Much of Kansas has experienced above-normal temperatures dating back to the previous April, with precipitation averaging well below normal for many of those same locations over that same time frame. In some parts of Kansas these precipitation deficit conditions have existed since the latter part of 2021. The outlooks from now through December favor above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation for nearly all portions of Kansas, meaning drought conditions could persist and expand over the next several months.

“The current drought conditions impacting much of Kansas have stressed surface and groundwater supplies, negatively impacted crop production, and led to elevated wildfire risk in many areas,” Owen says. “The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to be diligent in the monitoring of drought conditions across Kansas and make future drought recommendations to Gov. Kelly as conditions change. With outlooks continuing to call for challenging conditions into the winter months, the need for continued drought awareness and action across Kansas is essential.”

Through an interagency agreement among the Kansas Water Office, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Kansas Division of Emergency Management, counties in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes. These counties also become eligible for water in some federal reservoirs.

Individuals and communities need to contact the Kansas Water Office for a water supply request prior to any withdrawals from lakes. These requests will, in turn, be referred to the appropriate office to obtain necessary permits to withdraw requested water.

This executive order shall remain in effect for those counties so identified until rescinded by an executive order ending the declaration or revising the drought stage status of the affected counties.

Effective immediately, executive order No. 22-08:

  • Declares a drought emergency, warning or watch for the counties as identified below

  • Authorizes and directs all agencies under the governor’s jurisdiction to implement the appropriate watch, warning or emergency level drought response actions assigned in the operations plan of the Governor’s Drought Response Team.

The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to watch the situation closely and work to minimize the negative drought-induced effects on Kansans.

For more detailed information about current conditions, visit the climate and drought webpage on the Kansas Water Office website. at kwo.ks.gov.

County drought stage declarations

Here are the statuses of Kansas' 105 counties.

In a drought emergency: Allen, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Decatur, Edwards, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Logan, McPherson, Meade, Montgomery, Morton, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Rice, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Scott, Sedgwick, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wilson and Woodson counties.

In a drought warning: Anderson, Chase, Coffey, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, Marion, Morris, Osborne, Saline and Smith counties.

In a drought watch: Atchison, Brown, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Leavenworth, Marshall, Miami, Mitchell, Nemaha, Osage, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Republic, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Washington, and Wyandotte counties.

Source: Kansas Water Office

 

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