California and parts of the Southwestern United States have now endured a fifth consecutive year of drought. While these areas and the country are far from being drought free, near record-strength El Niño rains over the winter and fall of last year alleviated drought conditions considerably. A few states that were drought-stricken just last year are no longer in drought.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed drought levels estimated as of the week ended July 4 and as of early July last year from the U.S. Drought Monitor. There are currently only three states with widespread severe to exceptional drought conditions. To find the states that recovered most from drought, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed improvements compared with other states engulfed in drought at this time last year.
These are the seven states recovering from drought.
1. Oregon
> Change in severe drought coverage: -83.7 percentage points
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 0.0%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 83.7%
In early July of last year, 83.7% of Oregon land was in a state of severe to extreme drought. By its peak in the late summer months, severe drought covered 100% of state land. Above-average temperatures and record low snowpack exacerbated the drought. Over the last six months, however, the state has made a full recovery. Thanks to heavy precipitation, severe drought conditions are entirely absent from Oregon today. The 83.7 percentage point decrease was the largest such improvement in the country.
Nevertheless, concerns remain over the future of Oregon’s water supply. Water levels at many reservoirs remain below full capacity, and abnormally dry conditions have returned to the state. According to Rippey, the dryness is a warning that drought conditions may return across the Oregon and the Northwest.
2. Nevada
> Change in severe drought coverage: -54.4 ppt.
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 21.7%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 76.1%
Nevada is one of many Western states ravaged by severe drought conditions over the past five years. More than half of the state was in severe drought from the summer of 2012 through the beginning of this year. In early 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared most of Nevada to be a disaster area. However, heavy precipitation brought on by a strong El Niño over the past year has helped alleviate much of the state’s drought. The area of land in severe drought fell by 54.4 percentage points., the second largest improvement in the country. Nevertheless, 22% of Nevada land area remains in severe drought, the third largest such share of any state.
3. Washington
> Change in severe drought coverage: -45.8 ppt.
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 0.0%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 45.8%
Washington has recently come out of one of its worst droughts on record. Like many states, strong storms brought on by El Niño helped alleviate much of the drought in Washington. Unlike many of the Western states stricken with drought, however, agriculture and wildlife suffered most from the drought. Even while nearly 46% of Washington was in severe drought in early July of last year, just 19% of residents lived in these areas. Nevertheless, the consequences for the state’s agricultural industry have been massive, reaching at least $336 million, according to a Washington State Department of Agriculture report.
Despite the strong recovery, drought conditions in Washington may soon resurface, according to Rippey. Currently, 100% of the state is abnormally dry.
4. Idaho
> Change in severe drought coverage: -44.7 ppt.
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 0.0%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 44.7%
About one year ago, 44.7% of Idaho land was in severe drought. Over the past year, however, heavy rainfall and snow helped alleviate all severe drought conditions across the state. As a result, after the fourth largest improvement in the country, no areas in the state are today in severe drought. Idaho is one of many states to benefit from strong El Niño storms last winter. According to the National Resources Conservation Service, precipitation in some parts of the state during December of last year was almost twice as heavy as normal.
5. California
> Change in severe drought coverage: -35.6 ppt.
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 59.0%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 94.6%
California is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in state history. Almost 60% of California land with nearly 30 million residents is in severe to exceptional drought, the most of any state. It is the only state where exceptional drought still persists. Still, this level of drought is a considerable improvement from July of last year, when 95% of the state was in severe to extreme drought. The 35.6 percentage point change was the fifth largest improvement of any state.
To deal with the drought, now in its fifth year, California imposed a statewide 25% reduction in urban water consumption in April 2015. With the improved conditions, water restrictions have since been scaled back across the state. The drought is far from over, however, and statewide restrictions may be reinstated if rainfall is too low or water use becomes too high. Lower-than-average rainfall is widely expected next year brought on by the weather pattern La Niña.
6. Utah
> Change in severe drought coverage: -26.8 ppt.
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 0.0%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 26.8%
About 27% of Utah was engulfed in severe drought in early July of last year, among the highest levels of drought in the country at that time. As stream flows neared record lows, numerous Utah cities in the state imposed daytime watering restrictions. Thanks to a particularly wet spring, however, today there are no areas of severe drought in the state. Drought conditions in Utah improved over the past four years from a peak drought level that had 72% of Utah in severe to extreme drought conditions. At this level of drought, crop or pasture losses are likely, and water shortages and restrictions are common. About 49% of the state remains in abnormally dry conditions — the lowest level of drought severity — slightly more than the 41% national land in abnormally dry conditions.
7. Arizona
> Change in severe drought coverage: -16.6 ppt.
> Pct. severe drought 2016: 8.0%
> Pct. severe drought 2015: 24.6%
Severe drought conditions covered nearly 25% of Arizona’s land mass in early July 2015. The water level at Lake Mead, one of the state’s primary sources of water, hit its lowest point in the reservoir’s history — since the completion of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. Anticipating that drought conditions would persist, the state planned for water rationing last year. Thanks to heavy precipitation in the winter months, however, Arizona’s drought levels have significantly improved.
Today, 8.0% of Arizona’s land is in severe drought, 16.6 percentage points less than levels during last July and the seventh largest improvement in the country over that time. Further relief may come during monsoon season — a period from mid-June to late September with heavy storms that typically account for close to half of the state’s annual rainfall.
More on states recovering from drought
During periods of severe or — worse — exceptional levels of drought, crop or pasture losses are likely, and water shortages and restrictions are common. During times of exceptional drought, these conditions are intensified and water shortages are considered water emergencies.
Even before the current multi-year drought, these and many other states in the region have found ways of coping with regular cycles of wet and dry seasons. Water systems such as reservoirs have been essential for many years. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Brad Rippey, agricultural meteorologist at the USDA, explained, “Without managed water, we couldn’t support the population or the agriculture that we have in the western United States.” Especially in the far West Coast states, he added, “you have to get through the summer on what falls during the winter.”
Drought conditions peaked in 2012, when close to 50% of the continental United States was engulfed in at least severe drought. As a result of heavy precipitation in the fall, winter and spring, the level of severe drought in late June fell to approximately 4% of the country — the lowest level since October 2010. “For the West as a whole it was certainly the best winter we had seen since the last time we had El Niño in 2009-10 or the following year,” Rippey said.
Compared with other weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes, which are often in the news, drought is a very slow-emerging — and slow-ending — environmental feature. The effects of abnormally dry weather often do not appear until well after drought has become significantly entrenched. Also, year-over-year improvements such as the recent El Niño rains, while considerable windfalls for area residents, are far short of what is needed to return water systems to normal or restore the damaged landscape.
For example, the Washington State Department of Agriculture estimated the industry’s loss due to drought at $336 million. Water storage systems are also still well below historical averages throughout regions covered in drought. The country’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead — now famous for its “bathtub rings” — is at 37% capacity, the lowest level on record. There has also been die-off of trees in the western United States. The U.S. Forest Service estimated that in the southern Sierra Nevada, there are approximately 66 million dead trees. These die-offs, largely caused by drought, dramatically increase the risk of wildfire.
Abnormally dry conditions, which register as the lowest level of drought on the Drought Monitor maps, have reemerged in parts of the Northwest in recent months. Rippey noted that abnormal dryness often serves as a warning that drought may be returning. “We’re headed back toward La Niña – cool water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific – later this year. La Niña typically leads to drought expansion in the U.S., although not always in the same places.”
To identify the states with improving drought conditions, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the percentage of land area in severe to exceptional drought from the U.S. Drought Monitor as of the weeks ended July 4, 2016 and July 6, 2015. The states are ranked from the smallest to largest percentage point change for the year. To be considered, a state needed to have at least 20% of its land area in severe to exceptional drought conditions at this time last year.
24/7 Wall St. is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
