The Hardest Giant Story to Report
No "Breaking News," No Dramatic Events, No Tweets...
Just relentless, grinding reality. Hard to cover in today's news environment.
Drought Expands Across Southwestern US
- By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Water, water, never where |
Drought is tightening its grip across a wide swath of the American Southwest as farmers, ranchers and water managers throughout the region brace for what's expected to be more warm and dry weather through the spring.
The federal drought map released Thursday shows dry conditions intensifying across northern New Mexico and into southwestern Arizona.
On the southern high plains, Oklahoma is ground zero right now for the worst drought conditions in the United States.
Federal agriculture officials say crop conditions in some areas are declining. In New Mexico, about three-quarters of the winter wheat crop is in poor to very poor condition as meaningful moisture has been scarce.
Along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico, the irrigation allotment will be less than half of what farmers received last year.
LESS THAN HALF!
Out here in the mountains of New Mexico, this has been a winter almost without snow (some winters are 100+ inches), and low, low humidity, pushed around by scary big winds. It's a monster story that hardly ever makes the front page and never goes viral.
Could we "cure" the great western drought problem? Recharge the aquifers? Try THIS.
Pix credit
Could we "cure" the great western drought problem? Recharge the aquifers? Try THIS.
Pix credit
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