Western Nebraska Drought Affects More Than Agriculture

By: Associated Press

Updated: Mon 7:53 AM, Jun 28, 2004

The drought that has gripped western Nebraska for years is affecting more than just agriculture. With 85-percent of Nebraska's population depending on ground water for its drinking water supply, the current dry spell is starting to take its toll.

According to David Ostdiek of the North Platte NRD, there have been numerous calls complaining that wells are drying up. The calls started in 2002, when the region received half its normal rainfall amount. Since 2003, the district has received 34 complaints, mostly from owners of domestic wells.

More than 110,000 Nebraska households are currently served by privately owned and individual wells.

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Drought Facts

A drought is a period of abnormally dry weather, which persists long enough to produce a serious hydrologic imbalance (for example crop damage, water supply shortage, etc.)
The severity of the drought depends upon the degree of moisture deficiency, the duration and the size of the affected area.
There are four different ways that drought can be defined:
- Meteorological - a measure of departure of precipitation from normal. Due to climatic differences what is considered a drought in one location may not be a drought in another location.
- Agricultural - refers to a situation when the amount of moisture in the soil no longer meets the needs of a particular crop
- Hydrological - occurs when surface and subsurface water supplies are below normal.
- Socioeconomic - refers to the situation that occurs when physical water shortage begins to affect people.
The Dust Bowl days of the 1930's affected 50 million acres of land, rendering the farmers helpless.
In the 1950's, the Great Plains suffered a severe water shortage when several years went by with rainfall well below normal.
The worst drought in 50 years affected at least 35 states during the long hot summer of 1988.
In 1988, rainfall totals over the mid-west, Northern Plains and the Rockies were 50 percent to 85 percent below normal.
During the great drought of 1988, Governor Guy Hunt of Alabama led a statewide prayer for rain. It came the very next day, and the thunderstorms continued for weeks.