According to news media reports (The Arizona Republic, 6/23),
- Although a series of wet winter storms brought relief elsewhere in the West,
Arizona, Utah and parts of Nevada remain stuck in the fifth year of a
record-setting drought, one that climate watchers say shows no signs of
abating. Some of its most serious consequences are readily visible in the
blackened skies near Tucson and other wildfire locations this week.
- "The worst case has happened," said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist at the
National Drought Mitigation Center. "El Ni�o failed to give us much oomph,
and now many areas have slid back and gotten worse. We won't be talking
about this drought going away until this time next year."
- What increasingly troubles many water experts is the accumulating effects of
such a long dry period. The rain that doesn't fall adds up over time. Since
1996, Phoenix has built a "rain deficit," the difference between what should
fall and what does, of more than 13 inches, or nearly two years' worth of
precipitation. In Flagstaff, the deficit totals more than two years' worth.
- Such shortfalls rob the soil of moisture, weakening trees, shrubs and other
vegetation. That, in turn, ruins wildlife habitat and livestock feed,
heightens fire danger and invites disease and pests such as the bark
beetles.
- Storage reservoirs have fallen behind as well, as runoff-starved rivers
deliver less water. Over the past four years, the Colorado River has fallen
behind by 8.3 million acre-feet of water, or about the amount used in a year
by Arizona, Nevada and California.
- Those three states have drawn on storage in Lakes Powell and Mead, which
have both fallen to near-record low levels.
- Conditions around the region:
- Arizona's forests are suffering catastrophic losses from six years of
below-average precipitation. Trees are like kiln-dried lumber, pushing
wildfire danger to extreme levels again. Bark beetles have ravaged millions
of drought-weakened ponderosa and pi�on trees, leaving behind even more
unpredictable wildfire fuel.
- Nearly all of Utah is suffering from extreme drought conditions, according
to the mitigation center. Numerous communities along the populous Wasatch
Front have imposed outdoor water restrictions, and some areas in the
southern third of the state expect shortages before summer's end.
- Southern Nevada officials want to impose mandatory conservation measures
after Lake Mead, the area's chief source of water, fell below 1,145 feet in
elevation. That level also triggers restrictions along the Colorado River.
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