Drought

Human bones were found on the bank of the Mississippi River near Clarksdale by a woman looking for rocks. The county chief medical examiner shared that a lower jawbone, rib bones and some additional unidentified bones had been discovered. CNN (Atlanta, Ga.), Oct 18, 2022

Drought in the vicinity of Mitchell reduced production of the dozen colors of corn used to decorate the Corn Palace so the murals will be left in the circus theme until next year. For lack of corn, the 2023 mural theme dubbed “Famous South Dakotans” will be pushed back to 2024. Corn ears were about 33% smaller than usual, and some corn did not pollinate at all this year. The Mitchell Republic (S.D.), Oct 18, 2022

Dry, dusty conditions at harvest time can cause problems, as well as increase the fire danger. The dust made it look like a fog was hanging over a Minnesota field. Another farmer was grateful for auto-steer because the dust made it hard to see. Radio Iowa (Des Moines, Iowa), Oct 18, 2022

Foundation repair businesses in the Kansas City area say that they have received many phone calls from people with damage to their foundations from drought causing the soil to shift. KMBC 9 News (Kansas City, Mo.), Oct 18, 2022

A number of Mississippi counties have enacted burn bans amid drought and high fire activity. Some of the counties are Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, Copiah, Humphreys, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Marion, Noxubee, Panola, Pike, Pontotoc, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Union, Walthall, Washington, and Yazoo. WTOK-TV Channel 11 (Meridian, Miss.), Oct 18, 2022

San Antonio has had nearly 3,000 water main breaks and leaks in the metropolitan area amid drought, which causes soil to shrink and shift, stressing pipes. The area north of downtown had the most leaks and breaks this year with 38, while far west of downtown by Hunt Lane had 32, per the San Antonio Water System data. The city has received just a little over 8 inches of rain since the start of the year rather than the typical 32 inches. San Antonio Express-News (Texas), Oct 18, 2022

The level of Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City has fallen, so water is being released from Lake Canton to replenish Hefner. Water from Lake Hefner provides drinking water for 1.4 million residents in Oklahoma City and central Oklahoma. KOCO-TV ABC 5 Oklahoma City (Okla.), Oct 17, 2022

The low level of the Mississippi River exposed a shipwreck on the banks of the river near downtown Baton Rouge. Archaeologists believe the 95-foot long ship to be a ferry that sank in the late 1800s to early 1900s. WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago (Ill.), Oct. 18, 2022

The Mississippi Forestry Commission has responded to 227 wildfires, with 3,032 acres burned since Sept. 15, 2022. WTOK-TV Channel 11 (Meridian, Miss.), Oct 18, 2022

The Mississippi Forestry Commission issued a statewide Wildland Fire Alert, which urges the public to postpone unnecessary outdoor burning until drought conditions ease. The state has had little to no rainfall over the last few weeks. WTOK-TV Channel 11 (Meridian, Miss.), Oct 18, 2022

Effects from the summer drought in Massachusetts were reaching into the fall. A beekeeper in Attleboro lost thousands of worker bees this summer to drought and heat and worries that some of her hives will not survive the winter. Honey production was halved this summer. Bees also had to travel further to find nectar. Some local streams could become dead zones, hampering local water supplies if drought persists into the fall. The Seven Mile River, a tributary of the Ten Mile and a major source for Attleboro’s drinking water went dry early during the drought. Dead fish littered the dry riverbank, and fish concentrated in small pools. A livestock owner who grows hay on conservation land only got one cutting of hay this year rather than three or four as they usually get. Drought and the cost of fuel were a double blow for the livestock owner. She irrigates from a pond, and it requires more pumping to get the water. The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, Mass.), Oct 15, 2022

The planting of the 2023 hard red wheat crop in the Southern Plains is roughly halfway complete, although drought has made farmers reconsider plans to plant as the dryness may not let crops develop properly. Delayed emergence can reduce yield. Since wheat helps anchor topsoil in the Plains and keep soil from blowing, poor emergence could also be problematic in terms of soil conservation. Reuters (New York), Oct 17, 2022

It is difficult to get the needed fertilizer, due to the low level of the Mississippi River slowing the transport of cargo. Kansas Wheat (Manhattan, Kan.), Oct 12, 2022

Drought left pumpkins smaller than last year, according to the co-owner of a pumpkin patch. Siouxland Matters (Sioux City, Iowa), Oct. 13, 2022

The city of Magnolia has reached 60% of daily pumping capacity from its wells, triggering Stage 2 drought restrictions. Community Impact – Houston (Texas), Oct 13, 2022

Clostridium diseases are spreading among livestock amid drought in East Texas. One veterinarian said that he's seeing cases among cattle, sheep and goats daily. A vaccine can protect livestock against the bacteria and avoid fatal illness. A shot of penicillin may also keep the animal alive if disease is caught early enough. KTRE-TV ABC 9 (Lufkin, Texas), Oct 13, 2022

The Biden administration announced that it intends to pay Colorado River water users to leave water in Lake Mead through $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act. Applicants can receive a fixed amount of money per acre-foot of water, depending on how long they can agree to leave the water in Lake Mead. Some stakeholders were considering lowering their water use by hundreds of thousands of acre-feet annually. CNN (Atlanta, Ga.), Oct. 12, 2022

Drought curbed pumpkin size at farms in western Massachusetts. WWLP-22 News (Chicopee, Mass.), Oct 8, 2022

Coalinga could run out of water by December. Supplying the town with water from elsewhere will be very costly. Officials estimated that water purchased from private vendors would drive up the cost from $133,000 to $1.3 million for the same amount of water. KSEE-TV NBC 24 Fresno (Calif.), Oct. 13, 2022

In August, 618 water waste complaints came into the MyLA311 system, marking a record number of contacts. This also makes the fifth month that a monthly record has been set for MyLA311 water waste calls. Crosstown (Los Angeles, Calif.), Oct 13, 2022