Drought

Saguaro cacti in Arizona are leaning, losing arms and sometimes falling over amid the state's extreme heat. Summer monsoon rains have not yet arrived. Plant physiologists at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix thought that the plants were well adapted to heat and drought, but cacti succumbing to the harsh conditions have disproved that assumption. Reuters (New York), July 26, 2023

Lafourche Parish restaurants were beginning to get crawfish in, and prices were $6 to $7 per pound or more, which was higher than customers were used to paying for the mudbugs after the heat and drought of last summer. Recent rain will improve availability as the crawfish season wears on, but prices should remain high over the next several weeks. Cold temperatures have affected spawning with fewer juvenile crawfish around, which points toward a smaller crop. Despite the high prices, restaurants routinely sold out of the item. Lafourche Gazette (Raceland, La.), Feb 6, 2024 The poor crawfish harvest in Louisiana after drought and heat in 2023 means a shortage of crawfish for Mardi Gras. One tavern always celebrates Fat Tuesday (Feb. 13 this year) with a crawfish boil, but will have to switch to a low country boil with shrimp this year. WBRC-TV Fox 6 Birmingham (Ala.), Feb 5, 2024

Mandatory water use restrictions for Hanover have been lifted and replaced by voluntary ones. The Sheppard Myers Reservoir, Hanover’s primary water source, was at full capacity. York Dispatch (Pa.), Feb 6, 2024 Hanover water customers were ordered to mandatorily conserve water, due to low rainfall and the ongoing renovation of the Sheppard-Myers reservoir. Those who violate the mandate may lose water service. Water customers in Penn and Heidelberg townships in York County and Conewago Township and McSherrystown in Adams County were expected to abide by the same mandate as they receive water from Hanover. York Dispatch (Pa.), Nov 21, 2023

Meat prices are high due to post COVID-19 issues and a drought ahead of Super Bowl weekend. KIII (Corpus Christi, Texas), Feb 5, 2024

SLEMCO electric customers were notified that there will be a temporary increase on the fuel portion of their bills due to drought in Louisiana. The electricity is generated from coal that was transported down the Mississippi River to a power plant in New Roads, Louisiana. The unusually low water levels significantly increased transportation costs for the past several months. The additional fuel costs will be levied over the next twelve months. KADN-TV (Lafayette, La.), Feb 5, 2024

More West Texas cotton gins were closing or merging as drought has limited cotton production, and there was not enough cotton to support all of the gins. The price of many things has doubled, making it harder to turn a profit. KCBD (Lubbock, Texas), Jan 21, 2024

Cheney Lake, Wichita’s water source, was 5 ½ feet below normal for this time of year. The low water level has discouraged recreationists who typically book all of the campsites for the holidays as soon as it is possible to reserve them. KWCH 12 (Wichita, Kan.), Feb 1, 2024

Hay prices have risen sharply after drought, heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures in January. At auction in Dyersville, hay has sold for $250 to $300 per ton, topping 2013 records. RFD TV (Nashville, Tenn.), Feb 2, 2024

Drought in northeast Missouri in 2023 has kept the feed inventory low. An intense January snowstorm and bitterly cold temperatures have strained the feed inventory as livestock need additional feed to keep warm. KTVO-TV ABC 3 Kirksville (Mo.), Feb 1, 2024

Saltwater intrusion in the Mississippi River has left crawfish farmers in south Louisiana without any crawfish to sell, according to a crawfish distributor in Cottonport. KALB-TV (Alexandria, La.), Feb 1, 2024

There has been a spate of water main breaks across Louisiana in recent weeks that can be attributed to aging and a variety of weather conditions. Drought is one of the factors that likely stressed the pipes when it caused the ground to shift and contract. The cold spell caused the ground to freeze, which was followed by heavy rain and mud, which all likely stressed the pipes a bit. As of February 1, boil water advisories were in effect for parts of Thibodaux, New Orleans East and Covington. FOX 8 (New Orleans, La.), Feb 1, 2024

Hay supplies remained extremely tight for winter feeding across Texas, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. While supplies have improved, stocks still remained below pre-drought averages. The tight supplies and higher demand were leading to higher hay prices, according to an AgriLife Extension economist and Texas A&M economics professor. Dec. 1 hay stocks were the third lowest on record behind 2022 and 2012, respectively. AgriLife Today (College Station, Texas), Jan 30, 2024

Lee County enacted irrigation restrictions for unincorporated areas of the county that will start in February and remain through the end of May. Fort Myers News-Press (Fla.), Jan 19, 2024

Drought through most of 2023 left the water level of the Shenandoah River below average, preventing hydroelectric power generation at the dam in Woodstock. WHSV (Harrisonburg, Va.), Jan 31, 2024 The Burnshire Dam in Woodstock had to stop generating power as the Shenandoah River dwindled because some amount of water had to be sent downstream. There was not enough water to produce hydropower. Water stopped flowing over the dam in early September. The low flow of the river has resulted in a loss of $15,000 to $20,000 over the past two months at a time of year when the power company pays the most for power. WHSV Online (Harrisonburg, Va.), Sept 21, 2023

The sugarcane yield in some Acadiana parishes in 2023 was down 25% to 50% due to drought. The crop was planted in September and October in the middle of the drought, which could affect the 2024 crop. There are likely to be some acres with dried stalks that will not produce an adequate stand. KLFY News 10 (Lafayette, La.), Jan 30, 2024

Buhlow Lake reopened on January 29 after recent rainfall refilled the lake. While the lake was closed the boat ramp was leveled, the dock was extended and the stage was renovated. KALB-TV (Alexandria, La.), Jan 27, 2024

Two major water main breaks have occurred in southeastern Louisiana. One disrupted water to the east bank of Jefferson Parish, and the other has interrupted water to residents in Lafourche Parish. A civil engineer suspected that the drought and the hot summer were behind the problems with the soil shifting and shrinking, leading to water main breaks. WWL-TV (New Orleans, La.), Jan 26, 2024

The Edwards Aquifer Authority eased pumping restrictions for the San Antonio area after recent rainfall bumped up groundwater levels. Under Stage 2 restrictions, permit holders can withdraw up to 70% of their allotted amounts. Under the Stage 3 restrictions that took effect in early November and just ended, withdrawals of 65% were allowed. San Antonio Express-News (Texas), Jan 26, 2024 On Friday, Aug. 18, the Edwards Aquifer fell to its lowest point since July 1990. The J-17 well was 625.7 ft. above sea level, which is lower than the recent lowest measurement in September 2014, when widespread drought slowed local rivers to a trickle and Medina Lake nearly went completely dry. Stage 2 water restrictions remained in effect for San Antonio Water System customers. KSAT 12 (San Antonio, Texas), Aug 18, 2023 The Edwards Aquifer Authority enacted Stage 4 restrictions because groundwater levels and flows in the groundwater system continued to fall. The index well in Bexar County was at 629.1 feet, which was low enough to trigger the stage 4 restrictions. Comal Springs was flowing more slowly at an average of 88 cubic feet per second over the last 10 days. The counties affected by the restrictions are Atascosa, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays and Medina. San Antonio Express-News Online (Texas), July 24, 2023

Fire restrictions for the Kisatchie National Forest were lifted after being in effect for more than four months. KALB-TV (Alexandria, La.), Jan 19, 2024

A restaurant in Gulfport has not received any crawfish yet, but normally has them by the start of the year, making this the latest start to the crawfish season in at least 16 years, according to the restaurant’s sales records. Prices were more than triple that of previous years with the boiled mudbugs selling for $12 to $15 per pound, compared to $3.89 in January 2023. The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Jan 24, 2024