Statewide Iowa — Iowa is back in the “Drought Watch” category on the system put together last year to keep tabs on the situation.
Iowa DNR Hydrology coordinator, Tim Hall, works with other state agencies in assessing the issue.
He says the drought watch is similar to a thunderstorm or tornado watch.
Hall says the state is also seeing the start of what could be a “flash drought,” or rapid increase in drought conditions in some areas.
He says there are some indications the conditions might change and bring more rain, and June is normally the wettest month in the state. Hall says until we see more rain, everyone should do what they can to stop water waste by fixing any leaky fixtures.
Hall says the situation may soon call for other measures as well.
Hall says the best case scenario would be for normal June rainfall to return and turn the drought conditions around. But he says we have to be prepared if that does not happen.
According to the latest drought monitor, the majority of the 4-county area is in “moderate drought”, the northeast third of Osceola county is “abnormally dry”, and extreme western Sioux and Lyon counties remain in “severe drought”.
