MoDNR Topics
Missouri Drought Assessment Committee
DAC Activity Summary for Year 2000
In May of 2000, Missouri state agencies were activated to respond to ongoing dry conditions. Rainfall has been deficient in many parts of the state from July 1999 through the summer of 2000. Governor Mel Carnahan charged Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Steve Mahfood to activate the Missouri Drought Response Plan. Director Mahfood appointed Deputy Director Jeff Staake to chair the Drought Assessment Committee.
This was the first time Missouri state agencies have responded to a pending drought crisis with an already prepared plan of action for state agency response. The Drought Assessment Committee (DAC) consists of 14 state and federal agencies. The agencies all have connections to natural resources and the health and welfare of the public.
Agency representatives were called by Staake to form six work teams. Five teams are named in the 1995 plan including agriculture, natural resources and the environment, water supplies and waste water systems, recreation and economic impacts, and communications. It soon became clear that a high level of interest in the spring of 2000 dictated the formation of an additional climate/meteorology impact team, chaired by DNR Water Resources Program Director Steve A. McIntosh.
The climate/meteorology team included representatives of the National Weather Service, the Agriculture Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the University of Missouri - State Climatologist and Agricultural Extension Climatologist, and the DNR Public Drinking Water Program.
Among the most active work teams were those concerned with water supply, chaired by Jerry Lane, Director of Public Drinking Water Program, and on agriculture, chaired by the deputy director of Missouri Department of Agriculture.
Results of DAC
Tremendous strides were made by the National Weather Service and the USDA Agriculture Statistics Service, in getting rainfall reporting near "real time," rather than a month later. Also, the National Climate Data Center has made bold strides in forecasting drought. None of these data or forecast tools was widely available through the Internet to groups such as the Drought Assessment Committee until very recently.
In addition, the foresight of the General Assembly in funding budget expansions requested by DNR for groundwater level monitoring and stream flow measurements, transmitted by satellite telemetry, and available via the Internet, helped the work teams better assess actual drought conditions at any given time.
DAC served as a focal point for both the state and federal Departments of Agriculture to address issues such as the release of emergency conservation reserve lands, and developing emergency water supply alternatives.
The water and waste water impact team determined that for DAC that federal and state assistance is not "immediate." The terms and conditions of additional help through government funds still have criteria to meet, some of which are time consuming and laborious. Improvements need to be made in areas of streamlining agency approval processes when the next drought occurs.
The drought of 1999-2000 also showed that many representative indices, such as the Palmer Drought Index, cannot be directly related to stream flow or lake level concerns. DAC will be forward-looking in future revisions of the Missouri Drought Response Plan. New indices, such as the "standardized precipitation index," the U. S. Geological Survey's instantaneous stream flow data, Missouri Department of Natural Resources' groundwater level monitoring system, and the new U.S. "drought monitor" may be used in future drought alert and response levels of the Missouri Drought Response Plan.
The 1995 Missouri Drought Response Plan can be viewed on the Internet at Missouri Drought Response Plan PDF or ordered through the Water Resources Center publications office by calling 573-368-2175 or e-mail to mowaters@dnr.mo.gov
Enhanced Cooperation
One of the results of DAC involvement in the 1999-2000 drought was to more closely examine systems that can be quickly overtaxed. High maintenance supplemental supplies from temporary reservoirs or intermittent streams currently being used by several communities were not effectively maintained prior to the drought and were not available when needed. DNR Public Drinking Water and Water Resources Programs are contracting with the U.S. Geological Survey to determine actual reservoir capacities at some locations through state-of-the-art global positioning systems and sonar- type bathymetry (depth measurements). Water Resource Program hydrologists are then running the drought-of-record climate patterns a against current reservoir demands using a computer model developed and maintained by the USDA. Hydrologists run the "RESOP" model to determine a reservoir's capacity to perform in a drought. The results can be used as a guide for operating a community water system.
Currently, the 14 DAC agencies have reviewed the 1995 Action Plan. Recommendations to incorporate the climate/meteorology multi-agency forecasting group into a formal DAC component and utilize more advanced sets of drought indices will be made. Input into revising the 1995 plan will be asked from all those who attended this year's DAC meetings as well as interested local groups and agencies. An expected revision of the 1995Missouri Drought Response Plan may serve the public by helping to mitigate the harm to people and the environment created by extended drought conditions.
The DAC committee was set up in the1995 Missouri Drought Response Plan. The plan, published by DNR, has been made a part of the State Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Response Plan. The original plan was prepared by Don E. Miller and Charles R. Hays of the Geological Survey and Resource Assessment Division, Water Resources Program.
