MoDNR Topics
Missouri Drought Assessment Committee
Drought Assessment Committee Meeting - March 4, 2003
Attendees:
Missouri Department of Natural Resources – Bill Hills, Jerry Lane, Steve McIntosh, Bill Price, Peter Shemitz, Jeff Staake
Missouri Department of Conservation – Bob Miller
Missouri Department of Agriculture – Tony Hoover
University of Missouri-Columbia – Pat Guinan
US Department of Agriculture/NRCS – Cliff Baumer, Jim Weidinger, Paul Wilmes
US Geological Survey – Lloyd Waiter
Missouri Agricultural Statistical Service – Marlowe Schlegel
Farm Services Agency – Tim Kelly
US EPA - Robert Dunlevy, Bob Steiert
Corps of Engineers - Paul Flamm, Steve Spaulding
FEMA - Patrick Dardis, Dennis Moffett
SEMA - Rick Jordan
Other Representatives:
Missouri-American Water Company - Mark Griffin
Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission - Liz Grove
Vernon County - Charlie Johnson
Grundy County - Jerry Roberts
Worth County - Billy Mozingo
Gentry County - Marshall Pile
City of Cameron - Phil Lammers, Gary Whorts
Platte County - Daniel Erickson
City of Neosho - Bill Day, Mike Hightower
Welcome to the Discovery Center:
Bob Miller, Department of Conservation
Introductions
Jeff Staake, Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Climate and Weather Committee Drought Report:
Current Drought Status - Steve McIntosh, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
US Drought Monitor – Conditions continue to worsen in counties in northwest Missouri extending south along Missouri's western border. Precipitation was below normal in the area for January 2003.
River/Lake Levels - The Grand River near Gallatin and the Little Platte River at Smithville have not recovered their normal winter rebound expected. Current flows have been much below normal since July of 2002. Do to recent snow fall the Thompson River at Trenton and the Little River at Fulton, Kansas have raised slightly in February. The Spring River near Joplin is about 200 cubic feet per second now versus 60 cfs earlier indicating a substantial recovery.
Several watershed lakes in the area are very dry as well. Click here for the (pdf version of the Current Conditions.)
A photo on page three in the pdf shows a 20-acre watershed in Nodaway County that is nearly dry, less than 1/5 full.
A photo on page six in the pdf shows a 3-acre watershed in Worth County is completely dry.
Impact Team Reports:
Agriculture – Tony Hoover of the Department of Agriculture announced that Congress has approved nearly $3.1 billion in relief for farmers and ranchers experiencing natural disasters (such as drought) in 2001 and 2002. Nearly $70 million of that will be allocated to Missouri. The funds will be administered by the FSA and more information is available on the USDA website. On February 7, 2003, 42 Missouri counties received disaster designation due to drought conditions. Tony noted that agriculture losses have totaled over $460 million since 2002. Corn requires increased moisture at planting time and if conditions are dry at planting, entire crops could be lost. Soybeans need moisture only at some critical stages of the plant's development like pod setting and could therefore survive some drought conditions. Marlowe Schlegel reported on Agriculture statistics. County by county yield statistics can be significantly different. Most of the drought-affected counties are in the negative as far as 5 year averages on yields.
Natural Resources/Environment – Bob Miller, Department of Conservation gave this report. The Conservation impact team met on 2/7 to assess drought conditions, impacts and identify any needed actions. The team has identified the following impacts:
Soil and Water construction-the lack of moisture in some areas has caused construction/compaction issues for construction of terraces, diversions, ponds, lagoons and dams. This could directly impact private contractors.
Fisheries/Tourism-Low water conditions have reduced trout stocking by about 10% across the state. Attendance at Missouri trout parks has dropped by about 18,000 daily tags. Water usage from streams, ponds, and reservoirs may lead to water quality conditions unsuitable for maintaining fish populations. The State economic loss is estimated to be $150,000. Some boat ramps are unusable due to low water, therefore reducing fishing and boating trips. Low water conditions in conservation areas and national refuges may reduce the number of waterfowl use days, which in turn will reduce public recreation and tourism dollars to local communities.
Some farmers supplement farm income with hunting. Ground nesting birds may be significantly impacted by more intensive haying during drought conditions and if conservation set-aside lands are hayed prior to completion of nesting season.
Forestry/Fire Control - There is increased potential for wildfires due to drought conditions. Increased fire control may surpass the allowable time off from work for volunteer firefighters, making it more difficult for rural areas to fight fires. Diseased and infested trees will affect the lumber industry.
Educational/informational programs/pamphlets on fireproofing homesteads is critical to rural and suburban residents. The team suggested printing articles in Department of Natural Resource's and Department of Conservation publications related to fireproofing homesteads. Dry hydrants installed in lakes can provide critical water supplies for rural fire control.
Actions - The impact team suggests the following actions to address these issues:
Continuation of monitoring of drought and its impacts; increased fire control training for rural and volunteer firefighters; publication of articles and presentation of programs on homestead fireproofing; funding for installation of dry hydrants in lakes to provide critical water supplies for rural fire control.
Public Drinking Water Impacts – Jerry Lane, Department of Natural Resources presented this report.
The southern part of the state has an abundant supply of groundwater, but in the northern and western part of the state, there is not little groundwater and suppliers must use other means, such as purchasing from bigger suppliers or using surface water intakes to meet demands. The groundwater source in the Joplin Missouri area is impacted by well spacing. With water systems lowering pumps deeper and deeper to get water, there are increased contamination concerns, a need for bigger pumps and bigger wells from which they will get less and less water. Estimates are that by the year 2015, we could be drilling 200 more feet farther down in order to reach water. With current and increasing demands for water, there is the possibility that in drought years in the future, we could be unable to satisfy the total demand from groundwater only.
The Department's Regional Offices continue to monitor their region's water systems.
SWRO - There are major concerns with the Jasper County facility at Joplin/Lamar. They have been supplementing lake pumping since 2002. Population growth in those counties has put an increased demand on the water supply. Due to declining groundwater levels, they have had to lower pumps to go deeper into the well boring to meet increased water demands. Springfield continues to pump from Stockton Lake to supplement water supplies.
NERO - Several surface water systems lakes in the Northeast have been impacted. Based upon only existing storage with no rainfall the City of Bowling Green has a projected supply of about 60 days. Brookfield is having problems with their pumps. Milan continues to have problems with water supply. They are not able to pump out of Locust Creek due to dry conditions. Sullivan County's long term plans are to build a larger reservoir.
KCRO - Overall storage at Cameron is declining as their upper level intakes are above water. The reservoir is 8 feet down from normal pool. In the past, Cameron had gotten a permit to pump from the Pony Express Conservation Lake. They would like to talk with Conservation officials about doing this in the future if needed.
Caldwell County is designing a larger water supply reservoir.
Hamilton is down 5 foot or more from normal pool. They have an auxiliary pump but they are pumping continuously close to edge - continuous pumping
Harrison County's new reservoir lake is down 5 foot.
Eagleville Dam has used the Soil Conservation Services lake sediment pool for water supply storage. They have built additional storage behind the dam to supplement the carryover capacity of the lake.
Middlefork is a privately owned water company. They have not yet had to do any auxiliary pumping.
As shown, even those lakes that were well designed for demand are down significantly.
Since the last drought of 1989-1990 the Water Resources, Public Drinking Water and the U.S. Geological Survey have all been cooperating in water supply evaluation to determine community water supply capacities for drought mitigation. See last section of water concerns link above. The Public Drinking Water Program and Water Resources Program are evaluating these at risk reservoirs. Our water resources engineer is assisting with reservoir operation studies "RESOP" and water supply development. MoDNR through the Water Resources Program is contracting with the USGS for bathymetric, water storage, information that is used as the storage volume for the lake studies.
On a positive note, Jerry indicated that Holt County is getting a new water district and the dry conditions are helping them complete the digging of the lake. Questions were taken from the audience.
Commissioner Pile asked if a cemetery was within ¼ mile of a lake or stream, is it OK to pump? Yes, it is OK to pump.
It was also asked if farm ponds could be replenished from local creeks. Mr. McIntosh replied that if pumping capacity is more than 70gpm, the person must be registered as a major water user (which can be done online). There is no prohibition against pumping, but the streambed cannot be disturbed.
Climate and Weather Committee - Pat Guinan, University Extension, gave the weather forecast and outlook.
Click here for the (pdf version of the Climate Outlook.)
Northwest Missouri counties have had less than normal precipitation for over 9 months. Missouri has an "EC" rating, or an equal chance of having above normal or below normal precipitation in the next few months.
Pat noted that Missouri always has drought, but the recent trend has been "clustering", or drought conditions over several consecutive years.
Pat then presented the Climate and Weather Committee's drought status map recommendation. The committee agreed to accept the Drought Condition Status map to be dated March 4, 2002 as the current DAC map.
Clarence Cannon Wholesale Public Water Commission - Liz Grove spoke for the commission. As a member of the Clarence Cannon Commission, and with drought conditions worsening, Liz asked to come before the Drought Assessment Committee and offer some advice to rural water districts, particularly when purchasing from another district. She noted that most rural water suppliers are secondary suppliers; they purchase wholesale from other water districts. When purchasing water from another supplier, districts should keep in mind:
1. Contract limitations - know what your contract allows and doesn't allow. Clarence Cannon builds cushion into their contracts to allow for increased summer usage. Systems could also have the options of hauling water or buying from another source.
2. Treatment facility capacity - know how many gallons can your treatment facility can handle.
3. Line size limitations, especially in older districts - older districts tend to have smaller causing problems for new hookups, pressure, etc.
4. Mr. Lane noted that farmers should also make better drought contingency plans, possibly using some land as a water source (reservoir) rather than grazing.
These updates will be available at our Web site (www.dnr.mo.gov/geology/droughtupdate.htm) or call 800-361-4827.
The next DAC meeting is not presently scheduled. Need to wait and see if need dictates.
Mr. McIntosh announced that minutes of the meetings would be posted on the Website.
