News
Guest Comment: Time to prepare for drought is now
By Greg Garfin
Out about town, I have heard, time and again “What beautiful weather we’ve been having!” Yes, the clear warm days of late February and early March have certainly been pleasant.
What’s more, it’s been raining today in Southern Arizona, the sky is blanketed with grey and the air smells sweet.
On the TV screen, former Vice President Al Gore has been raising the red flag of a planetary climate emergency. On the other side of the political spectrum, Rush Limbaugh has been admonishing Gov. Schwarzenegger for his less than conservative views on most issues, including climate change and the environment.
While the spring weather is nice and the climate issues are important, the impacts seem far away from Arizona this late March day.
What is undeniably of importance to us, climate-wise, is that as of March 21, mountain snowpack in Arizona’s major surface water producing basins was 20 percent of average.
Forecasters for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service have downgraded their initially optimistic outlook for inflow to Lake Powell from 91 percent of average to 59 percent.
Also, in recent weeks Arizona experienced its first wildland fire of the 2007 season.
And while we are very happy about the mild spring temperatures and clear days, now is precisely the time to prepare for the inevitable impacts of drought this year.
The spring is the windiest time of year in the state, and winds certainly promote the spread of fire.
Now is the time for us to prepare by getting out the public service announcements, the warnings at campsites, and making the changes in our behaviors that will keep us safe from wildland fire
Do we have adequate water in our rural communities? What is necessary to ensure that we have adequate water to get through the driest time of the year, before the monsoon, the notoriously fickle monsoon, brings us summer rain?
What kind of infrastructure is needed to deliver water adequately? What kind of preparations have we made in the event of water shortage emergencies?
Do we have the fiscal wherewithal to weather a water shortage? And if not, where will the funds come from?
Now is the time for the Legislature to address needs for adequate funding for our community extension agencies to do the important work of educating the public about drought and helping communities prepare through improved coordination, raising the visibility of the issue, citizen impact monitoring efforts, and local or regional drought planning.
Do we have an adequate water and climate information system? Do we have an online system that allows agencies and municipal officials to share data efficiently and in a way that is easily understood? We should.
If we wait for the federal government to do the job for us, we will be the cartoon images of skeletons sitting by a dried up well.
Now is the time to make the funding allocations that will ensure that we can weather this spring’s drought and others coming down the line.
Even during this spring’s green-up, as plants put on new leaves and shoots, and the desert wildflowers begin their sensational bloom, ranchers have been reporting diminishing water supplies in their stockponds.
They report to the Arizona drought monitoring committee that without some more big rains this spring — they will not have adequate water for their herds.
Now is the time to develop the plans for emergency relief and requests that the federal government can meet through USDA programs.
Arizona has a drought preparedness plan designed to mitigate the harmful impacts of drought before they happen.
Preparedness is our best tool for lessening the impact of drought. Regardless of whether we are entering a planetary climate crisis, it is certain that we will not be able to alter the winds of this spring’s drought. Let’s use our time wisely, prepare for drought, and make the funding commitments that will improve our abilities to prepare for the droughts of the future.
Gregg Garfin is a climatologist and Deputy director for outreach at the
University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth. He is also co-chair of Arizona’s Drought Monitoring Technical Committee.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily this newspaper’s.
What’s more, it’s been raining today in Southern Arizona, the sky is blanketed with grey and the air smells sweet.
On the TV screen, former Vice President Al Gore has been raising the red flag of a planetary climate emergency. On the other side of the political spectrum, Rush Limbaugh has been admonishing Gov. Schwarzenegger for his less than conservative views on most issues, including climate change and the environment.
While the spring weather is nice and the climate issues are important, the impacts seem far away from Arizona this late March day.
What is undeniably of importance to us, climate-wise, is that as of March 21, mountain snowpack in Arizona’s major surface water producing basins was 20 percent of average.
Forecasters for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service have downgraded their initially optimistic outlook for inflow to Lake Powell from 91 percent of average to 59 percent.
Also, in recent weeks Arizona experienced its first wildland fire of the 2007 season.
And while we are very happy about the mild spring temperatures and clear days, now is precisely the time to prepare for the inevitable impacts of drought this year.
The spring is the windiest time of year in the state, and winds certainly promote the spread of fire.
Now is the time for us to prepare by getting out the public service announcements, the warnings at campsites, and making the changes in our behaviors that will keep us safe from wildland fire
Do we have adequate water in our rural communities? What is necessary to ensure that we have adequate water to get through the driest time of the year, before the monsoon, the notoriously fickle monsoon, brings us summer rain?
What kind of infrastructure is needed to deliver water adequately? What kind of preparations have we made in the event of water shortage emergencies?
Do we have the fiscal wherewithal to weather a water shortage? And if not, where will the funds come from?
Now is the time for the Legislature to address needs for adequate funding for our community extension agencies to do the important work of educating the public about drought and helping communities prepare through improved coordination, raising the visibility of the issue, citizen impact monitoring efforts, and local or regional drought planning.
Do we have an adequate water and climate information system? Do we have an online system that allows agencies and municipal officials to share data efficiently and in a way that is easily understood? We should.
If we wait for the federal government to do the job for us, we will be the cartoon images of skeletons sitting by a dried up well.
Now is the time to make the funding allocations that will ensure that we can weather this spring’s drought and others coming down the line.
Even during this spring’s green-up, as plants put on new leaves and shoots, and the desert wildflowers begin their sensational bloom, ranchers have been reporting diminishing water supplies in their stockponds.
They report to the Arizona drought monitoring committee that without some more big rains this spring — they will not have adequate water for their herds.
Now is the time to develop the plans for emergency relief and requests that the federal government can meet through USDA programs.
Arizona has a drought preparedness plan designed to mitigate the harmful impacts of drought before they happen.
Preparedness is our best tool for lessening the impact of drought. Regardless of whether we are entering a planetary climate crisis, it is certain that we will not be able to alter the winds of this spring’s drought. Let’s use our time wisely, prepare for drought, and make the funding commitments that will improve our abilities to prepare for the droughts of the future.
Gregg Garfin is a climatologist and Deputy director for outreach at the
University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth. He is also co-chair of Arizona’s Drought Monitoring Technical Committee.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily this newspaper’s.
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