The Santa Fe New Mexican published an article Sunday that surveys the drought situation across the west.
From the brittle hillsides of Southern California to the drying fields of Idaho, from Montana to New Mexico, a relentless drought is worsening across most of the West where a once-promising snowpack is shrinking early, water supplies are dwindling and the threat of wildfires is already on the rise.
“Most of the West is headed into six years of drought and some areas are looking at seven years of drought,” said Rick Ochoa, weather program manager at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
Arizona faces its worst drought on record.
New Mexico farmers are bracing for dramatic reductions in water supplies, and in parts of southeast Idaho, the only farmers who will get water this summer might be those with water rights dating to the late 1800s.
On the edge of the Sierra, lingering drought is pitting residents against the Reno country club that hosts a national golf tournament in a battle over water from a mountain creek.
Continue reading from the Santa Fe New Mexican.