Arid Lands & Resources

Droughts are lasting longer and rainfall is becoming more erratic across the Western hemisphere, according to a new study published by the US Department of Agriculture. 

Conditions in the Southwest are getting drier, but there is some possibility for hope later this year.

After last summer’s poor monsoon followed by a weak winter, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows 55% of Arizona is in the exceptional drought category, the worst level.

Farmers are heading into the spring planting season with drought covering a good portion of the western half of the country.  A new study looking into the problem shows dry periods between rain have become longer in the West. It also says yearly rainfall has become more erratic across most of the western U.S. over the past 50 years.

According to a new study from UArizona researchers, average temperatures have increased, annual rainfall has decreased, and dry periods have become longer and more variable across the American West over the last 50 years.

Almost unprecedented drought conditions could bring the threat of fire to all four corners of Arizona, wildfire experts said.

Even though Tucson gets most of its water from the Colorado River, its top water official says the city can withstand the deepest cut it’s likely to get from that supply in the foreseeable future.

Arizona is one of the fastest growing states in the country, with enviable economic expansion and population growth.