The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor has some good news for Arizona.
PHOENIX — After a brutally dry summer, Arizona is catching a little relief from the drought even as our water systems take a hit.
More of Arizona has gotten out of drought conditions, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Roughly 13.5% of the state — mostly southwestern Arizona — isn’t facing a drought. That’s a 5% increase from December.
Most of the Valley is still under a severe drought warning meaning that fire danger is high and there’s little water for plants and wildlife. Extreme drought is still a concern in parts of Cochise, Graham and Greenlee counties.
>> Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone.
Almost all of northern Arizona is covered by abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions. The good news is that this is an improvement from three months ago. Here’s a breakdown of the percentage of the state under each condition:
- 1.8% is under extreme drought conditions, down from 6% in December
- 15.5% is under severe drought conditions, down from 28.9%. in December
- 31% is under moderate drought conditions, up from 22.2% in December
- 37.9% is under abnormally dry conditions, up from 34.6% in December
While drought conditions are improving, our water reservoirs are down from this time last year.
According to the latest Salt River Project data, our total reservoir system is 85% full. That’s a 5% reduction from the 90% full recorded after last year’s record-breaking winter weather. The Salt River system is around 89% full, but the Verde River system is only 55% full with Bartlett Lake being particularly low at 45% full.
Our reservoirs are only filling up at a fraction of the speed of their usual inflow of 2,296 cubic feet of water per second (cfs). As of March 15, SRP only measured 737 cfs.
12News on YouTube
Catch up on the latest news and stories on our 12News YouTube playlist here.