A one-hour, Wisconsin Public Television special featuring resources, expert advice and information about dealing with the drought conditions is available for online viewing here.
On July 18, 2012, Governor Walker declared a state of emergency in all 72 Wisconsin counties due to the abnormally dry conditions extending across most of the state.
Read the entire news release here.
With the extended dry weather and no rain in the forecast, growers are looking for alternatives to supply crops with water. Governor Walker has issued a drought emergency declaration for 42 counties in southern Wisconsin which allows growers to pump from state surface waters with a temporary permit from the DNR. The question is what would it take to irrigate an acre or more of crops? There are four things that are needed to irrigate: water supply, method to transport the water to the field, method to distribute the water to the crops and it has to be economical.
Read the full article here.
This website answers common questions associated with drought along with links to figures and maps.
This website show groundwater levels from observation wells across the state. This work is a partnership between the WGNHS-UW-Extension and the US geological Survey, and the site is hosted by USGS.
This Extension forester explains how drought can affect trees and what you can do to help protect them.
From UW-Madison and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences: As July opens, more than half of Wisconsin is under “abnormally dry” or “moderate drought” conditions. As part of its efforts to provide reports and resources on the drought, UWEX is making use of a sophisticated software platform that’s been developed over the last four years to track emergency situations so resources can be deployed most effectively. The platform “Ushahidi” has become pretty well known because of crises in Sudan, the Haitian earthquake and other disasters. It’s more than just mapping “dots.” It allows you to document the situation as it unfolds and link in many new sources of information and data that are highly contextual.
Governor Scott Walker today declared a state of emergency in 42 Wisconsin counties due to drought or abnormally dry conditions, allowing expedited permits for farmers to temporarily use stream or lake water for irrigation.
The declaration covers these counties: Adams, Brown, Buffalo, Calumet, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond Du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Kewaunee, LaCrosse, Lafayette, Marquette, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Monroe, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood, and any county contiguous to the named counties at the discretion of the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and upon written notification to the Governor.
Click here for the full article
News releases from the Madison Water Utility:
“Conserve Water During Dry Conditions”— http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=3311
“Use Water Wisely in Heat Wave and Dry Period” — http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=3295
This group develops and shares adaptation strategies for Wisconsin’s diverse agricultural industries with Wisconsin scientists, policy makers, interest groups and citizens. Strategies are generated collaboratively through applied research and outreach that addresses the changing needs of agricultural producers, supporting agricultural industries, and the public policy process.
http://www.wicci.wisc.edu/agriculture-working-group.php