Copyright © 2021
Several weeks of rain have brought much-needed, albeit uneven, drought in New Mexico.
A heron is walking through the muddy waters of the Rio Grande near the Alameda Bridge earlier this month. Monsoon rains have supported the Rio Grande rivers in recent weeks. (Roberto E. Rosales / )
The humidity has resulted in a drastic decrease in the state’s exceptional drought conditions since the beginning of summer.
Kerry Jones, a meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office, said the constant rain was likely to have helped the eastern plains the most.
………………………………………….. ………….. …………..
But the Four Corners region is still in the “crosshairs”.
“Farmington, yes, they have had rainfall for the past 14 days or so, but they are still two inches below the wateryear average,” Jones said. “Compare that to Roswell, which now has the fifth wettest on record from June 1st to July 26th and is now more than six inches above average for the water year.”
A monsoon storm over the northern Sandia mountains and foothills on July 23rd. The recent rains have dramatically reduced the state’s exceptional drought conditions. (Robert Browman / )
Roswell has recorded about 11 inches of rain since June 1. Clovis and Tucumcari each gained more than 20 inches during this time.
About 9% of New Mexico remains in exceptional drought, the severest category used by forecasters, but that’s a significant decrease from 21% last week and 53% three months ago.
Monsoon rains have also propped up the Rio Grande rivers in Albuquerque, holding back – for now – the dire warnings of a dry river across the city this summer.
But the rains didn’t translate into a surge for the reservoirs, said Julie Valdez, head of the bureau of water use and protection at the state engineer’s bureau.
“You look pretty sad,” said Valdez. “It will be a long time before we get anywhere near average on Elephant Butte.”
The southern reservoir has about 6% of its capacity.
Max Henkels, an analyst with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, said rain had improved grazing conditions.
“Above all, the topsoil moisture is much better than average, and the subsoil moisture also looks better than last year or the five-year average,” said Henkels.
U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows that approximately 37% of the state’s pastures and pastures are in very poor or poor condition, compared to 50% last year.
Approximately 65% of cattle in New Mexico are receiving complementary feed, compared with 78% at that time last year, a sign that grass growth may be improving.
So far, this year’s monsoon is a big change from the last two years, when forecasters described the disappointing seasons as “not soon”. But the perennial drought, exacerbated this year by limited spring runoff and scorching June temperatures, is not easily reversible.
“Let’s hope our fertile monsoon season continues into August,” said Jones. “Obviously things are looking really good in the short term, (but) as we expand and look more at the past 12 months and beyond, not so much.”
Theresa Davis is a member of the Report for America Corps, a water and environmental researcher for the .
Comments are closed.