IDNR: Iowa no longer in drought

The drought is over. That’s it, folks. Move along. Nothing to see here.

That’s not exactly the message the Iowa Department of Natural Resources intended to send with its news release and water summary statistics it produced last week. However, the news about stream flows and winter precipitation was good news for agriculture and anyone else with a stake in water and soil conditions.

A snapshot of water resources through March 1 indicates all of Iowa is “drought-free.” The nearest state that shows any significant level of drought conditions is North Dakota, where about 70 percent of that state is rated as abnormally dry, and about 4 percent is rated as moderate drought.

Streamflow conditions are above or normal for approximately half of the state. Since the last water summary update, streamflow conditions have decreased across the majority of the state. The Raccoon, Boyer, Little Sioux, Floyd, Rock and Cedar Rivers have high streamflow conditions.

During the last few weeks, the streams have become ice free.

February precipitation was above normal over about the northwest half of Iowa and well below normal over east central and far southwest sections of the state. The statewide average precipitation was 0.92 inches, 0.13 inches less than normal.

January and February are typically the driest months of the year in Iowa, so while portions of northwest Iowa saw double the normal monthly precipitation and some locations in east central Iowa were barely 25 percent of normal, these recent precipitation surpluses and deficits are largely inconsequential over the year.

Generally, the first half of the month was cooler and wetter than normal, while the second half was drier and much warmer. The statewide average precipitation for the winter season (December, January, February) was a record high among 143 years of record, thanks mostly to the record wet December 2015.

Soils remain very wet with the USDA NASS summary noting that only 1 percent of the state’s top soils were rated “short” of moisture at the end of February.

Elevated flood risks this year are due to much above normal streamflows and abnormally high soil moisture. Snowmelt will not be a main contributor to spring flooding; spring rains will be needed for flooding and area rivers will be very susceptible to any early rains in March and April.

The seasonal maximum frost depth came about mid-February over most of Iowa with the topsoil beginning to thaw across the southern half of the state on Feb. 19. By month’s end, soils were completely thawed over most of the southern one-third of the state with topsoils thawed elsewhere.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com