DES MOINES — For the first time in a year, there are areas of Iowa where groundwater conditions are beginning to show stress, according to the latest Water Summary Update.
"For the third month in a row, Iowa received below normal rainfall. After such a wet start to the year, the below normal rainfall has pushed more than half of the state into abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions," said Tim Hall, DNR’s coordinator of hydrology resources.
As the state continues to dry out, indicators of dry conditions continue to slowly expand. Statewide summer rainfall was 10.74 inches, or nearly 3 inches below normal.
More than half of the state is now rated as at least abnormally dry by the National Drought Monitor, while streamflow conditions in areas away from border rivers have moved into the normal flow range.
Iowa temperatures averaged 71.4 degrees, or 0.20 degrees cooler than normal, with the highest temperature in August recorded at 92 degrees in Muscatine, Little Sioux and Oakland. Fayette reported the month’s lowest temperature of 47 degrees, 10 degrees below average.
For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.
The report is prepared by technical staff from Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, and the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department.