Lack of rain plagues NE Wyo

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Water and rangeland needs were the focus of discussion at the Natural Resource District Local Working Group meeting for Weston, Crook and Campbell counties.
The purpose of the meeting, held on April 22 at the Weston County Events Center, was identifying and discussing local conservation priorities in all three counties. 
The group consists of landowners and employees of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Crook County Natural Resource District, Campbell County Conservation District, Weston County Natural Resource District, Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming State Forestry Division, Plank Stewardship Initiative, National Wild Turkey Federation and Weston County Weed and Pest. Participants identified rangeland as the working group’s funding priority, followed by cropland and forestland. 
“Stock water is a priority. Without that, conservation practices can’t happen,” said Jamie Tarver, vice chair of the Campbell County Conservation District’s board of supervisors. “We have to have water.” 
Cropland, she said, needs to be the second priority because without water, feed will be needed to help producers through the winter. 
According to Keela Deaton, district conservationist in the Sundance field office for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said that  the priorities are similar to those of previous years, with 60% or more of funding going to rangeland, with cropland coming in second and forestland following. It was noted that other pots of money are available for forestry work, lessening the burden on natural resource districts for those projects, although Deaton added that funding may be unavailable during the upcoming year because of budget cuts. 
Deaton, as well as other participants in the group, said that they were willing to work with landowners when it came to other potential funding for projects in any of the categories. 
Currently, despite recent precipitation, most of Northeast Wyoming is categorized as being in severe drought, according the U.S. Drought Monitor. Weston County, however, received over 2 inches of precipitation in May, making the year-to-date total approximately 11.44 inches, which has helped to improve conditions and fire danger for the time being. 
“Precipitation so far this water year, since Oct. 1, 2020, has been below average,” the release states. 
According to historic data from the National Weather Service, Newcastle received a total of 9.34 inches of precipitation during the 2020 calendar year, while Upton received 8.42 inches. Through January and February 2021, Newcastle received 0.78 inches of precipitation, while Upton only received 0.35 inches. 
Historic averages for the area show that between 1981 and 2010 Newcastle averaged 16.44 inches of precipitation to Upton’s average of 14.99 over the same period. 
Before the two exceptionally dry years of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, Weston County experienced two of the wettest years on record, receiving 24.59 inches of precipitation in 2018 and 21.15 inches in 2019. Upton, during the same time period, received 21.61 inches and 22.31 inches, respectively. 
Drought conditions are not expected to subside, according to the Wyoming Water Supply Outlook from Wyoming Natural Resource Conservation Services hydrologist Jim Fahey. According to his report, the drought in Weston County will persist through May 31.
The outlook for temperatures in the area is reported to be above average, while the precipitation outlook for Weston County is below average.  
In addition, both basins encompassing parts of Weston County (Cheyenne River Basin and Belle Fourche River Basin) have below median snow water equivalent. The report states, however, that both currently have over 100% of the average when it comes to reservoir storage. 
Because of the continued drought in the area, small nonfarm businesses and producers in the area are eligible for various grants through the Farm Services Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration. 
“These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought,” the USBA release says.