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il'~.~~" i,.,;,. "t.\. ..,' _' '.Y ~..... ~ Activities Resulting from the Drought CHRONOLOGY OF THE 1976-77 DROUGHT 39 Dry soil conditions in May 1977 in the Niobrara River basin in northwestern Nebraska triggered an early start by irrigators. Irri- gation water distribution in the North Platte River system in Nebraska was changed to an allocation basis in an attempt to extend the available supplies over a longer period. The State restricted diversions from streams in western and southeastern parts of the State. Ordinarily low flow in Iowa occurs in Sep- tember, but under drought conditions low flow occurred in July. Therefore, the Geological Survey made many low-flow measurements to help define the drought-related hydrology of the State. Water restrictions were started in June 1977 by Thornton, Colo., a Denver suburb. By mid-June, Corning, in southwestern Iowa had less than a 90-day supply in its reservoirs and started water rationing. Serious water short- ages developed in other small cities in western Iowa. Missouri was plagued by a grasshopper invasion, probably increased by the drought conditions which one agency stated were the worst since the 1930's. Comparative figures of corn production in Iowa are interesting. In the drought years 1934 and 1936 average corn yields were 28 and 20 bushels per acre, respectively. The average was 52 bushels per acre for 4 years during the drought of 1952-56, and the first 100-bushel year was in 1971. The drought in 1976 cut production to 90 bushels per acre, still a respectable figure. The relatively high pro- duction during a severe drought is an excellent testimonial for today's improved seed corn and farming methods. A new word was coined to describe the winter conditions during the drought. Winds not only blew snow into drifts as is common in the winter, but the dry soil was blown along with the snow. The resulting mixture was called SNIRT, a very descriptive word. The drought was severe enough in five States to justify disaster designations for 85 counties. Task forces or committees were appointed by the governors of several States to coordinate drought related activities. Arkansas-White-Red-WRC Region 11 The Arkansas-White-Red Region (fig. 15) includes the southeast quarter of Colorado, the southern half of Kansas, 'the northeast corner of New Mexico, the Texas panhandle and a strip of Texas south of the Red River, all of Oklahoma, southwestern; and south-central Missouri, most of the west half and north- central Arkansas, and the. northwest corner of Louisiana. The drought affected Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri, and the rest of the region was on the fringe with some relatively minor effects locally at timeS. A synopsis of the 1976-77 drought is pre- sented first. Precipitation was less than 50 percent of normal in parts of the region at various times, but the number of consecutive months that this condition occurred was less than in some of the other regions. The abnormally low snow pack in the Rocky Moun- tains was the reason extended periods of deficient runoff occurred on the Arkansas River. Storage in reservoirs was reduced or even depleted. The high withdrawals of water for irrigation brought about declines in ground- water levels and the continued mining of ground water in western Kansas. Ground- water quality was not affected, and water quality problems in streams were localized and shortlived. Weather modification was tried in western Kansas, a few towns had to haul water or install emergency pipelines from another source, and a moratorium was imposed on new wells near the Arkansas River west of Garden City, Kans. Previous droughts have been described by Hoyt (1936, 1938) and by Nace and Pluhowski (1965). Brief descriptions presented in this report in the section for the Missouri Basin- WRC Region 10 (lower part) are generally typical of Region 11. See page 36. Precipitation and Runoff Precipitation in the region during 1975 ranged from 75 to 125 percent of normal, and only small areas were at either extreme. The deficient precipitation trend started in December 1975, and precipitation was less than 50 percent of normal over most of the region in January 1976. The percentages of normal improved in February and March, but