By Allen Hamrick
There is no doubt or any statistic that doesn’t say that this summer has been hot and dry. People have lamented that it was so hot that water buffalos were evaporating into thin air. Of course, this is somewhat ridiculous but entirely believable as the sun has continued to melt ambition and shades are no longer a cool place to sit. On top of that, yellow jackets came in like a plague, and it has been a struggle just to get to your vehicle or mow the yard without a trip to the medicine cabinet or the hospital, in some cases. In June, the rain started holding off little by little, and in the knife hardening heat among the yellow jackets, we enjoyed life the best we could but…
Pretty soon the grass started turning brown, and there was more wildlife appearing on the roads as they made their exodus toward the rivers and creeks. However, the creeks are drying up and the rivers have nearly dried up in some parts of the state. The mighty Elk River has become nearly stagnant as it has slowed to a crawl. The leaves are changing at least a month early as fall colors come in the last of August instead of October. A lot of people are asking about the colors, but with the rain nonexistent, the leaves are likely to just turn brown on many trees and take an early tumble.
Drought conditions started wrapping their arms around this state and not letting go. When it did rain, at times it came down like it was Noah’s flood but quit soon as it started while the sun dried up any moisture faster than the plants could drink it. By July, some of our state was in extreme drought conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor labeling some counties in D3 conditions. When August came around, nearly all of West Virginia was experiencing D3 drought conditions, which haven’t been present since 1988. According to a map from the U.S. Drought Monitor, D4 conditions – referred to as exceptional drought, have crept into northern parts of Clay County, drying up springs, creeks, cisterns and wells. The local surrounding
lakes – Sutton, Summersville, Tygart, and Stonewall – are starting to lower water levels and change their typical fishing and recreation cycles.
Rainfall totals have been nonexistent, falling over six inches short of normal here in Clay. When a drought gets to the D4 status, it starts to affect the ecosystem, farming and wildlife survival. The forests have become so dry that the forest floor seems to crack under human weight and is susceptible to future growth problems according to the USDA. Foresters warn that if a fire starts in the woods, it would not only burn the woods but also the top soil because of the lack of rain. If this happens, future growth would be hard over the next year.
Farmers who have livestock are not getting the hay cuts they normally expect and are having to buy feed. It upsets the cycle of survival for the WV farmer who not only runs livestock but gardens. The WV Department of Agriculture has information for drought assistance resources you can access by calling or going to https://agriculture.wv.gov/divisions/executive//drought-assistance-resources/. There you can find a variety of resources for drought relief for farmers.
One thing that has helped ward off a disaster for this region is the fact that we have had so many years before this that were frog strangler seasons. Five of the previous years since 2002 were the wettest on record which saturated the ground far below post hole digger distance. In prolonged droughts at what is considered D3 level, water flow hardships on people who depend on wells or cisterns are increased, and at times, wells need dug deeper if there is no end in sight of the drought conditions.
According to meteorologist Brandon Stover of WCHS TV, “If the tropics don’t wake up soon, or this pattern remains the same, the Appalachian region, as well as parts of Ohio, will likely see a historic season of fires.”
Bottom line, this drought is a big one, and it’s going to hurt for awhile ecologically and personally for those that have wells or depend on creeks or springs for water that is drying up. There is aid for the farmers in need, but for the individual that depends entirely on springs and cisterns, the only help available, unless things change, are people who haul water for those in need. Facebook and word of mouth are the only options to find a water hauler at this point. If I am made aware of people who do haul water, I will post the information to the Clay County Free Press website and include contact information in next week’s paper. This drought, like all things, will pass eventually and be a thing of the past. Rain is expected a couple of days this week but not enough to end the drought as of this writing, but as we all know, the weather changes depending on how the wind blows and not the meteorologist.
