The Kentucky Division of Water continuously monitors hydrologic conditions throughout the state, including precipitation, streamflows, lake elevations and various drought indices.  This information is used to detect emerging drought conditions, to identify the locations and severity of drought and to provide timely and appropriate public notification.

Kentucky Drought Monitoring Center

*UPDATE* Nov. 13, 2007 –
WATER SHORTAGE WATCHES, WARNINGS LIFTED FOR 19 COUNTIES.    (To view press release please click here.)

Water Shortage Notification System Explained

Statewide Summary of Drought Development

 

Updated Dec. 18, 2007

 

After a tough drought year that saw precipitation deficits rank as high as second or third worst for the period of record (since 1895), the majority of the commonwealth has again returned to normal conditions.  Rains that began on Oct. 22 have been above normal for all but the southeast and a few localized areas throughout.  At this point, the division does not anticipate any further drought-related impacts except for a handful of communities that are supplied by smaller lakes.  In these areas, the accumulated precipitation deficit far exceeded the potential for recharge with the rains they have received to this point.  As a result, some remain on advisory or alert.  For customers in these areas and all Kentuckians when the need arises, it is important to comply as fully as possible with any requests made by their water suppliers to help conserve water.

This site will be updated on a monthly basis throughout the winter.  More frequent updates will commence beginning May 1, 2008, or sooner if conditions warrant.

Useful Drought Indicators

PRECIPITATION
For the year, precipitation deficits for Kentucky range from 72 percent of normal in the Eastern climatic division to 98 percent of normal in the Central division.  The current 30-day precipitation totals for the Western, Central, Bluegrass and Eastern climatic divisions averaged 172, 190, 184 and 117 percent of normal, respectively.

STREAMFLOWS
Most streamflows across the state are currently within or above a normal range for this time of year.  Less than 10 percent, all located in the southeastern portion of the state, of the real-time stream gauging network is below a normal range.

LAKE ELEVATIONS
Most small water supply lakes have been returned to near-normal elevations, but a few still remain well below normal due to localized precipitation deficits.  Lakes under the control of the Huntington District, Louisville District and Nashville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been drawn-down to winter pool elevation though recent precipitation events have temporarily increased most.  Releases from Corps of Engineers reservoirs are important to the status of many Kentucky rivers as sources of supply for drinking water, assimilation of wastewater discharges, water quality and aquatic habitat.  These rivers include the Green, Barren, Rough, Nolin, Kentucky, Salt, Licking and Big Sandy rivers.

DROUGHT INDICES

Assessing the severity of a drought is made easier with the use of drought indices that combine various source information into a single representative value of drought severity.  The Palmer Drought Severity Index uses data for precipitation, temperature and evapo-transpiration to calculate a number that can be compared across different times and locations.  This index was developed in the 1960s in Kansas and Nebraska but has since become a part of drought monitoring in a majority of the United States.  The Palmer Drought Severity Index is updated weekly on Monday afternoons.

The Drought Monitor represents a comprehensive assessment of several factors that contribute to the development of drought or that indicate the severity and potential persistence of drought.  The Drought Monitor is updated weekly on Thursday mornings.

Updated Dec. 18, 2007 

The Palmer Drought Severity Index and the Drought Monitor indicate normal to above-normal conditions for all areas of the state except the southeast.  In the East division, some improvement is being made.
 
The Palmer Drought Severity Index issued on Dec. 17, 2007, places the West, Central and Bluegrass climatic divisions in a very moist spell (3.45, 3.35 and 3.10, respectively).  The East climatic division (-0.40) remains near normal.

It is important to note that the Palmer Drought Severity Index is used as a general index of drought over large geographic areas defined by the four climatic divisions of Kentucky.  Rainfall that affects one part of a climatic division may substantially improve drought conditions on a county or multi-county level but have little or no impact on the regional average conditions defined by the Palmer Index.

Updated Dec. 18, 2007

An area in southeastern Kentucky designated as in exceptional drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor continues to shrink.  This area includes the eastern most portions of Harlan and Letcher counties.  Layered on this area are bands characterizing drought conditions from extreme to none.  West of a line running from Todd to Lewis counties, conditions are considered normal.

As a drought indicator, the Drought Monitor is not limited to four large climatic divisions, rather it incorporates the Palmer Index as just one of several indicators of drought development in a given area.   These other indicators include more short-term components including the Crop Moisture Index, Standardized Precipitation Index and weekly streamflow percentiles.  The Palmer Drought Severity Index and the Drought Monitor should be considered in combination with more localized data such as rainfall, streamflows, groundwater levels and climatic outlooks to form an accurate assessment of drought severity in a given location.

OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST:

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides additional water conservation tips to help you conserve water at home.
• Additional sources of weather-related information include the Kentucky Climate Center at the Department of Geography and Geology at Western Kentucky University.
• The Drought Severity Map is available from the Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and presents drought conditions for the entire United States on one page.
• The Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering of the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky also contains Kentucky weather information, including maps indicating amount of rainfall, temperature and moisture index.
• The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a gauging station database that provides streamflow gauging data for the major river basins in Kentucky.