2014 Oklahoma Drought Conditions

[bchris02]

Wouldn't it be wise to make Lake Hefner deeper? Part of the reason it tends to try up is not only its size but its shallowness. Many parts of it are very shallow so the sun reflects off the lake bottom and increases evaporation.

[BG918]

I believe there are parts in the state that already are.

The Panhandle already is classified as semi-arid desert with less than 20" of precipitation annually. Parts of Western Oklahoma are close. If you've been to the Wichita Mtns or to Lake Altus it looks like a desert landscape with brush and cactus and few large trees. The continuous drought has made things worse for farming/ranching and I imagine there is plenty of once-productive land that is now useless which is an example of desertification, most likely in the far southwest which has been in an exceptional drought for several years.

[Dennis Heaton]

Pipeline from San Diego County may be the solution to meet future needs...

Carlsbad Desalination Project | Home

[Snowman]

Pipeline from San Diego County may be the solution to meet future needs...

Carlsbad Desalination Project | Home

It would have to be pretty far in the future before Oklahoma is using desalinization, it generally costs more than any of the other methods, uses a lot of power to run and we are not super close to an ocean. Though who knows, maybe several decades from now there will be a national system of pipelines for water similar to fuel, crude and natural gas today.

[Dennis Heaton]

It would have to be pretty far in the future before Oklahoma is using desalinization, it generally costs more than any of the other methods, uses a lot of power to run and we are not super close to an ocean. Though who knows, maybe several decades from now there will be a national system of pipelines for water similar to fuel, crude and natural gas today.

Snowman...The cool thing about this, I was living in Carlsbad when I was in the 8th grade (1966) when this was on the drawing board a lil over 4 decades ago. So, you just could be right.

[venture]

It would have to be pretty far in the future before Oklahoma is using desalinization, it generally costs more than any of the other methods, uses a lot of power to run and we are not super close to an ocean. Though who knows, maybe several decades from now there will be a national system of pipelines for water similar to fuel, crude and natural gas today.

A national system would be interesting. Though I could imagine the Great Lakes states going absolutely ape over the thought of more people tapping into that resource.

[Dubya61]

I asked a friend (who had connections and responsibilities to be in the know) about this once and he (very politely) laughed my idea into oblivion due to cost. All the same, here it is.
We're worried about global warming (with concurrent rising oceans) AND low aquifer levels. I think desalinization plants that feed into central aquifers is the way to go.

but I don't want to pay for it, personally

[Plutonic Panda]

I asked a friend (who had connections and responsibilities to be in the know) about this once and he (very politely) laughed my idea into oblivion due to cost. All the same, here it is.
We're worried about global warming (with concurrent rising oceans) AND low aquifer levels. I think desalinization plants that feed into central aquifers is the way to go.

but I don't want to pay for it, personally

I think if solar and wind energy can be made more efficient coupled with more energy efficient desalinization techniques, it will be more feasible.

[silvergrove]

I think if solar and wind energy can be made more efficient coupled with more energy efficient desalinization techniques, it will be more feasible.

Or wait for people in Southern California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix to find a way to make the technology to make it cheaper. They'll be worrying about it way before we do.

[Plutonic Panda]

Agreed. Although, it solar is still in its infancy, imo, and needs to be researched further to produce more energy.

[Plutonic Panda]

Central Oklahoma registers 29-inch rain deficit » Local News » The Edmond Sun

[Bunty]

Central Oklahoma registers 29-inch rain deficit » Local News » The Edmond Sun

For May, so far, at my station in Stillwater, only .28" has fallen. Average for all of May, the rainiest month, is 5.41".

[Plutonic Panda]

Wow

[Plutonic Panda]

Oklahoma Drought Impacting Meat Prices Across The State - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

[Dennis Heaton]

Central Oklahoma registers 29-inch rain deficit » Local News » The Edmond Sun

And just how are those Putting Greens looking, out on 1515 West Oak Tree Drive in Edmond?

[Plutonic Panda]

Haven't really checked lately, although, I'm sure they're doing great after this rain.

[Plutonic Panda]

Holiday-weekend rain raises Oklahoma City's six reservoirs only a few inches | News OK

[venture]

Hardly any improvement at Canton Lake. It went from 21% full to 22% full.

CNLO2 : Canton Lake


Current Readings:

• Pool elevation is 1602.74 feet on Thursday 29May14 Time: 1100 hours.
• At this elevation the total amount of water stored in Canton Lake is 35477 acre-feet.
• Reservoir release is 0 cubic feet per second on Thursday 29May14 Time: 1100 hours.
• Conservation pool is 22.52% full.
• Conservation storage filled is 21580 acre-feet which is equivalent to 0.05 inches of runoff over the entire drainage basin.
• Conservation storage empty is 74265 acre-feet which is equivalent to 0.18 inches of runoff over the entire drainage basin.

[OKCisOK4me]

Nice line of storms firing up around Woodward and look to be training which is what this area needs to get water into Canton!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5

[gopokes88]

Does canton get much runoff? That area has been getting a fair amount of rain and it's still sitting at 22%. At least Hefner is almost back to full.

[Snowman]

Does canton get much runoff? That area has been getting a fair amount of rain and it's still sitting at 22%. At least Hefner is almost back to full.

While the last few have finally been hitting it's catchment area. It seemed like until this last month, the closest everything the year before would just barely miss it.

[Bunty]

A wu reporting station by Canton Lake has 6.71" of rain for June.

[soonerguru]

Question for drought experts: last year OKC had one of its rainiest years on record, approximately 50 inches of rain. This year we are at about 16 inches so far, a little less than half of our average annual total. But when I look at the drought monitor it shows Oklahoma County in the "Extreme" drought category. Why? This makes no sense to me at all.

[LocoAko]

Question for drought experts: last year OKC had one of its rainiest years on record, approximately 50 inches of rain. This year we are at about 16 inches so far, a little less than half of our average annual total. But when I look at the drought monitor it shows Oklahoma County in the "Extreme" drought category. Why? This makes no sense to me at all.

I'm by no means a drought expert, but it doesn't just deal with how much rain falls but rather where, how fast, etc. If the ground is hard from drought and too much rain falls too quickly, much of it will leave the area as runoff and will hardly benefit the soil conditions. Permeability and vegetation type play a huge role. I believe the best "drought buster" to be moderate amounts of rain over a prolonged period of time. Plus keep in mind that even though it has been raining a lot recently, we are still having the 12th driest year (year-to-date) here in Central OK having only received 63% of our normal rainfall.

[Plutonic Panda]

Drought continues to improve across Oklahoma | Oklahoma City - OKC - KOCO.com