Officials remain cautiously optimistic that two February snowfalls and recent rainfall will improve drought conditions in the state.
The National Drought Mitigation Center Drought Monitor Map shows the northwestern and western parts of Arkansas still in severe drought, the worst in the state.
However, rainfall amounts since the first of the month have raised levels 0.31 inches above normal at the airport at Drake Field in Fayetteville and 1.99 inches above normal at the airport in Fort Smith through midnight Tuesday, said Nicole McGavock, a service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa. The service monitors drought conditions in eastern Oklahoma, and west-central and Northwest Arkansas.
It may not seem like much, but every drop counts. There were only two months with above-normal rainfall from April 2012 through January in Fayetteville and Fort Smith.
Fort Smith rose above theaverage mark last July and in January of this year. Fayetteville passed the normal mark in August then again in January.
Snowfall and rain Wednesday and Thursday of last week coupled with precipitation that continued Monday into Tuesday resulted in 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rain in the area. The slower rains over an extended period of time helps mitigate drought conditions.
“With these last couple of events, we’re starting to see a little bit of water recovery in farm ponds,” McGavock said. Lakes and streams are responding, as well, she said. But the road to recovery can be long.
“When we’re in a drought like this, the rainfall we get is going to start to replenish the soil moisture first, and we have to get that replenished before water’s really able to travel to get into the lakes and the creeks and streams, and back up to normal levels.”
This is good news for produce farmers looking to plant soon.
“The key will be what happens this coming spring,” she said. March of 2012 was wet, but then it was as if someone “turned the spigot off” from May on, which led to what McGavock describes as a “flash drought, where things began to deteriorate quite quickly with the heat and evaporation.”
Without any large-scale atmospheric conditions affecting the area - such as La Nina over the past two years - “there’s no real guide to tell us whether the odds are going to tilt one way or another,” she said.
La Nina is an ocean-atmosphere phenomenon believed to be responsible for droughts in the southeastern United States. But with no La Nina or counterpart El Nino predicted for this year, “we have to plan for a little bit of everything.
“It’s pretty much an educated ‘We don’t know,’” she quipped.
If lake levels are any indication, things are looking up, at least for now. Alan Bland, park ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Beaver Lake, said lake levels are 2 feet higher than what they were a month ago. Readings Tuesday showed the lake to be at 1,111.44 feet above sea level, still below its normal 1,120 feet.
“She’s on the rise. Slowly, but it’s on the rise, which is great,” he said.
Johnny Gunsaulis, a county extension agent in agriculture with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, said all this moisture is getting farmers’ attention, but there’s a hesitancy among them to get their hopes up too high because 2012 started out much the same way.
“At this point last year, it looked like we were recovered from 2011’s drought and were ready to go on and have a good year, and it just didn’t work out that way,” Gunsaulis said.
On a somewhat positive note, he said, there will be fewer animals to feed this year because the 2012 drought forced many ranchers to sell off cattle they couldn’t support.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of beef cows in the United States was down 3 percent on Jan. 1, with Arkansas suffering a 6 percent reduction in its beef herd, from 909,000 cows to 851,000 in 2012.
Cattle farmers have also learned to plan ahead for drought conditions and are taking what steps they can to lessen their losses. For instance, said Gunsaulis, they’ve learned to fertilize their fields earlier in the year, when there’s more moisture, so they can get better hay yields. Also, some have taken the opportunity to clean out their ponds whiledry so the ponds can hold more water.
Chris Ranalli of Ranalli Farms in Tontitown said he’s ready for a break. Last year, he spent $5,000 to pump more than 1 million gallons of city water to keep a 100-year-old grape vineyard alive.
It’s not a venture one can turn his back on.
“Your vineyard has to live for the next year so you can’t let it go and just say, ‘To hell with it,’” Ranalli said. “You have to invest the money to keep it going.” His concord grapes are the ones featured at the Tontitown Grape Festival each August.
That 10-acre vineyard, which he operates on land his family leases, is just one component of the Ranallis’ agricultural holdings. They also operate an 8-acre vineyard on their own land, as well as 2 miles of plastic-covered, raised beds for tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe and peppers. Luckily, he has a good well that helps maintain the crops. The family also raises cattle, which rely on ponds for water.
He said his ponds are still low, but he’s optimistic that will change given all the rain of late. Ranalli said he tries to keep a good attitude. He has little choice - he’s 54 and has been a farmer all his life.
“We can’t be disgruntled and stay in this business,” he said. “It would drive you nuts.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 02/27/2013