Drought of 1988
Overview:
The drought of 1988 was a widespread drought in regions of both the United States and Canada. Its onset was in the spring of 1988 and its effects were seen for the next couple years. It had major effects on the agricultural regions and therefore majorly affected agricultural production and the surrounding ecosystems. This had major effects on food and water supply which in turn majorly shifted the lives of people and prompted numerous government involvements concerning the issue. Drought Advisories were a major action taken that consolidated drought conditions into summary reports. The Interagency Drought Policy Committee was established as well. These are just a couple examples of programs implemented as a result of the drought of 1988. The organizations that were all put in place can help the government as well as the public understand present and future concerns.
Communication:
June 24,1988
- Raising food prices
- Inflation in prices and seeing effects
July 3, 1988
- Millions of dollars lost in crops and livestock
- June 20-24 rain in the farm belt helped corn and soybean crops in their most vital stage of growth
- Crop losses over $2 billion in North Dakota
Vulnerability:
The Drought of 1988 impacted the entire United States. During this time, most of the U.S. experienced at least 20 days with maximum temperatures of 90 degrees or higher. Major crops in 25% of the United states received less than one half of normal rainfall from April to June. The agricultural impact was most severe in the Great Plain and Midwest, the consequence led to wheat crops being 50% below its normal yield. The Northeast had its worst growing season since the 1980s and had some of the hottest temperatures on record. In the South, low stream flow from the drought impacted reservoir storage and hindered boat navigation, leaving barges and other water vessels stranded along rivers. The 1988 Drought in the West lead to massive forest fires. Over 4 million acres were affected, twice the amount from 1987. Because of this California’s and other western states’ water supply became critical. In most parts of the country water restrictions were placed. The Drought of 1988 in the Southern portion of Canada’s prairie provinces had similar severe impacts as the United States, including effects on agriculture, water resources, forestry and waterfowl production.
Future Improvements:
Individual Level:
- Save water by reusing it for other needs and conserve. Water that is not necessarily drinkable can be used to water plants or a replacement for water in toilets.
- An individual should have an emergency water supply. This can include having a rain catch system or having ample amounts of drinking water (bottled) in storage.
- One should make sure their home is leak free and fix water pipes and faucets if not. This can be an easy fix to save water. One drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons of water per year.
Community level:
- Communities should integrate soil and water management practices. This can conserve water moisture and allow food production to continue to grow in a drought.
- Communities should push for laws that allow a control over water pollution. Communities will have less water to ration in a drought if water is polluted. It would be in the community’s favor to clean up local water resources.
- Giving all famers access to technology that will prepare them for droughts. This can be achieved by technology that provides early detection of droughts. Farmers in high risk drought areas should also have access to drought tolerant seeds and water efficiency seeds. Having these tools can help plan and prepare for the future.
Implementation
Some barriers that would effect our strategies would be that not everyone wants to use recycled water. Some people would find it disgusting and oppose this right away without seeing the greater benefit of it. While pushing for new laws to allow control over water population would be beneficial incase of a drought, but some people might find it unnecessary. There’s always going to be someone that opposes the law proposed. Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy for people to realize that action needs to be done. We need to set laws in place incase something happens not after something happens. Some other barriers might be that the community doesn’t have the funding to provide farmers with the technology to prepare them for droughts. Since the Drought of 1988 was so widespread it’s hard to predict what farmers qualify for being in a high risk drought area.