Dry Weather Threatens The West

Dry Weather Threatens The West

Author: Ducks Unlimited
Published: November 4, 2021

An exceptional amount of drought has hit the West and it is now effecting the habitats of many waterfowl species. Read on to see what effects will trickle down.

“Most Ducks Unlimited members are already aware that much of the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States and Canada is in the midst of a severe drought. By many accounts, conditions in the Duck Factory haven’t been this dry since the 1980s. To make matters worse, another drought, outside of the prairies, is gripping some of the most important waterfowl migration and wintering habitats in the West.

As of this writing in mid-July, more than 25 percent of the western United States was experiencing exceptional drought, the most severe category possible according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Three regions of particular importance to waterfowl—we’ll call them the Big Three—are located within these exceptionally drought-stricken areas. They include the Central Valley of California; the Klamath Basin, which lies along the California-Oregon border; and Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Together, these landscapes support the majority of the migrating and wintering waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway.”

Read more at Ducks.org.


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