South Dakota State University Extension

When it comes to managing water, there’s a “Goldilocks problem”: runoff frequently delivers far too much or far too little water to the landscape. In the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB), catastrophic floods and droughts between 2011 and 2021 highlighted the need for more and better water information to deliver earlier warnings and respond to extremes from both sides of the water supply spectrum

The 2017 Northern Plains drought sparked wildfires, destroyed livestock, and reduced agricultural production. Neither the drought’s swift onset nor its severity were forecasted. In May 2017, the region was mostly drought-free, and at least average summer precipitation was forecasted. By July 2017, North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Montana, and the Canadian prairies were experiencing severe to

BROOKINGS, S.D. - Agricultural producers are encouraged to share drought impact information through the Drought Impact Reporter, part of the National Drought Mitigation Center. The Reporter allows producers to report local drought impacts and conditions. The tool was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric