|
|
Have
You Ever Seen the Rain:
Droughts
in Virginia
It could be great for Virginia’s wineries, but
rough for the state’s cattle owners if recent
drought predictions prove correct. In an April
report to the state’s Drought Monitoring
Taskforce, the State Climatologist warns of a
significant agricultural drought if the state
doesn’t get good rains in the near future. The
recent downpours up here in northern Virginia may
not be enough.
Here’s why. Normally by May of each year,
precipitation in the form of rain or snow exceeds by
five inches the amount of moisture lost through
evaporation or transpiration from plants. (Remember
transpiration from high school biology? It occurs
when water evaporates from the leaves of plants and
in turn is taken up through roots from the soil.)
Adequate precipitation allows for extra water
storage during the hotter, drier days of summer. In
many parts of the state, this hasn’t happened.
Since the first of the year, some areas of Virginia
have received only 30 percent of the precipitation
needed to take them through drier months.
Drought is an odd weather occurrence. Unlike a
hurricane, tornado or even a thunderstorm, it is not
purely a physical event. Drought occurs when lack of
water fails to meet the needs of a region, whether
plant, animal or human. It’s not just about
insufficient precipitation, but about how water is
used. As a 2000 report on drought conditions in
southwestern Virginia put it, “Is it Mother Nature
or is it us?”
Virginia’s worst drought may have occurred about
the time the Jamestown colonists arrived. There are
some hints in journals left behind. One colonist
wrote that the Algonquian natives asked the
colonists to pray to their English gods for rain.
They said their own gods weren’t responding.
Captain John Smith also reported that the tribe
complained of a poor corn crop and would not trade
corn with the settlers (“Grimness of Mythic
Proportions,” Discover, January 1999).
David
Stahle, a dendrochronologist with the University of
Arkansas, confirmed these suspicions with his study
of tree growth rings on 1,000-year-old bald
cypresses in the Tidewater area. Trees add a layer
of wood annually, and in wet years that layer grows
more than in drier years. Stahle’s research backed
up the Jamestown archeologists’ theories. Virginia
suffered a seven-year drought from 1606 to 1612. The
first 104 Jamestown settlers arrived in 1607. A year
later there were only 38 left. Drought is considered
a factor in this high mortality rate.
In more recent
history, Virginia has suffered several major
droughts since the 1900s. The most severe occurred
from 1930 to 1932, in the early years of drought
conditions that eventually caused the Dust Bowl in
the Midwest. There was a lot of prayer for rain in
that era, as well; in the 1930s, agriculture was
king in the commonwealth.
The most recent drought
conditions occurred in 2002. At the time, Governor
Mark Warner banned lawn watering, car washing and
the filling of swimming pools in most areas of the
state. Wells dried up in rural areas as the water
table dropped. Warner waived the requirement for a
construction permit to the more than 2,000 people
who had applied to dig new wells. (“Va. Designates
‘Czar’ to Oversee Drought; Rules Streamlined on
Some New Wells,” The Washington Post, August 27,
2002.) In Charlottesville, restaurant owners
voluntarily changed to disposable plates. They
provided sanitizing wipes as an alternative to
hand-washing. Hotels turned off ice-making machines.
Some establishments even displaced the water in
toilet tanks with gallon jugs or bricks (“Virginia
Operators Tap Conservation Steps to Avert Drought
Shutdowns,” Nation’s Restaurant News, November
11, 2002).
The drought had an upside, though. The
2002 wine harvest was great! Dry weather helps
grapes ripen sooner and aromas and flavors develop
better when that happens. Vineyard owners also saved
money on mildew-spraying costs in 2002, because
fungus doesn’t grow as well in dry weather
(“Virginia Drought Good for Vineyards, Wreaks
Havoc on Pastures,” Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business
News, August 2, 2002).
However, at Virginia’s
25,000 cattle farms, a drought can have severe
economic impact. If pastures aren’t in good shape,
farmers have to feed their livestock hay stored for
the winter. To avoid using up stored feed, they may
sell livestock early to get the best prices, but
underweight cattle could force prices lower. This is
but one consequence of drought in the Old Dominion,
which affects not only agriculture but forests. Dry
timber and brush provides fuel for wildfires.
Ironically, firefighters need water to combat them.
It’s just a catch-22 for everyone, all because no
one has seen enough rain.
NEXT: The
Humpback Bridge, and Other Virginia Crossings.
--
May 15, 2006
|
|
