RALEIGH – A national workshop to be held in Raleigh April 1 will showcase North Carolina’s response to the state’s record-breaking drought of 2007-08 and the tools cities, towns and the nation’s farmers can use to respond to future droughts.
The 2010 North Carolina Drought Management Tools Workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. April 1 at the McKimmon Center for Extension and Continuing Education, 1101 Gorman St. The event is geared toward national, state and local leaders, public water supply officials and the agricultural community. It is open to the public and is free.
As space is limited, people should register soon at http://drought.unl.edu/registration/nc2010/ncregistration2010-step1.asp. You must register online by 5 p.m. March 26.
The event starts at 9:30 a.m. April 1 with the annual meeting of the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, state experts who assess North Carolina’s climate conditions and help determine the state’s drought outlook. Some part of North Carolina experienced drought or abnormally dry conditions for nearly three years until heavy rainfall brought back normal conditions in December. Steady rainfall has helped keep conditions normal in the state since then.
From 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m., the group will hear from officials from the state and federal departments of agriculture, the National Drought Mitigation Center and the State Climate Office of North Carolina. The topics discussed will include climate change and drought, how farmers can use Web-based historical data on rainfall and climate to plan for drought and how officials at the National Drought Mitigation Center make decisions about drought.
Drought has been a hot topic in the Tar Heel State for several years. The drought of 2007-08 was the worst in North Carolina since recordkeeping began on the topic in 1895. The conditions in 2007-08 prompted a state law that improved drought response and encouraged better water supply planning, conservation and cooperation. It also resulted in numerous communities enacting water conservation measures and constructing water line hookups with nearby municipalities so backup supplies would be available during future water supply shortages.
The 2007-08 drought also took a heavy toll on farmers. The agricultural community recorded about $382 million in crop losses in 2007 alone, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Much of the afternoon session of the workshop will be devoted to a discussion of the data and satellite mapping tools that allow farmers to monitor drought stress so they can make prudent decisions about crops and livestock. For a description of the tools farmers and others can use to prepare for drought, check out the Web link: http://drought.unl.edu/registration/NC2010/tools.html.
The workshop is hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency, the National Drought Mitigation Center, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Computer Science and Engineering Department, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the State Climate Office of North Carolina, N.C. State University and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. To learn more, check out http://drought.unl.edu/registration/NC2010/ncregistration2010.html.
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