KDSN Radio

Rain Helps Fill Streams Hit By Drought

Recent rains have given some hope that Iowa will pull out of the drought conditions that weren't helped by a drier-than-normal spring. DNR hydrologist, Tim Hall, said some areas saw several inches of rain in a short time -- which he said is good -- even if a lot of it ran off the ground without sinking in. "Any rain we get is good for the environment. If it runs off quickly, it ends up in the stream. Stream flows were way down, so getting some increased rainfall in our stream system is great," Hall said. He said there weren't any reports of significant flash flooding, which is a good indicator of just how dry it is. "We'll take what we get, and we'll count it as a good thing. And we'll hope to get some more," he said. Hall said the impact was immediate on some of the waterways that have restrictions on them for irrigation. "We had some streams that were dropping and dropping and dropping and then you get a nice rain like this and those stream flows pop back up higher. So it certainly helps the situation with folks who are wanting stream flow water," according to Hall. He said we need more consistent rains at about one inch each week. "No single storm event is going to eliminate drought in the state of Iowa," he said. "It's gonna take sustained rainfall events over a long period of time to do that."  The recent rains should show up in the US Drought Monitor which comes out Thursday.