Long-term Drought Status

The long-term drought situation benefitted from the wet El Niño winter, particularly at the higher elevations along the Mogollon Rim, the White Mountains in eastern Arizona and across northern Arizona. This brought the Upper Colorado, Upper Gila, Lower Gila, and Salt River watersheds out of drought. Most other watersheds in northern and central Arizona also improved by one or two categories. Southern Arizona did not benefit as much from the El Niño winter, but some watersheds with higher elevations experienced a wet monsoon, particularly in the southeast quadrant. The Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and Willcox Playa watersheds all improved one category. The San Simon and White Water Draw remain in moderate drought. Few improvements are anticipated this winter, especially in southern Arizona, as a strong La Niña has developed in the central Pacific Ocean, which is associated with a drier than normal winter across the southern United States. While Arizona’s reservoirs are nearly full, groundwater basins have only partially recharged, and the Colorado River reservoirs, Lakes Powell and Mead, are quite low. Without an exceptionally wet winter, there could be a shortage on Lake Mead by 2013, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Summary produced by the State Drought Monitoring Technical Committee - November 4, 2010