JEFFERSON CITY — While drought conditions have triggered a scramble to ensure farming and ranching businesses have adequate water and feed for their livestock, the lack of rain across much of Missouri has not yet begun affecting drinking water supplies.
But, the director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources said the agency is actively monitoring the situation.
DNR chief Dru Buntin told members of the Missouri Development Finance Board during a brief report Tuesday that drinking water supplies could begin to be affected if the state does not receive more precipitation in certain areas.
“We don’t see that yet but we’re concerned,” Buntin told the board.
Much of Missouri’s mid-section is experiencing extreme drought. Areas affected include Cole County, home to Jefferson City, which pumps its drinking water out of the Missouri River.
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Large portions of four counties in northeast Missouri, near the Iowa border, also are listed in extreme drought.
Ƶ, which draws its drinking water supply from the Mississippi River, is listed as abnormally dry, while neighboring counties are listed in moderate to severe drought.
In all, the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest weekly report shows 3.7 million Missourians — about 60% of the state’s population — are affected by the lack of rain.
During the drought of 2018, three northwest Missouri communities faced the possibility of drinking water supplies drying up due to low levels in their reservoirs.
In the western Missouri city of Cameron, for example, the city council adopted a resolution in July 2018 to pump water from Pony Express Lake through an emergency aboveground transmission line.
By the time the pipe was functional in October of that year, rains had restored the reservoir to full pool, according to a DNR report.
The city of Hamilton in Caldwell County northeast of Kansas City imposed water restrictions on residents in 2018 when its water supply reservoir began dipping into dangerous territory. At one point water levels were two feet above the intake pipe, but rains that fall refilled the lake.
In north central Missouri, water commissioners urged conservation after a reservoir that also serves as a source of water for a Smithfield Fresh Meats processing facility dropped 109 inches below full pool.
A major reservoir named after former U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt is being built in the region to address future water concerns.
Last year, during a long stretch of dry weather, officials said municipal drinking water systems along the Mississippi River had generally not been jeopardized by the drought conditions, which limited barge and cruise traffic.
Some complications arose, however.
In Cape Girardeau, the city’s water supply was interrupted by a water main break caused when a pipe was ruptured by the shift of dried-up dirt.
For now, the drought response has been largely limited to helping farmers. Gov. Mike Parson, who raises cattle at his home in Bolivar, announced last week that water for farming operations could be pumped out of DNR lakes or at boat ramps at 36 Missouri Department of Conservation areas.
The state also opened up hay mowing opportunities on state-owned land to help feed cattle on farms that haven’t been able to grow enough for livestock.
“Hay season is in full swing around the state and yields have been far from spectacular. Drought conditions continue to get worse,” said a Monday market report by the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
Special hay hauling permits also can be requested through the Missouri Department of Transportation.
“With the current water deficit, we know it will take a lot of rain for our state and its agricultural community to recover from the drought. While our prayers for rain to continue, state government will do its part to assist wherever and whenever it can,” Parson said in announcing the assistance.