Ohio endured an historic drought last summer – by early September, about 95% of the state was affected by abnormal dryness or worse, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Conditions in southeast Ohio were so severe that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared the region a natural disaster area.
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State agencies and research groups continue to monitor drought conditions, which have shown improvement since fall. Significant rain and snowfall have boosted groundwater levels, with a widespread snowpack expected to sustain this trend into early spring. Moderate drought now persists in a small portion of eastern Ohio, primarily in the areas hardest hit last year.
State officials remain vigilant in the new year, recognizing that the 2024 drought may not be an anomaly. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), a steward of vital state waterways including Lake Erie and the Ohio River, is looking to enhance public awareness about a largely unprecedented weather phenomenon.
“Ohio is a lucky state – we have more water than we need, which has made us attractive,” said ODNR director Mary Mertz. “We don’t want to turn into the dry west, where there are more regulations and limits with the water supply.”
Last September, at the peak of Ohio’s drought, ODNR’s water resources department published a list of water conservation practices. Reducing shower time, for example, could save Ohioans as much as 5-7 gallons of water per minute, according to officials.
ODNR also worked with its forestry division, enacting a campfire ban in counties placed in the “extreme” or “exceptional” drought category by the USDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Emails from unhappy nature lovers didn’t stop park rangers from enforcing the prohibition, noted Mertz.
“The ban made a lot of people mad, but the state fire marshal made the best decision he could, and we were there to support it,” Mertz said. “We’d never seen those types of conditions before.”
A dose of caution
This winter’s increased snowpack, in contrast to the limited precipitation of last year, has brought optimism regarding enhanced groundwater replenishment. Yet, ODNR and its partners are continuing discussions on water-saving alternatives, like increased reuse of water from hydraulic fracking operations.
The Ohio Emergency Management Agency, responsible for developing the state’s disaster plans, tracks drought severity through the U.S. Drought Monitor, a collaboration among the University of Nebraska-Lincon, NOAA and the USDA. The agency also collaborates with county emergency departments, which gather information directly from farmers in the field, said Ohio EMA administrative officer Sean Miller.
The agency charts four primary drought types – agricultural, hydrological, meteorological and socioeconomic. Ohio is mostly affected by agricultural and hydrological droughts, often simultaneously. Hydrological droughts derive from below-average precipitation, which can negatively impact agriculture through shortfalls in topsoil moisture.
A drought emergency may be declared when the national drought monitor reaches the D3 or D4 (extreme to exceptional) category, potentially leading to implementation of state water conservation measures. Per the Ohio Revised Code, the state’s director of environmental protection can enforce canal water use restrictions for homes during periods of extended dryness.
“Our primary focus last year was impacts to the drinking water supply,” said Miller. “What we would do should our reservoirs run too low.”
While drastic measures were never required, Ohio EMA is now collaborating with state environmental and agricultural partners to develop solutions for reliable drinking water access and emergency water sources for farmers.
“This is a coordination function where we’re sharing information,” Miller said. “With the drought last year, the lasting impact of that is a good group of folks who can better share their roles, resources and what their authority is in a drought. We’ve got those partners ready to go – if we run dry again, we can pull that working group together.”
Stay prepared
According to NOAA’s drought information system, the Midwest was mostly drought free in early June. Dry conditions and summer heat changed those dynamics, particularly across the 204,000-square-mile Ohio River Basin.
Still, droughts like last year’s don’t happen often, said Aaron Wilson, Ohio’s state climatologist and a field specialist for Ohio State University’s college of food, agricultural and environmental sciences. At CFAES, Wilson is part of a drought rapid response team that delivers critical data and drought analysis to Ohio stakeholders.
Wilson acknowledged that the 2012 drought is the closest comparison to last year, but even during that event, “extreme” drought conditions only affected approximately 1%-2% of the state. The 2024 drought, meanwhile, was the most “extreme” drought coverage the state has known since the U.S. Drought Monitor’s 1999 inception.
La Niña conditions have brought much-needed precipitation to the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, though groundwater levels remain lower than normal in wells monitored by the state.
“We’re hoping to see a more active moisture pattern, especially before planting season this spring,” said Wilson. “We don’t want to start behind the eight ball like last year.”
Even with a wetter winter, Ohio’s farmers must remain on their toes, Wilson added. Implementing automated irrigation or controlled drainage structures may help with water management, but such technology comes with challenges.
“Drainage structures may not fit on fields with slopes,” said Wilson. “You’ve also got tile drainage, or adjustable riser boards where water has a better chance of staying put. This is actionable stuff that farmers can do, but it’s not always cheap. It just depends on the amount of risk farmers are willing to assume.”
Extreme weather events, from droughts to record-breaking tornado outbreaks like Ohio experienced in 2024, remain a challenge for Wilson’s department. What the OSU researcher knows for sure is the state must always be ready for the worst.
“This won’t be our last drought, so let’s be prepared to have a strong response,” Wilson said.
