How the State Determines Drought Responses - Scientists at EPD monitor many indicators of moisture in the state to help determine if a "drought response" is necessary. The data and information to help determine if drought response is needed comes from EPD monitoring stations, the state climatologist, the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service and others. The indicators include:

groundwater levels, streamflows, reservoir levels, rainfall in the past 3, 6, and 9 months, expected rainfall in the next 90 days, and water use patterns across the state.

Click here for more drought images.

Based on the information provided from these sources, the EPD Director, with the help from a diverse group of advisors, makes a decision to (or not to) declare advanced levels of drought response. Increased levels (1 to 4) indicate increased levels of drought response (see the State Drought Management Plan for details).

For information about current drought indicators, review this presentation prepared for the Drought Response Committee meeting held on September 28, 2007.

For the most up-to-date information from the state Climatologist, click here.

For more information related to drought in Georgia, visit the University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Services Georgia Drought website or the United States Geological Survey WaterWatch website.

For a look at changing drought conditions in the southeast from April 2007 to March 2008, click here.