Driest Year Ever on the East Side

The Republic - ROSWELL, N.M. — Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in north Roswell is known as an oasis in the desert, providing vital wetlands in an arid environment to thousands of migratory birds and endangered species and plants. But the oasis is drying up due to exceptional drought conditions, the worst drought category possible, that still persist in southeast New Mexico, Bitter Lake biologist Jeffrey Sanchez said in a recent interview. Wetlands are at an all-time low capacity, just below 50 percent, and the refuge has received a mere 1/2 of an inch of rain since the beginning of the year, drastically low compared to its usual lush 12 inches of rainfall per year, Sanchez said. "It is the driest year so far, and it shows in the wetlands," Sanchez said. "I haven't seen any documentation of the wetlands being this dry in the past." The first seven months of 2011 have been the driest start to any year on record for New Mexico, according to the National Weather Service, and through August, about 47 percent of the state remains in exceptional drought. The statewide average precipitation has only been 42 percent of normal through July 2011. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Driest Year Ever on the East Side