Drought
Drought in the Missouri River Basin
- Current water demand exceeds availability during drought
- Given recent and projected population growth, it appears that under average conditions the region could see water shortages sooner than predicted by the 2017 SD Mines Study
If your browser does not support Iframes, please go this page to view the current drought monitors information: View the South Dakota Drought Monitor
Is There Enough Water in the Missouri River?
Yes – the requested need is a drop in the bucket!
(1/2 oz per gallon of water)
S.D. School of Mines Study
Preliminary canvassing data, used to update the SD Mines chart to the left, supports the findings of the 2019 evaluation
The S.D. School of Mines study (2019) estimated total available water supply in Pennington County as: 111 cfs under wet conditions, 60.2 cfs under average precipitation conditions, and 22 cfs under extended dry conditions. The graphic below shows that under extended growth conditions, available supply for Pennington County would currently fall short of water needs at the current population.
