Georgia drought could repeat in 2017 La Nina effect may mean another dry year is ahead

TIFTON — Georgia farmers are experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent memory, and University of Georgia climatologist Pam Knox cautions there could be a potential repeat next year.

“I’m thinking about April 1 of next year. If we haven’t been able to recover that soil moisture that we’ve lost, we could really see another bad drought in 2017,” Knox said.

Knox fears a La Nina weather pattern could impact south Georgia this winter. La Nina is associated with cooler temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, but would bring warmer temperatures and drier weather conditions to the Southeast. Farmers depend greatly on rainfall from December through February to replenish the soil and refill irrigation ponds.

“Farmers have been irrigating anywhere they can. Some of the streams in the northwestern part of the state are just puddles; there are not even flowing streams anymore. They’re not able to irrigate because you’re not allowed to draw water when the streamflow is that low,” Knox said. “Now, I think we’ll see some recovery from that over the winter. The question is, how much will we get?”

This year is unique in that the drought is impacting farmers statewide, not just in specific areas. Knox said that in 2007 and 2009, the drought was focused more on north Georgia, where residents expressed fears that they would run out of water. In 2011 and 2013, the drought was centered more around the central part of the state. This year, other than the coastal region that received rainfall from Hurricane Matthew, most of Georgia is experiencing drought-like conditions.

“This is already a dry time of year, but this is crazy that we’ve basically had no rain in the last month,” Knox said. “There was a good portion of the state that got no rain in October. That, coupled with the high temperatures, really makes the drought worse.”

Much of south Georgia, which is driven by production of row crops like cotton and peanuts, hasn’t experienced rainfall since Hurricane Hermine moved through the area over Labor Day.

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