Hughe's River down to puddles
West Virginia's top agricultural official Gus R. Douglas has requested the West
Virginia Farm Service Agency to survey drought conditions across the state. The L-K
region has just experienced a record dry August, and the situation is worsening.
Several Calhoun farmers have said grasslands and small streams are in greater
distress than the recent drought experienced in the area.
Ritchie County has declared a state of emergency, rationing water. The Hughes River
is not running, and the Little Kanawha is down to a dribble. Water can be released
into the L-K from the Burnsville Dam to replenish water supplies in Glenville,
Grantsville and Elizabeth.
Commissioner Douglas says many state farmers have complained their wells and
springs are drying up.
Douglas said officials in at least five counties in north central West Virginia are in
extreme distress, although the eastern part of the state is suffering from a drought
that is affecting the east coast.
He said the FSA survey will begin to place the problem in a clearer light, in case
federal drought money is needed.
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