Top Natural Resources Director Talks About Missouri’s Second Year of Drought

(MissouriNet) Missouri’s drought conditions are expected to continue through the remainder of this year. It’s something that Dru Buntin, Director of the state Department of Natural Resources, says falls in line with the thought that this is the same drought that affected residents last year…

“We’re really in the second year of drought. We kind of went on a bit of a hiatus last winter because we had had some local rainfall that helped, but we’re entering into the time of the year where we have the least amount of precipitation.”

A statewide drought committee is requesting that the governor extend his executive order on drought until next April due to the forecast predicting that the current drought conditions will continue through at least December. Despite admitting this is a continuation of 2022’s drought, state officials are reporting that they have not heard of community water supply concerns. Buntin says that the drought impacts are relegated mostly to the agriculture industry.