Current Impacts
To see or report current drought impacts, please visit the Drought Impacts Toolkit, where you can find impacts from media in the Drought Impact Reporter and from citizen scientists and other volunteer observers under Condition Monitoring Observations.
Historic Impacts
No two states have the same experience during a drought. Below are examples of some of the impacts experienced in Alaska in the past. The process for developing this example impact table is described in Noel, M., Bathke, D., Fuchs, B., Gutzmer, D., Haigh, T., Hayes, M., Poděbradská, M., Shield, C., Smith, K. and Svoboda, M., 2020. Linking drought impacts to drought severity at the state level. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(8), pp.E1312-E1321. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0067.1. To view a more complete record, and to filter impacts by drought severity, sector and season, check out the interactive State Impacts Tool.
The drought impact tables displayed for the state of Alaska will be developed through a different methodology then those for the rest of the states. Alaska tables will be regional to include at a minimum the Southeast Alaska (temperate rainforest), South Central Alaska (cool, moist Mediterranean) and Interior Alaska (arctic) regions. They are based on a series of workshops held in Alaska and on expert opinion. The SE Alaska table is the first to be made available and others will come online as they are completed. These tables represent a starting point in our understanding of drought impacts in Alaska and will be updated as new information becomes available.
| Category | Examples of historically observed impacts |
|---|
| D0 | Hydropower conservation efforts to mitigate economic impacts |
| Some lingering water deficits |
| D1 | Fish hatcheries affected, increased wildlife interactions |
| Increased threat to forest health (pest/insect) |
| Recreation and fish migrations affected by low stream |
| Reservoirs/hydropower limitations; wells low; water shortages imminent (voluntary water-use restrictions) |
| D2 | Drinking water shortages common |
| Fish kills (low flow, high water temps) |
| Significant reduced hydropower generation |
| Water-use restrictions imposed (seafood processing plants, watering plants) |
| D3 | Drought emergency declaration |
| No hydropower generation |
| Widespread fish kills |
| Widespread water shortages or restrictions |
| D4 | Drought disaster declaration |
| Shortages of water in streams and wells creating water emergencies |
| Widespread no hydropower generation |