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 Indiana 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.
| Category | Examples of historically observed impacts |
|---|
| D0 | Dryland crops and rangeland are stressed |
| Lawns are brown; gardens are watered more frequently |
| D1 | Blue-green algae blooms appear |
| Creek and pond levels are low |
| Crop growth is stunted; supplemental feed for livestock begins |
| D2 | Corn and soybeans are in poor condition; irrigation increases; hay and crop yields are low |
| County-level burn bans are implemented; brush fires occur more frequently |
| Creeks, ponds and wetlands are dry; lake levels drop; well levels are low; water restrictions begin |
| Lawns go dormant |
| Wildlife encroach on urban areas for water |
| D3 | Corn is a total loss with no ears; corn is cut for feed; soybeans are severely dry; supplemental hay for livestock is increased; other row crops are impacted |
| Farmers’ markets are curtailed or canceled |
| Fireworks are banned; fire departments are strained |
| Gardening businesses struggle |
| Lake and reservoir levels are very low |
| Trees and shrubs show drought stress or are dying; deer disease increases; fish kills occur; vegetation is dying |
| D4 | Communities and businesses tied to water activities and agriculture experience economic losses |
| Farmers sell cattle; feed costs are high; producers haul hay from outside of the state |
| Water restrictions are implemented statewide; water shortage warnings are issued statewide |