PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University has created a Web site to help Northwest citizens deal with the region’s deepening drought. The Drought Alert site is located at: http://drought.wsu.edu.
The state is in a declared drought emergency that affects both Eastern and Western Washington. “Drought Alert provides a variety of information on the situation and how citizens can conserve water and otherwise cope with impacts of the drought,” said James Zuiches, dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics.
“We could be facing the worst drought since our record-keeping began in 1929,” said Gov. Gary Locke. “The WSU Web site will be a valuable resource for drought news and tips on water conservation. Working together we can keep our farmers and industry in business, meet the needs of our homes, keep our salmon alive and ensure a pure water supply for our people.”
Zuiches said, “Initially we posted about a dozen publications that will help agricultural producers or city residents deal with the drought. We hope to have another 10 publications or so online within a short time.”
In addition, Drought Alert pages offer news releases, a list of drought-related meetings, and a host of links to drought-related Web sites maintained by other state and federal agencies.
Zuiches said some publications are specific to crops, such as sweet corn, hops, asparagus and mint. Others deal with irrigation systems.
Initial offerings will include home water-saving methods, solar domestic water heating, and conserving water indoors. Additional publications now being prepared will deal with lawns, landscaping, gardening and other topics.
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