Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
KSL NewsThe US Department of Agriculture today designated the entire state of Utah a natural disaster area due to drought, insect infestation and high winds.
Utah has faced five years in a row of ever-intensifying drought conditions and is currently the driest state in the country. Water storage and stream flows in the state are approximately half of normal; and forecast temperatures are expected to be above average, with rainfall forecast to be less than normal.
One Tooele County rancher says the drought has hammered his industry. What's needed, he says, is more rain like we had last month.
Darrell Johnson, Tooele County Rancher: "It did help...that storm did."
The disaster designation makes farm operators statewide eligible for federal low-interest loans.
