Governor Jared Polis has ordered a task force to assess initial damage and recommend mitigation measures for sever drought conditions.
Drought conditions are affecting 40 of Colorado’s 64 counties, or roughly a third of the state.
The counties in our area include: Chaffee, Saguache, Fremont, Custer and Gunnison.
Polis’ order follows dwindling mountain snowpack, a warmer than average spring and far less precipitation that normal.
The order also activates a state agricultural task force to determine the drought’s potential crop and cattle damage impact and the possible economic fallout for the state’s $8 billion farming and ranching industry. Reservoir levels are dwindling in southern and southwestern Colorado, including the agricultural San Luis Valley and the Gunnison River Basin.
