Office of Governor: Kansas

EXECUTIVE ORDER 06-03

WHEREAS, the Director of the Kansas Water Office has informed me, pursuant to K.S.A. 74-2608, of the continuing presence of drought conditions within the state; and

WHEREAS, reservoir levels and streamflow across northwest Kansas continue to reflect the multi-year drought impacting that region, and drought conditions in southeast Kansas in late 2005 and abnormally dry conditions in many areas have been developing over the last four months; and

WHEREAS, the Kansas Emergency Management Act (K.S.A. 48-924 et seq.) states that the Governor shall be responsible for meeting the dangers to the state and its people from disasters, including drought.

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Kansas, I hereby:

  1. Declare a Drought Warning or Drought Watch for the counties identified below; and
  2. Authorize and direct all agencies under the jurisdiction of the Governor to implement the appropriate Watch or Warning level drought response actions assigned to them in the Operations Plan of the Governor's Drought Response Team.

Drought Warning counties by Climate/Crop Reporting District

Southeast: Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Bourbon, Crawford.

Drought Watch counties by Climate/Crop Reporting District

Northwest: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Graham.

North Central: Phillips, Rooks, Smith, Jewell, Osborne, Mitchell, Republican, Washington, Cloud, Clay, Ottawa.

Northeast: Doniphan, Brown, Marshall, Nemaha.

West Central: Greeley, Wichita, Scott, Lane, Ness, Gove, Logan, Trego, Wallace.

Central: Ellis, Russell, Lincoln, Saline, McPherson, Rice, Ellsworth, Barton, Rush.

Southwest: Morton, Stevens, Stanton, Seward, Grant, Haskell, Gray, Meade, Clark, Ford, Hamilton, Kearny, Finney, Hodgeman.

Southeast: Butler, Cowley, Chautauqua, Elk, Greenwood, Woodson, Wilson, Allen.

East Central: Anderson, Lane, Miami

County drought stages declared in this Executive Order shall remain in effect until revised or rescinded by a subsequent Executive Order.

This document shall be filed with the Secretary of State as Executive Order No. 06-03 and shall become effective immediately.

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