EXECUTIVE ORDER 07-04

WHEREAS, the Director of the Kansas Water Office has informed me, pursuant to K.S.A. 74-2608, of the present status of drought conditions and impacts across the state; and

WHEREAS, drought conditions have improved and impacts lessened in many areas of the state; 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. Rescind all county drought stage declarations in Executive Order 06-09 issued on August 21, 2006; and
2. Declare a Drought Warning or Drought Watch for the counties identified below; and
3. 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:

South Central:  Barber, Harper and Sumner

Drought Watch counties by Climate/Crop Reporting District

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

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

Southwest:  Clark

North Central:  Clay, Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Smith and Washington

Central:  Barton, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Rice, Rush, Russell and Saline

South Central:  Comanche, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, Reno, Sedgwick and Stafford

Northeast:  Riley

East Central:  Chase, Geary and Morris

Southeast:  Butler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk and Greenwood

County drought stages declared in this Executive Order shall remain in effect until revised or rescinded by a subsequent Executive Order.