Ken Ayars, Chief of the Division of Agriculture and Forestry for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, spoke with The Public’s Radio South County Bureau Reporter Alex Nunes about the drought.
NUNES: In terms of how common a drought like we’re experiencing right now in the state, is this like a once every five years, 10 years, 20 years for Rhode Island?
AYARS: The intervals between droughts is what’s getting smaller. Our last drought in Rhode Island was actually just two years ago. I think we’re at a more significant stage so far this year. It’s not that we haven’t had severe droughts. We actually have had severe droughts. We’ve had disaster declarations before, but they would almost be an anomaly. Now with weather patterns–and I think climate change has something to do with this for sure–the prevalence of hot, dry weather seems to be more increasingly the pattern than the normal. And the projections that I see are that this type of pattern will be much more of the norm in the future. So things are changing.
NUNES: So some people, I’m sure they see that, you know, we have some rain this week and think, ‘Oh, that’s a good thing.’ What does it really take to get out of a drought in terms of the level of rainfall?
AYARS: The rainfall in Rhode Island in July and August is so far below normal that it’s going to take significant rain to catch up. Now what often happens in these types of situations [is] that it may take a tropical storm–which we’re getting into the time of the year where that happens–to really refill the coffers. Not that we want a tropical storm or a hurricane in Rhode Island. But a significant storm event is often what it takes to really help us to get back on track. At the rate that we’re going, it’s going to take weeks to months at the current level of rainfall, if not longer to get back out.
NUNES: Is the most common problem right now for farmers in the state just having water to water their crops?
AYARS: It is. I mean rainfall almost dropped off the edge of the cliff in Rhode Island. It was relatively normal. Drought impacts different parts of the state differently, same is true of farmers. There are all varieties of crops in the state. There’s over 1,000 farms in Rhode Island. Farmers that rely in particular upon relatively shallow ponds for irrigation are the ones that have been impacted the most, and especially in southern Rhode Island. In a situation like that, many of the ponds have gone dry. And one of the things that DEM allows, based upon state law, is a farmer to dig out their farm pond without a wetlands permit. That’s a specific exemption in state law that was passed in the 1980s following another severe drought.
NUNES: At this point is it having an effect on farmers in terms of their crop yield, or the revenues they’re able to generate? Has it reached that point?
AYARS: There are some crops in the state which are very much impacted. And for example, our hay producers, which are almost always non-irrigated crops. Hay is typically cut three times a year. You get three cuttings that’s equivalent to a harvest. Most of our hay producers have told us that they’re only going to get one harvest this year. So, you know, two thirds of their income in that case, approximately, will be lost. That’s one crop that has been significantly impacted. And we’re hearing from some other producers– again, it varies–but that the impacts have been pretty significant.
NUNES: You are also the chief of forestry. What’s the risk level right now for something like widespread fire or forest fire?
AYARS: In Rhode Island this year, we’ve had in the range of 65 woodland fires so far. So far, they’ve all been kept small and controlled. They happen for a variety reasons. Sometimes illegal campfires is part of that, or roadside sparks from traffic, things like that. That’s not a necessarily abnormal number of fires. It’s pretty much in pace for what we typically get. But the fire danger in Rhode Island is significant. We divide the state into two regions, lower and upper halves of the state. [The] lower part of the state, just like for farmers, is the most impacted. That’s in our extreme fire danger category right now. The upper part of the state is in high.
NUNES: Is the recommendation that people don’t start campfires, stuff like that?
AYARS: Absolutely. A little fire can get out of control. We responded to a fire in Burdickville, Charlestown, over the weekend that reached 2.5 acres, caused by someone illegally lighting a campfire. There’s really no reason to be lighting a fire in the woods for any purpose right now.
NUNES: Ken Ayers, Chief of the Division of Agriculture and Forestry for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, thanks very much for speaking with me.
AYARS: Good to always talk to you.
Alex Nunes can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org
