1. Drought Analysis of Utah County
Jackee Lyman
GIS in Water Resources

2. DROUGHT
Drought is a natural recurrent feature of climate. It effects climate zones in different ways depending on region, need and disciplinary perspectives.
Drought is defined as the “deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more”. (10)
This deficiency usually results in a water shortage for an activity, group or environmental sector.
Drought is dependent on timing, and the effectiveness of precipitation. Other factors that might aggravate its severity are high temperature, high wind, and low relative humidity. (10)
Drought not only effects the environment, its impact on society result from the demand of people on the water supply. “ Human beings often exacerbate the impact of drought.” (10)

3. HOW BAD IS IT?
Utah has been in a drought for more than three years. Currently in order to end the drought Utah would need on average 2 inches of rain. (12)
For the Palmer Drought Severity Index an value of 4 or higher means extremely wet conditions where a – 4 mean extremely dry conditions. (11)
Figure 1. Palmer Drought Severity Index for Utah,
Source: USGS (2003) Drought Conditions in Utah During : A Historical Perspective

4. OBJECTIVE Create a map that is useful for:
Analysis and comparison of drought for future generations.
Informing current and future visitors and residents of Utah County of the drought conditions.
Inform about drought and how to help lessen the effects that it has.

5. Creation of Basemap Step one:
Select Feature
Create Shapefile
Step one:
Retrieve Utah County Data from Utah County Website
Select Area of Interest and Buffer Zone
Download Shapefile

6. Basemap Map contains layers with: Streams Springs Lakes Ground Water
Wetlands
Vegetation
Contour lines
Privately owned lands
Government Lands
City Boundaries
City Blocks

7. New Layer
Step Two: Addition of a new Layer “Points” where hyperlinks where added to the map.

8. HYPERLINKS Step Three: Create hyperlinks.
Created by using the identify tool to click on a point. The identify results box will pop up.

9. Next right click on the feature and select add Hyperlink.
Then you will be prompted to choose to link a document or a URL address.

10. County Website Link

11. Drought Information

12. Temperature and Precipitation of Utah from 1983-2003

13. Water Wise Landscaping

14. Water Conservation

15. City Websites

16. Maps

17. Maps

18. Conclusion
This map can assist in obtaining useful drought information.
It gives a map of Utah County that can be used to find water bodies, streams, springs, elevation, and other useful information dealing with drought.
It is helpful in obtaining general information about Utah County.

19. References
Utah County (2002) Utah County Online. Found on 11/12/03 at
Utah AGRC (2003) Found on 11/12/03 at
NOAA (2003) Utah Climate Summary. Found on 11/12/03 at
NOAA (2003) US Drought Monitor. Found on 11/25/03 at
NOAA (2003) Drought Termination and Amelioration. Found on 11/23/03 at
NOAA (2003) US Palmer Drought Indices. Found on 11/23/03 at
NOAA (2003) Average Annual Precipitation Utah. Found on 11/23/03 at
NOAA (2003) US Seasonal Drought Outlook. Found on 11/23/03 at
NOAA (2003) National Weather Service. Found on 11/23/03 at
National Drought Mitigation Center (2003) What is Drought? Found on 11/30/03 at
USGS (2003) Drought Conditions in Utah During : A Historical Perspective . Found on 10/12/03 at
NOAA (2003) WEEKLY PALMER DROUGHT AND CROP MOISTURE DATA FOR THE CLIMATE DIVISIONS IN THE WESTERN REGION . Found on 12/3/03 at

20. QUESTIONS?