Giving Compass' Take:

• The Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation, and other partners are working together to develop a drought mitigation plan to address the needs of residents in southeastern Oklahoma. 

• How can donors help with drought response and preparedness? 

• Read more on how to make an impact on disaster relief and recovery. 

Southeastern Oklahoma averages at least 40 inches of rain per year, so its agricultural industry focuses primarily on livestock and timber. But an extended drought in 2011 and 2012 cost Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers more than $2 billion in losses statewide.

A citizen of the Choctaw Nation, Billy Smallwood is a fifth-generation rancher and hay baler who has a cow-calf operation in Pushmataha County. He says that year, he made almost no hay.

“You know, a hay baler doesn’t like to buy hay, but we had to buy hay,” he remembers.

In response to the extended drought, the Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation and other area partners began developing a drought mitigation plan for the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer in 2015. That aquifer is the principal source of water for about 150,000 people across southeastern Oklahoma. For some communities, it is the only potable water source.

“In Oklahoma, we’re used to drought,” says Kara Berst, the undersecretary of outreach and services for the Chickasaw Nation’s Department of Commerce. “Our agriculture folks depend on water for their industry. And so we’re kinda used to knowing there’ll be impacts here on our state.”

The collaborators included the City of Ada, the Nature Conservancy, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, the National Park Service, East Central University and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Berst says maintaining the aquifer, and executing any drought plan, will require everyone’s participation.

Read the full article about preparing for droughts in Oklahoma by Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton at Harvest Public Media.