By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Ellis County is one of 44 counties listed in a Drought Watch as part of a Drought Emergency Declaration issued Monday evening by Gov. Laura Kelley.
Ten other northwest Kansas counties are in the watch while six more are in a drought warning.
Wallace County, in far northwest Kansas, is included in a drought emergency.
Even with nearly two inches of rain falling in Hays July 2 and early on July 3, the city remains three inches behind its average moisture total for this time of year.
According to the K-State Agricultural Research Center, Hays has received 11.5 inches of moisture as of July 7. The cumulative 152-average is 14.68 inches by the end of July.
DROUGHT WATCH: Allen, Anderson, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Decatur, Dickinson, Edwards, Elk, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Johnson, Kiowa, Labette, Linn, Lyon, Marion, Miami, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Norton, Osborne, Pawnee, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Rush, Sedgwick, Sheridan, Sumner, Trego, Wilson, Woodson, Wyandotte
DROUGHT WARNING: Barber, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Crawford, Ford, Gray, Hodgeman, Jewell, Lane, Logan, Meade, Ness, Rawlins, Sherman, Smith, Thomas
DROUGHT EMERGENCY: Finney, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Morton, Scott, Seward, Stanton, Stevens, Wallace, Wichita
The declaration includes 74 out of 105 counties either in an emergency, warning or watch status.
Most of the state has received fewer than 70% of its normal rainfall since January, and many southwestern counties have received less than half of their normal precipitation.
The action was recommended by Earl Lewis, director of the Kansas Water Office and chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team.