Water Summary Update: Iowa sees below normal rainfall for third month in a row

Iowa’s June precipitation was 3.75 inches, 1.51 inches below normal for the month, according to the latest Water Summary Update.

An area of extreme drought returned to Iowa for the first time since August 2021, and drought conditions were deteriorating as the month ended. Streamflow, groundwater and soil moisture conditions are below normal in parts of Iowa.

"June rainfall in Iowa was below normal for the third month in a row. While we saw improvement in May, that changed in June, especially in northwest Iowa, where some locations are more than 8 inches short of rainfall for the year,” said Tim Hall, DNR’s coordinator of hydrology resources. “Unfortunately, average monthly precipitation decreases as we move through summer into fall, but there is still an opportunity to improve conditions throughout the rest of the year.”

For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.