By Patty LaTaille
Severe Drought
SLV residents experienced the second worst drought year on record for Colorado since 1895. 2012 was right up there with recorded extremely dry years at the height of the Dust Bowl.
The U.S. Drought Monitor currently shows all of Colorado under dry conditions, with the eastern plains under extreme or exceptional drought conditions. Only Mineral county differs from all the rest of the San Luis Valley counties, experiencing severe drought, but not extreme or exceptional.