Water
Why this is rated unknown
The required drought-pct reading could not be established: the U.S. Drought Monitor statistics tables load dynamically and the underlying REST service is outside the allowed domains, so no D1-or-worse contiguous-US percentage was retrievable. Per the published rules, a missing required reading makes the status unknown. The September 22, 2026 summary does document widespread degradations across the South and Southeast and exceptional drought in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Carolina, Colorado, and Nebraska.
Unknown: Data is missing, delayed, or too stale to assess. Methodology
What is this?
This tracks droughts and whether tap water is safe.
How it's doing: We don't have new enough information to tell.
About this area
Tracks drought conditions, drinking water advisories, and major water infrastructure incidents.
Indicators
Latest readings. Changes are shown without judgment of whether up or down is better.
| Indicator | Latest |
|---|---|
Contiguous US in drought (D1 or worse) The U.S. Drought Monitor statistics tables render dynamically and the REST data service is outside the allowed domains, so the D1-or-worse contiguous-US percentage could not be retrieved this run. Source: National Drought Mitigation Center | not available |
Timeline of developments
South and Southeast saw large drought degradations in late September (opens original release)
The U.S. Drought Monitor summary for the week ending September 22, 2026 reports continued heat and dryness producing large degradations across the South, with extreme drought in every state in that region and exceptional drought over much of northern Texas, western to southern Oklahoma, and parts of Arkansas. Degradations also extended from southeast Virginia through the Carolinas into Georgia and Alabama.
Source: National Drought Mitigation CenterLocalized 6 to 8 inch rainfall from eastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota through southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Ohio, and West Virginia led to improvements in dry categories. Most of the High Plains received beneficial rainfall, improving drought categories over parts of every state in the region, though extreme to exceptional drought persists in much of Colorado, Wyoming, and western Nebraska.
Source: National Drought Mitigation CenterMonsoonal storms caused localized flooding and some drought improvement from eastern Arizona to central New Mexico, while southern California and southern Nevada continued dry with degradation of dry categories.
Source: National Drought Mitigation Center
Sources and citationsWhere this info comes from
- 1.U.S. Drought Monitor: current map
National Drought Mitigation Center. Accessed Sep 27, 2026.
- 2.Safe Drinking Water Information System
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed Sep 27, 2026.
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