Polygon layer · Water
Drought monitor map for the 17 western states
US Drought Monitor severity by county — the year's supply risk, mapped.
The drought monitor map is the condition every other water layer is read against. A senior right in a D4 county and a senior right in an unaffected one are not the same asset, and the classification is what triggers curtailment orders in most states.
- Source
- US Drought Monitor
- Refresh
- Weekly
- Geometry
- Polygon
- Included from
- Water ($99/mo)
Why Drought Monitor matters
Drought category is the trigger that converts a paper seniority ranking into an actual shutoff. Junior rights in a D3 county are a different risk than the same rights in a normal year, and the classification is the number regulators, lenders and insurers all reference.
Questions Drought Monitor answers
- Which of my watchlist positions sit in D3 or worse this week?
- Is this basin in a multi-year drought or a single dry year?
- Where is curtailment most likely to be called this season?
What is in the Drought Monitor data
Coverage: All western US counties. Source dataset: Weekly drought severity classification.
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Severity category | D0 abnormally dry through D4 exceptional drought. |
| County | The reporting unit, which is also how relief programs are administered. |
| Valid date | The week the classification applies to. |
How we serve Drought Monitor
County polygons carry the current classification and render as a graduated fill beneath the point layers, so drought reads as context rather than competing with the markers on top of it.
Drought monitor map — source, refresh and coverage
- Steward
- US Drought Monitor
- Dataset
- Weekly drought severity classification
- Refresh cadence
- Weekly
- Coverage
- All western US counties
- Records
- 100 rows
- Geometry
- Polygon
- Included from
- Water ($99/mo/mo)
Who uses Drought Monitor
Water Rights Investing
Price seniority, spot the mismatch between paper water and wet water, and find positions before they are listed.
Agriculture & Ranching
Know what your water is worth, how safe it is this year, and what your neighbors hold.
Government & Basin Management
A statewide inventory, live supply monitoring, and a public-facing record without building the platform.
Water Brokerage
A complete owner database across 17 states, comparables for pricing, and a client-ready report in one click.
Read Drought Monitor alongside
SNOTEL Snowpack
NRCS snow telemetry — next year's water supply, six months early.
Reservoirs
Storage capacity and current levels across western reservoirs.
Stream Gauges
Live USGS streamflow — what is physically in the river right now.
Watershed Basins
USGS hydrologic unit boundaries — the unit water is actually managed in.
Terms used on this page
See Drought Monitor on the map
This layer is included from Water ($99/mo) upward, alongside every other layer in the Water coverage.