Prep Watch is our running look at real-world events and the preparedness lessons we can take from them.
What’s happening
The American West just came through one of the driest winters on record. Federal drought monitors reported that the water stored in the region’s mountain snowpack fell to its lowest level in more than four decades this spring — roughly two-thirds below normal — with states from Arizona and Colorado to Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming setting brand-new record lows. Idaho declared a drought emergency across all of its counties, and Washington issued a statewide drought declaration. In much of the West, the snow that normally banks a year’s worth of water simply never piled up.
Why a dry winter in the mountains matters to everyone
It helps to picture mountain snow as the West’s giant, slow-release water tower. Through winter, snow stacks up in the high country; through spring and summer it melts in a steady trickle that feeds the rivers, fills the reservoirs, and recharges the underground aquifers that supply tens of millions of people and millions of acres of farmland. When the snow doesn’t come, that water tower runs low — and the shortfall doesn’t arrive all at once. It shows up months later, in the heat of summer, exactly when demand is highest. The Colorado River Basin alone supports about 40 million people and a huge share of the nation’s winter produce, so a record-low snowpack there piles more strain onto already-shrinking reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
The squeeze on farmers
Farmers usually feel a water shortage first, because in dry years they are often first in line to be cut. When reservoirs are low and snowmelt is thin, irrigation districts reduce water deliveries, growers fallow fields — leaving them unplanted — and some pay steep prices to pump groundwater instead. Less planted acreage means smaller harvests, and smaller harvests of staples and produce eventually mean higher prices and thinner supply on grocery shelves, sometimes a season or two later and often far from where the drought actually happened. You don’t have to live in the West to feel a Western water shortage. You can feel it at the checkout.
The real danger: one more disaster on top
Here is the part that matters most for preparedness. A drought on its own is slow and survivable. The danger is what happens when a second event lands on an already-stressed region. Bone-dry forests and grasslands are primed to burn, so a dry winter quietly sets the table for a brutal wildfire season. A heat wave hits harder when rivers are low and the hydropower that depends on them is strained, raising the odds of blackouts right when air conditioning matters most. A poor harvest leaves less slack in the food supply if anything else goes wrong. None of these are predictions — they are simply how risk stacks up. A resilient household isn’t braced for one disaster; it’s quietly ready for the way disasters tend to arrive in pairs.
What this means for you, wherever you live
Bank some water now. If you’re in the West, a dry summer is a good reason to store water and add a backup filter before any restrictions or outages arrive. Everywhere else, the same habit just quietly makes sense.
Expect food to cost more, and stock a little ahead. Building a modest food buffer while prices are normal is far cheaper than scrambling later — the same “store what you eat, eat what you store” habit we keep coming back to.
If you’re in a dry region, make wildfire readiness this year’s priority. An evacuation bag by the door, a supply of N95 masks, and a way to clean your indoor air go a long way.
Watch for the second event. This is normalcy bias in slow motion: the drought feels like background noise right up until the day it isn’t. The households that come through fine are the ones that prepared while it was still just the news.
Build your plan for this
Not sure where to start? Our Prep Plan Builder turns your household and your situation — including a drought-prone, wildfire-prone region — into a prioritized water, food, and gear checklist in about a minute. (Product recommendations coming soon; Monthly Prepper may earn a commission from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. See our Affiliate Disclosure.)
Go deeper
New to all this? Start with our guide to your first 30 days of prepping. Already covered the basics? Our Advanced section digs into long-term water and food storage — exactly the systems a dry year rewards.
Recommended gear
Monthly Prepper is reader-supported. Some links below are affiliate links — if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to gear that earns its place. Full disclosure.
- Reliance Aqua-Tainer 7-Gallon Water Container — Food-grade, stackable containers so you have water stored before you ever need it.
- Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter — Makes questionable water safe to drink — rated for up to 100,000 gallons.
- Augason Farms 30-Day Emergency Food Supply — A grab-and-go food supply with a 25-year shelf life (plan ~2 kits per adult for full calories).
- Augason Farms White Rice 4-Gallon Pail — Bulk staple calories, already sealed for 25–30 years of storage.
Not sure how much you actually need? Build your custom prep plan → — a prioritized, personalized shopping list in about 30 seconds.