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<br />Section 4 <br />4-36 Ramsey County Multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan | July 2012 <br />drought, including reduction to the available water supply (both public and private wells), wildfires, <br />and limited ability to grow and water crops. <br /> Environment Risk/Vulnerability: Risks to the environment are high for a drought incident. <br />Environmental concerns would be loss of vegetation and risk of erosion in areas that area affected by <br />drought and reduced availability of water supply (both public and private wells). <br />Estimate of Potential Losses <br />No damage to facilities is anticipated as a result of drought conditions. Crop damage cannot be accurately <br />quantified due to several unknown variables, including duration of the drought, temperatures during the <br />drought, and severity of the drought. In addition, different crops require different amounts of rainfall and <br />different growing seasons. <br />Land Use and Development Trends <br />Ramsey County has used water restrictions in the past and conservation programs are in place to address <br />water consumption during the drought of 1976. As the population grows in Ramsey County and areas <br />currently used for agriculture are urbanized, the County will become less vulnerable to drought situations <br />because the economy will not be as dependent on agriculture. <br />Vulnerability <br />Drought <br />Frequency of Occurrence Likely <br />Warning Time More than 12 hours <br />Geographic Extent County-wide <br />Potential Impact Moderate to Major <br />Multijurisdictional Concerns <br />Agricultural losses associated with drought are more likely to occur in the rural, less concentrated areas of <br />the County. <br />Hazard Summary <br />Droughts do not have the immediate effects of other natural hazards, but sustained drought can cause <br />severe economic stress to the agricultural interests in Ramsey County and the entire state. The potential <br />negative effects of sustained drought are numerous. In addition to an increased threat of wildfires, drought <br />can affect municipal and industrial water supplies, stream-water quality, water recreation facilities, <br />hydropower generation, as well as agricultural and forest resources. <br />4.3.5 Rockslides <br />Hazard Identification <br />Rockslides (landslides) are a geological hazard present in almost every state. Rockslides occur on steep <br />on hills or mountainous slopes. Typically, these events occur following intense rainfall or rapid snowmelt. <br />In some cases, rockslides have been precipitated by a wildfire, which burns the vegetation holding the <br />land on steep slopes together.