DEQ monitors and evaluates hydrologic and water supply conditions and evaluates drought conditions following guidance in the Virginia Drought Assessment and Response Plan. The Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force (DMTF) is responsible for making recommendations for Drought Stage declarations. The DMTF met November 6, 2024 to discuss the status of drought monitoring and hydrologic conditions in the Commonwealth. The most recent DMTF report can be found in the resources section of this page. The DMTF is scheduled to meet next on November 20, 2024. 

DEQ uses the indicators shown below to gauge the presence and severity of hydrologic drought across 13 Drought Evaluation Regions. The Current Drought Conditions Map displays the status of each of these indicators for each region. 

Drought Indicators and key to Drought Map:

• Precipitation (Prcp)
• Groundwater Levels (GW)
• Streamflow (Flow)
• Reservoir Levels (Res)