PIERRE — There is significant change this week in the U-S Drought Monitor for South Dakota. The biggest change is across west central South Dakota where no drought is being observed in much of Ziebach, all of Haakon, northern Jackson, southwest Stanley County and western Jones County. The worst drought is moderate drought in an area from Brule County through northern Tripp and the Lyman County Bootheel into southeast Mellette County. The remainder of central South Dakota is listed as abnormally dry. A small pocket of severe drought remains in southern Union County. In a week, Haakon County went from 100-percent abnormally dry to two-percent abnormally dry. Moderate drought in Ziebach County went from 22-percent last week to zero-percent this week. According to the U-S Department of Agriculture, topsoil rated very short to short in South Dakota dropped from 38-percent to 19-percent.
