If Kelly Redmond had a nickel for every time I’ve quoted his definition of drought, he’s have enough money for lunch today:

Wet years have a way of covering up a multitude of water management sins. Drought exposes them for all to see.

Back in the 1990s, we had all the same underlying water management problems in this state, but a string of wet years left Elephant Butte full and allowed us to ignore our problems.

A run of 13 dry years out of 15 years since then on the Lower Rio Grande has left us with insufficient water to meet the needs of all the water users in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Kelly’s definition of drought can be found in “The Depiction of a Drought” (pdf), BAMS, August 2002.