Amherst County is dealing with a different sort of water problem. Local environmentalists say drought conditions are the worst they've ever seen in August!

We got a firsthand tour of these dry conditions and even the local watershed coordinator was shocked by what we found. We literally walked right through the middle of the Buffalo River and we didn't even get wet.

Anne Marie Clarke, Robert E. Lee Conservation District Watershed Coordinator - "This is absolutely not normal."

Anne Marie Clark has been in this river many times. In the past, she's always needed waders.

Clarke - "There is absolutely no flow right now in the Buffalo River, it is stagnant pools of water so there's really no water being generated here."

We walked from one side of the river bed to the other and even stood in the middle, where our heads normally would be a foot underneath the water's surface. Clarke calls the conditions so bad that even the potential remnants of Hurricane Fay would only make a dent in the problem.

Clarke - "Not just this hurricane coming through, we're going to need weeks of rain, we're going to need a winter full of snow to recharge that ground water and like I said, even more rain after that."

Taylor - "The drought is severe in Amherst County right now."

Amherst County's Board of Supervisors will consider enacting a Drought Declaration at Tuesday night's regular meeting. It would give relief to area farmers.

Rodney Taylor, Amherst County Administrator - "It opens up the access to federal loans and federal programs to assist farmers when they experience losses from droughts."

Clarke - "Everyone has to do their part to conserve water and use it wisely until we can break this drought cycle."

As bad as the conditions are, Amherst County still is not requiring any water conservation measures because they say their reservoir remains at a healthy level.

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