Drought in Santa Cruz County, AZ: 7.7 years in 10 since 2000

7.7 years in 10

Santa Cruz County, AZ: 20 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (15 wk), 2002 (43 wk), 2003 (47 wk), 2005 (25 wk), 2006 (52 wk), 2007 (33 wk), 2009 (23 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2012 (52 wk), 2013 (53 wk), 2014 (37 wk), 2016 (23 wk), 2017 (20 wk), 2018 (43 wk), 2020 (20 wk), 2021 (52 wk), 2022 (40 wk), 2023 (19 wk), 2024 (14 wk) and 2025 (52 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2015 and 2019.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Jun peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (9 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (6.9 in 10).

Against the rest of AZ

8th most drought-prone of 15 AZ counties; the AZ middle is 7.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Gila County (7.7 in 10) and Maricopa County (7.3 in 10). Driest in AZ: Apache County (8.1 in 10). Least drought: Yuma County (6.9 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jun (64% of weeks), then May (63%) and Jul (57%). Least in Sep (47%). May to September averages 56%.

53 Jan
51 Feb
51 Mar
54 Apr
63 May
64 Jun
57 Jul
50 Aug
47 Sep
48 Oct
50 Nov
54 Dec

The worst year: 2006

2006: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 53.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 30.8% at D2, 14.2% at D3, 61 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 197 weeks, Dec 14, 2010 to Sep 16, 2014.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 52 weeks. 2016-2025: 9 in 10, against 6.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.