USDA Designates All 64 Colorado Counties As Primary Natural Disaster Areas

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(CBS4) - If you live in Colorado, you now live in a primary natural disaster area, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

On Wednesday, the department listed all 64 Colorado counties as disaster areas due to extreme drought. The designation unlocks much-needed emergency funding for producers to use to replace livestock or equipment, reorganize their farming operations, or refinance certain debts.

Colorado has experienced severe droughts in the past. Denver Water's Cheesman Reservoir during the 2002 drought. (source: Denver Water)

Several counties in neighboring states such as Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma also received the designation.

According to the US Drought Monitor, all 64 counties in Colorado suffered from severe drought for 8 or more straight weeks, extreme drought, or exceptional drought.