Up to 1 million birds count on Kansas wetlands during migration. Drought has left them high and...

The ongoing drought in Kansas isn’t only parching crops and drinking water supplies. It’s also hurting wildlife as the Kansas wetlands that normally act as vital pit stops for migrating birds dry up.
HAYS, Kansas — Pull off Kansas 156 in Barton County during a wet year, and it might feel like you took a wrong turn into Florida.

This part of central Kansas is home to the largest interior wetlands in the country: Cheyenne Bottoms. It can hold nearly 10 billion gallons of water.

But after months of intense drought, the amount of water in these wetlands today likely couldn’t fill a Dixie cup.

“We are 100% dry. There’s no water on the property,” Cheyenne Bottoms’ wildlife area manager Jason Wagner said. “This year is kind of the perfect storm.”