The current drought monitor map shows a significant portion of the country in extreme conditions.
And this drought is also raising concerns among school districts with grass athletic fields.
The fall sports season is approaching and football practice is underway.
But this hot, dry weather has been eating up school sprinkler budgets.
And school district want to make sure their grounds are safe for athletes to play on.
Moline's Browning Field looks lush and green like it's never heard of the word drought, that's the way the school wants it, it does water it regularly. But what's more important for the athletes is the state of the practice fields.
Moline Assistant Football Coach Kevin Gorgal says, "More so than even our game field, we practice on Monday through Thursday, sometimes even Saturday, so that's five days there, we're on the game field only four times this season."
Keeping those practice fields watered makes a difference for player safety. Hard ground may make athletes faster, but it's the sudden stop that makes football more injury prone.
"Our maintenance and support staff have done a wonderful job keeping the ground watered, through the summer, we have a sprinkler system over at Coolidge where our varsity and sophomores practice, and our freshman field looks awesome," says Gorgal.
Moline's maintenance efforts have allowed the team to practice like normal. But athletic director Todd Rosenthal says their fields still need more help.
"The ground is basically so hard that when it rains it runs right off and is not soaking in," says Rosenthal.
That hardness doesn't affect all the sports. But until some rain weakens concrete hard dirt, football practice fields will be treated with care.
"You'll see some of the teams that don't have the contact on the ground as much, they can practice in different areas but especially for football they need to be in an area that's watered," says Rosenthal.
One way the school district plans to soften up those practice fields is to aerate. Opening up the ground to allow more water to seep in.
Rainfall statistics show the Quad Cities is seven and three quarter inches behind what's normal for the summer months.
