The dry spell Graham County has been experiencing for the past six years is finally being relieved by consistent winter rains and a wetter-than-normal March.

The University of Arizona, Safford weather station recorded the year-to-date rainfall at 2.48 inches. The normal yearly rainfall at the end of March is 1.98, which means Safford is ahead by half of an inch.

"This is a very good thing for the farmers in the area," Graham County U of A extension agent Dr. Randy Norton said. "However, even though it's a good thing, it's going to take more than one year of good rain to make an impact." The above-average rainfall of this year was not able to help the wells pump much more water than last year. As it is, the San Carlos reservoir is still only at 3 percent capacity. To get that reservoir filled, it's going to take more rain, Dr. Norton said.

"If we could get a few more rains in the next couple of weeks like we've had in the last couple of weeks, it would go a long way," he said.

The National Weather Service predicted a wetter-than-normal March for this region, and though it seemed to be right on in that prediction, western New Mexico has remained pretty dry. Rain and snow are needed in the that area because it is a part of the watershed program with eastern Arizona, Dr. Norton said.

Though the area has been in a drought for six years, it may not take that long to get out of it. Depending on how much more rain the Valley sees this spring and the amount of rain it gets in the summer months, water levels will show how close the area is to restoring the reservoirs and wells level.

Droughts can be confused with aridity because of the association to low amounts of rainfall. But, according to the Web site for the Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, drought is a temporary weather phenomenon, while aridity is a permanent feature of climate. The Gila Valley is in what Dr. Norton called a "hydrological drought."

The rains have brought some relief to this area, and the snowfall levels are almost normal," Dr. Norton said, "but we still have a situation."