DENVER (AP) — Gov. Jared Polis has activated Colorado’s drought plan to track impacts, save water, coordinate local responses and help hard-hit farmers following a federal assessment that determined that the state is abnormally dry or in drought for the first time in eight years.

The finding is consistent with a broader transformation of the Southwest amid climate change.

The Denver Post reports that the designation came Thursday after a combination of less spring snowfall, warmer temperatures, snowpack melting, less rain and parched soil resulting in dying crops and forests and shrinking water sources.