WAUSAU, WI-The state of Wisconsin recently went through one of its driest summers in nearly three decades, but it seems to be slowly recovering. That's because of increased dew content on the ground and about three inches of rain falling in parts of the state. The summer months of June, July and August was the driest in 27 years, with the second worst drought in 66 years, according to the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Co. of Wausau, which regulates the dam and reservoir system that controls the flow of water in the Wisconsin River. Only 7.5 inches of rain fell during those months in the central and northern areas of the Wisconsin River basin, just short of 40 percent below the normal average of 11.8 inches, said Sam Morgan, the company's operations manager. Although some of the plant life has recovered, the area is still below normal rainfall, said Paul Jones, the president of Landart, a landscape construction firm. With humidity down and temperature up, even Jones' personal irrigation pond went down four feet. "I know the crops were affected negatively and we lost a lot of corn," said Jones. "You look at the durability of corn and if you lost that, then you'll probably lose a lot of other crops." From an economic standpoint the drought had some positive and negative effects on landscape contractors. Installation productivity rose during the dry weather because there was no lose in time of man-hours. On the other hand, maintaining a landscape would be costlier, with the rise in water prices. Plant material would also cost more. "From what I can tell, the net basis is a more positive effect economically," said Jones. "We don't have to deal with any half days because of the rain. The drought brought to Jones' attention the importance of having a custom irrigation installed, which would help alleviate problems during a drought. "In Wisconsin we're blessed with about three-quarters of the fresh water in the United States, yet people don't always understand how to use an irrigation system," said Jones.