INDIANAPOLIS - The ghost of this year's withering drought is lingering across more than a third of Indiana.

The National Weather Service says 17 counties in northern Indiana are still experiencing moderate drought, and it remains abnormally dry in about 30 more counties south of Indianapolis.

But The Indianapolis Star reports that climate experts don't see much reason to worry about a repeat next year.

Associate state climatologist Ken Scheeringa says a drought like this year's only comes around three or four times every hundred years.

But just in case, Citizens Energy Group official Lindsay Lindgren says the utility that supplies much of central Indiana with water is researching the possibility of tapping into other water sources like the Ohio and Wabash rivers.