8
Wednesday, July 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DROUGHT: In 4 weeks,
area expected to be in
<extreme= drought
Continued from page 1
Unless you are a farmer or
rancher, your understanding
of the drought is usually con-
nected to the corresponding
heat. For most of us, we turn
on the water, and out it comes,
with as much as we want.
For boaters and lake fishers
the drought is more obvious.
Wickiup Reservoir, just south
of Bend, is at its lowest level
for this date in its 75-year
history 4 just 14 percent of
capacity.
Clear Lake, west of Sisters,
is at 16 percent. Ochoco
Reservoir is also at 14 per-
cent. Prineville Reservoir by
comparison looks healthy at
40 percent, but that is far less
than its historical average for
mid-July. By mid-August
Madras and surrounds, the
top crop-production area
in Central Oregon, will be
without water and losses to
farmers and ranchers will be
catastrophic, according to
Deschutes Basin Watermaster
Jeremy Griffin.
Ranchers are already sell-
ing off portions of their herds
as they cannot afford rising
hay prices caused by lack
of water. Cattle prices are
depressed as a result.
Oregon Department of Fish
& Wildlife instituted <Hoot
Owl= regulations for parts of
the Deschutes River and all
of the John Day River in an
effort to preserve fish taking a
beating from the warm waters
and low stream flows. That
means no fishing from 2 p.m.
to one hour before sunrise.
Whychus Creek is running
Governor Kate Brown signed an executive order declaring a state of drought
emergency in Deschutes County due to lack of precipitation and unusually low
snowpack and streamflow. City of Sisters Public Works Director Paul Bertagna
stated that the City does not anticipate any shortages of water supply in this
drought year. The City’s source of water supply from groundwater wells combined
with an emphasis on water conservation have positioned the City well heading
into the future. However, the City is encouraging water conservation through
water-wise irrigation practices that includes irrigation restrictions between the
hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and no use of hoses for irrigation unless under direct
supervision.
We also want to ask during this time with the high fire activity for voluntary
water conservation from our customers due to the large amount of water getting
pulled from the system to support firefighting efforts.
The City itself has cut back the park and streetscape irrigation by 50% to help
provide additional system capacity.
at around 26 cubic feet per
second in keeping with its his-
torical averages for mid-July.
The Upper Deschutes water
basin is at 81% of normal as
a casual glance at our moun-
tains show. Three Creeks
Meadow has received 32
inches of precipitation year
to date vs. its 40.1 average,
although the lake is full, as is
Suttle Lake and other popular
nearby recreational pools that
derive water from snow melt
and/or ground water.
Groundwater tables are
showing distress. One has
to drill 301 feet on average
to find water in Deschutes
County today, approaching
the 1994 maximum of 302.72
feet. We are in no danger of
running out of water in Sisters,
which is served by three deep
wells and a 1.6-million-gal-
lon reservoir. Roughly 2,900
of us use an average of 113
gallons per day. That doesn9t
seem like much until you do
the math. 327,700 gallons per
day; 2,293,900 gallons per
week; 9.8 to 10.2 million gal-
lons per month.
S
L UMBER PRIC O E W
!
N
D
G
N
I
M
O
ARE C
nning
Time to start pla inter!
projects before w
Historical water abun-
dance means taking water
for granted which means less
conservation efforts. Experts
tell us the first place to start is
with our lawns. Lawns don9t
need to be watered every day,
even during the summer. The
fact is, if you water just once
every three days, you promote
deeper root growth, making
your lawn healthier and more
water-efficient.
Water evaporates quickly
when the sun is out. So, if you
water during the day, you9re
not watering the lawn, you9re
watering the sky. Instead,
water in the early morning,
evening or at night. It9ll keep
the water where you want it:
in your lawn.
Those whose full-time jobs
are to track water are urging
conservation at all levels.
Hobby farmers and ranch-
ers will be hurt the most 4
those with llamas, alpacas,
goats, and pumpkins. Expect
Halloween gourds to soar in
price.
As of now, there is no
relief in sight.
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