March 20, 2015
Drought declared in 2 Oregon counties
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown announced March 17 that
she declared a drought emergen-
cy in Lake and Malheur counties
in southeastern Oregon.
Oregon received an average
amount of precipitation since
the fall, but warmer tempera-
tures caused more rain than usu-
al. As a result, the state is head-
ed into summer with less snow
than many areas need.
Snowpack has already peak-
ed for the season, and it hit re-
cord lows in many locations
in the Cascades and elsewhere
across the state, according to a
federal report.
“In a year such as this when
there is limited snowpack, sum-
mer streamflow volumes are
expected be below normal and
streams will likely peak earlier
than normal,” the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture and Natural
Resources Conservation Service
wrote in a March basin report
for Oregon. “Rainfall over the
next couple months may help
improve reservoir storage and
increase streamflows during the
storm events, but it will not help
with streamflow this summer.”
Brown’s signature of the
drought declaration Monday
came after Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee issued a drought declara-
tion Friday for three regions of
that state: the Olympic Peninsu-
la, on the east side of the central
Cascade Mountains including
Yakima and Wenatchee, and the
Walla Walla region.
Capital Press
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
In Oregon, Lake and Mal-
heur county commissioners
had requested the drought dec-
laration. Officials in three other
counties — Crook, Harney and
Klamath — are considering
whether to ask the state to in-
clude them in the drought des-
ignation, said Racquel Rancier,
senior policy coordinator for the
Oregon Water Resources De-
partment. Requests from coun-
ties are reviewed by the state
drought council, which in turn
issues recommendations to the
governor.
Brown said in a press release
Tuesday that projected forecasts
in Lake and Malheur counties
“look bleak.”
“In addition to creating an
increased wildfire risk, this
drought presents hardships to
crops, agriculture, communities,
recreation, and wildlife, all of
which rely on Oregon’s water
resources,” Brown said. “I will
continue working with federal,
state, and local partners to help
Oregonians in this part of the
state through this challenging
situation.”
The drought declaration al-
lows state water managers to use
additional tools to help farmers
and other people who face wa-
ter shortages. Options include
speeding up decisions on water
permits and issuing emergency
temporary permits for people
who cannot access water using
their permanent rights because
of the drought. For example,
someone who usually diverts
water from a stream that ran
dry could apply for a temporary
groundwater permit, Rancier
said.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO Me-
dia Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
7
Washington governor declares
drought in three regions
By DON JENKINS
Onions are planted in a field near Nyssa, Ore., in Malheur County
March 5. Drought emergencies were declared Tuesday in Mahleur
and Lake counties.
CapitalPress.com
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov.
Jay Inslee March 13 declared
a drought emergency in three
parts of the state, paving the
way for agencies to dig wells,
transfer water rights and take
other actions to counteract the
state’s first drought in a de-
cade.
The drought declaration
applies to the Olympic Penin-
sula; the eastside of the central
Cascade mountains, including
Yakima and Wenatchee, and
the Walla Walla region.
“We can’t wait any longer,
we have to prepare now for
drought conditions that are in
store for much of the state,” In-
slee said in a written statement.
“Snowpack is at record lows,
and we have farms, vital agri-
cultural regions, communities
and fish that are going to need
our support.”
Precipitation has been nor-
mal or above average through-
out the state, but a warm winter
has kept snow from accumulat-
ing.
“What we’re experienc-
ing is essentially a snowpack
drought,” Washington Depart-
ment of Ecology Director Maia
Bellon said in a conference call
reporters.
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on
Friday declared a drought in
three regions of the state.
In a press release March
13, the governor’s office re-
ported that the snowpack in the
Olympic mountains was just 7
percent of normal. Bellon said
updated figures showed the
snowpack was 4 percent of nor-
mal.
Snowpack ranges from 8 to
45 percent of normal across the
Cascades, and is 67 percent of
normal in the Walla Walla re-
gion.
Washington State Depart-
ment of Agriculture hydrogeol-
ogist Kirk Cook said July and
August may be a problem for
high-value crops, such as tree
fruit, in the eastern drought
zones. Actions in the spring
could prevent summer water
shortages, he said.
A DOE committee met
March 10 and reviewed expect-
ed supplies in 62 watersheds.
Outside northeast Washington,
water supplies are expected to
be below or barely above nor-
mal.
Many watersheds were put
on a watch list.
Seasonal weather forecasts
call for Washington’s spring to
be drier and warmer than aver-
age.
State Climatologist Nick
Bond said warm ocean waters
off the coast “stacks the deck”
in favor of a warm spring.
“I would say there’s an 80
or 90 percent chance. Nothing
is 100 percent,” he said.
He said spring snow is pos-
sible, but unlikely to have much
impact on total snowpack. “We
can add to it, but it would be
rare to add a lot to it.”
Ecology has requested $9
million in drought relief from
the Legislature. The money
would pay for agricultural and
fish projects, emergency wa-
ter-right permits and transfer-
ring water rights.
Bellon said DOE has not
identified any specific projects
and is working on that now.
It’s unclear when money will
become available. Lawmakers
are at least several weeks away
from passing a 2015-17 spend-
ing plan, which wouldn’t take
effect until July 1. Bellon said
she hoped legislators will autho-
rize spending before then.
S.E. Asia,
Taiwan rep
to meet
with Idaho
exporters
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — Idaho business-
es interested in the Southeast
Asian or Taiwan markets are
invited to schedule a meeting
with Eddie Yen, manager of
the Idaho State Department
of Agriculture’s Asia trade
office.
Yen, who has 25 years of
experience with helping Idaho
businesses gain or maintain
trade access, will be available
for in-state appointments on
March 31 and April 3.
ISDA trade specialist trade
specialist Kim Polzin said
companies should submit
their requests to meet with
Yen by March 20, either by
emailing her at kim.polzin@
agri.idaho.gov or by calling
her at 208-332-8532.
Yen, based in Taipei, Tai-
wan, had his trade office ex-
panded to also cover South-
east Asia last summer, Polzin
said.
Polzin said trade office di-
rectors help coordinate trade
shows, provide market infor-
mation and research, act as a
helper on the ground for Idaho
companies and develop rela-
tionships with government of-
ficials, which come in handy
when problems surface, such
as shipments stuck in ports.
ISDA also has trade offices
in China and Mexico. Trade
office directors typically re-
turn to Idaho twice each year.
Polzin said 25-35 companies
usually will meet with Yen
when he visits.
She said about half of the
companies are interested in
learning information about
exporting to a new market.
Others are interested in mar-
ket trends, or the status of cus-
tomers.
Polzin said Taiwan usually
ranks within the top five ex-
port markets for Idaho goods,
though not specifically for
agricultural products. For ag-
ricultural exports in Southeast
Asia alone, Indonesia ranks
as Idaho’s No. 6 export mar-
ket, the Philippines ranks No.
8, Vietnam ranks No. 9 and
Malasia ranks No. 10, Polzin
said. She said top agricultur-
al exports are dairy products,
frozen vegetables, dehydrat-
ed potatoes and other pota-
to products and wheat. She
said there’s been significant
growth in value-added prod-
ucts exported from Idaho,
such as wine and confection-
ery products.
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