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June 26, 2015 CapitalPress.com 5 Drought Wash. on brink of federal drought declaration State’s most productive farm counties meet threshold for relief By DON JENKINS Capital Press Farmers and ranchers in Washington’s most produc- tive agricultural counties will soon qualify for feder- al drought relief, barring an unexpected change in the weather. At least 13 counties in south-central and northeast Washington are on track to be designated disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agri- culture beginning this week. Chris Bieker, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency state outreach coordinator, said June 22 that she expected county-by-county declara- tions in the coming days and weeks. Much of the West — in- cluding all of California, Ne- vada, Utah and Arizona and most of Oregon and southern Idaho — already have been declared disaster areas. Although Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a statewide drought May 15, only Klickitat County has been included in federal dec- larations so far. The county was designated because it borders Wasco County in 2UHJRQ ZKLFK TXDOL¿HG IRU federal relief June 10. To qualify on its own, a FRXQW\ PXVW EH FODVVL¿HG DV being in a “severe drought” for eight straight weeks by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Klickitat and seven other south-central counties — Ya- kima, Grant, Kittitas, Ben- ton, Franklin, Walla Walla and Columbia — will reach the eight-week mark Tues- day. The region includes the VWDWH¶V WRS ¿YH FRXQWLHV IRU value of crops and livestock produced there. In northeast Washington, all or portions of Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille and Spokane counties were FODVVL¿HGDVEHLQJLQDVHYHUH drought May 19. All together, some 25 per- cent of the state has reached severe drought status. The area has grown slightly this month. No measurable rain- fall fell anywhere in the state between June 10 and 16, ac- FRUGLQJ WR WKH 2I¿FH RI WKH Washington State Climatol- ogist. June temperatures through Monday have been well above normal in Western and Eastern Washington. In Yakima, where growers with junior water rights face irri- gation cutbacks, the average temperature was 9.5 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Ser- vice. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted June 18 that Wash- ington will have above aver- age temperatures for the rest of the summer. Federal drought relief in- cludes loans to producers for operating and living expenses. Producers also may be eligible for payments to feed livestock and to re- place drought-withered fruit trees. Bieker said producers should document their losses and contact their county Farm Service Agency for more in- formation. California: Many farmers miss deadline to report water cuts By FENIT NIRAPPIL Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A majority of farmers and others holding some of California’s strongest claims to water have missed a deadline WRFRQ¿UPWKH\VWRSSHGSXPS- ing from rivers and streams, VWDWHRI¿FLDOVVDLG-XQH Data show less than a third of the farmers, water districts and communities responded to the broadest conservation order for those with nearly ironclad water rights by the State Water Resources Control Board. The board’s order earlier this month affected 277 cen- tury-old rights to water from the Sacramento, San Joaquin and delta watersheds in the agriculture-rich Central Val- OH\ 6WDWH RI¿FLDOV H[SHFW WR demand even more of these senior water rights holders to stop diverting water as rivers and streams run too dry to meet demand in California’s fourth year of drought. The dry spell has already prompted deep cuts to deliv- eries from government res- ervoirs and to farmers with more recent, and less secure, claims to water. Cities and Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press In this photo taken Wednesday May 20, 2015, water runs irrigates crops on a farm near Dixon, Calif. A majority of farmers and others KROGLQJVRPHRI&DOLIRUQLD¶VVWURQJHVWFODLPVWRZDWHUKDYHPLVVHGDGHDGOLQHWRFRQ¿UPWKH\VWRSSHGSXPSLQJIURPULYHUVDQG streams. towns serving residents and businesses are also under or- der to cut water use as much as 36 percent compared to 2013 levels. Senior water rights holders are historically spared from cuts, and some are challeng- ing state cuts in court to keep it that way so farmers they serve can keep watering crops and taking care of livestock. Water rights enforcement manager Kathy Mrowka said she was still reviewing the response data and didn’t have an immediate explanation for why it lagged. The senior water rights hold- ers who didn’t respond to the water board within seven days were expected to take about 200,000 acre feet of water over the summer, a small sliver of the 26-2/#6 state’s total water use. She previously said en- tities that ignore the water ERDUG ZRXOG EH WKH ¿UVW WR face inspections and enforce- ment. The punishment for tak- ing water is $1,000 a day and $2,500 per acre foot, enough ZDWHU WR ¿OO DQ DFUH RI ODQG one foot deep. Some people who have not responded to the board may not be illegally taking water because the streams and creeks to which they hold rights have dried out. Oth- ers may not have missed the state’s curtailment notices, or are waiting for a court deci- sion in the coming days be- fore responding. Those ordered to stop di- verting from waterways have other options, including tap- ping groundwater, buying wa- ter at rising costs, using previ- ously stored water or leaving ¿HOGVXQSODQWHG Regulators have already ordered thousands of other en- tities with less secure claims known as junior water rights to stop pumping. Only about a WKLUGRIWKHPKDYHFRQ¿UPHG they stopped diverting water, although the ones that did re- spond are among the biggest water users. 26-2/#7
