FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2016
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 44
CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
P UTTING
D OWN
R OOTS
Starting as a teen, Efren Loeza
has grown into a mainstay of
Oregon’s Willamette Valley
Vineyards’ operation
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
G
ASTON, Ore. — Efren Loeza takes his time
with this fi rst one, the fi rst grape vine in the new
vineyard. He lowers it into the hole his crew au-
gured into the sloping hillside.
Squatting in the red dirt, brow furrowed in concentration, he
steadies the slender vine with his left
“I don’t have hand and brushes the soil back into the
planting hole with his right, careful to
words to explain pack around the bare roots so they will
how I feel, and my take hold and grow.
Because if anything, Efren Loeza
family feels, to knows about putting down roots and
have a vineyard growing.
He stands and allows himself
with our name.” a slight smile. He’s a compact,
— Efren Loeza courteous man, 54, with pale
eyes, black hair that is begin-
ning to thin and a voice that retains the soft accent of
Mexico.
He hesitates to describe his emotions on this day. This
is a new planting for Willamette Valley Vineyards, 45
acres of Pinot gris and 10 of Pinot noir. The company decided
to name it Loeza Vineyard, to honor him and his extended family
for their decades of hard work and competence.
Turn to LOEZA, Page 12
Efren Loeza, vineyard man-
ager for Oregon’s Willamette
Valley Vineyards, crossed
the border from Mexico
illegally when he was 17. He
later became a U.S. citizen
and advanced up the career
ladder. To honor his 37-year
career, the company named its
newest vineyard after him.
Photo by Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Illustration by EO Media Group
Weak La Nina may help ease drought
Climatologist: Even normal winter seems cold now
Deal possible in Oregon
Clean Water Act lawsuit
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Federal climatologists pre-
dict that dry conditions will
generally recede over the win-
ter in Oregon, Idaho, Wash-
ington and parts of Northern
California, providing an early
and upbeat outlook on next
year’s water supply.
The Climate Prediction
Center forecast a 70 percent
chance of a weak La Nina, a
cooling of the ocean around
the equator.
La Nina generally tilts the
odds in favor of wetter and
cooler winters in the northern
U.S., according to the center.
It’s not a sure bet, though.
La Nina’s infl uence will vary
by region. The odds it stays
through the winter are 55 per-
cent.
Washington State Clima-
tologist Nick Bond said he
expects the La Nina to be too
feeble to dictate the weather.
Higher ocean temperatures
in the northeast Pacifi c Ocean
and a trend toward warmer
winters also may infl uence the
weather, he said.
Still, even a normal winter
would seem cold after the past
several years, Bond said.
“There’s no indication that
we’ll have a snowpack like
the disaster we had two years
ago,” he said. “There’s no
reason to be pessimistic about
next summer’s water supply.”
Idaho State Climatolo-
gist Russell Qualls also said
La Nina’s infl uence may be
blunted by unusually high in-
land temperatures. Still, most
of the state is expected to have
above-average precipitation,
and snow may accumulate at
high elevations, he said.
“The signals are a bit con-
fusing in terms of the water
supply outlook,” he said.
“From what it looks like,
the drought at least is likely
not going to be getting any
worse.”
The center issued the fore-
cast for November, December
and January.
It also projected that
drought conditions likely
will be erased by the end of
Turn to LA Nina, Page 8
Capital Press
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
A cow grazes in a wet fi eld Oct.
21 in southwestern Washing-
ton. A year ago, the entire state
was in drought. Now only 8
percent of Washington is even
“abnormally dry.” The Climate
Prediction Center issued a sea-
sonal outook Oct. 20 that says
the odds favor a wet winter in
most of the state.
A settlement appears possi-
ble in a federal lawsuit against
an Oregon farmer accused of
violating the Clean Water Act
by stabilizing a riverbank.
Earlier this year, the fed-
eral government fi led a com-
plaint alleging that farmer
Bill Case of Albany, Ore.,
discharged pollutants by
placing large rocks within
the high water mark of the
North Santiam River.
Case claims the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
allowed him to stabilize the
bank with riprap rock to pre-
vent fl oods from washing out
roughly 50 acres of his fi eld.
The bank stabilization has
actually reduced pollution in
the river by preventing ero-
sion, according to Case.
While the corps said
a Clean Water Act permit
wasn’t needed, the U.S.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Farmer Bill Case of Albany,
Ore., speaks about riverbank
stabilization work he’s conduct-
ed on the North Santiam River,
which he claims prevents ero-
sion. The federal government
is suing him for alleged Clean
Water Act violations.
Environmental Protection
Agency believes such a per-
mit was required, he said.
The EPA’s lawsuit seeks
up to $37,500 in fi nes per
day for the alleged violations
— which it claims stretch
back to 2009 — as well as
returning the riverbank to its
original condition.
Turn to WATER, Page 8
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