OREGON: SECOND ROUND OF WOLF PLAN REVIEW HAPPENS IN PORTLAND Page 3
FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 20
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
Azure
Farms
submits
tentative
weed plan
$2.00
Area in detail
ORE.
Walla Walla
Wash.
.
Milton- Ore
Freewater
37
Pendleton
204
Uma till
Walla Walla
subbasin
84
395
UMATILLA
82
La Grande
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
84
UNION
10 miles
Capital Press graphic
THE NEXT
DROUGHT
California growers, researchers
prepare for dry spells to come;
drip irrigation goes underground
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
ARLIER, Calif. — The fi ve-year drought that
shook California agriculture to its core may be
over in most places, but the sense of urgency it
created continues to grow.
In university laboratories and farm fi elds
around the state, growers and researchers are working fe-
verishly to fi nd ways for the state’s orchards, vineyards and
row crops to get by with as little water as possible — before
the next big drought.
For Fritz Durst, a grain grower in western Yolo County,
Calif., that means taking part in University of California re-
search into subsurface drip irrigation, which applies a trick-
le of water to the crop at its roots and prevents evaporation.
“So far it’s working very well,” said Durst, who grows
alfalfa, wheat, asparagus and winegrapes. “It’s nice to be
able to apply smaller amounts of water to the crop. Unfor-
tunately, you have to go more frequently, but the crop tends
to be happier.”
While record winter rainfall and full surface water al-
locations for irrigation have enabled farms to emerge from
survival mode in the short term, scientists and the indus-
tries they serve share a goal: to be ready the next time water
supplies dry up.
“We’re working … right now to try to develop more
precision irrigation systems and help growers irrigate on
a smaller scale,” said Spencer Cooper, an agronomist
who was hired nine months ago for the Almond Board of
California’s driest
three consecutive
water years
P
“It’s easy to
apply the water
uniformly to
the fi eld. In the
past, I’d tend
not to get equal
distribution.
… The drip
system is very
exact.”
Fritz Durst
California grain
grower
Based on statewide
precipitation data. By
comparison, California
receives approximately
70 inches statewide in a
three-year period.
Years
2012-14
1922-24
1918-20
1924-26
1929-31
1923-25
2007-09
1917-19
1975-77
1931-33
Total
precipitation
(inches)
44.5
45.1
46.1
46.5
46.7
46.9
48.2
49.6
49.8
50.1
Source: Western Regional Climate Center
Capital Press graphic
Turn to DROUGHT, Page 8
Turn to WEEDS, Page 8
Stay current
For late-breaking
updates on this issue go
to CapitalPress.com
Courtesy of UCANR
A drip irrigation system is installed in a fi eld at the University of California’s West Side Research and Extension Center in Parlier,
Calif. Many UC trials are underway to test subsurface drip irrigation on different crops.
New ag wells
prohibited
in Oregon’s
Walla Walla
subbasin
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon’s
water regulators have unani-
mously voted to stop permit-
ting new agricultural wells in
Northeast Oregon’s 300,000-
acre Walla Walla subbasin
due to groundwater depletion
concerns.
At its May 11 meeting,
the Oregon Water Resources
Commission also designat-
ed the subbasin as a “serious
water management problem
area,” which means irriga-
tors with existing basalt wells
must install fl ow meters to
measure their water usage
and report it to state regula-
tors.
The restriction on new
wells doesn’t apply to ex-
empt uses, such as domestic
uses and livestock watering.
The decision was prompt-
ed by requests from senior
water right holders in the re-
gion who complained of be-
ing unable to pump enough
water, said Justin Iverson,
groundwater section manag-
er for the Oregon Water Re-
sources Department, which
is overseen by the commis-
sion.
“We do have a pretty wide
distribution of water level
declines across the full ba-
sin,” Iverson said.
Groundwater levels have
been dropping by up to four
feet a year in the deeper ba-
salt aquifer and up to one
foot a year in the shallower
alluvial aquifer, he said.
The commission’s ac-
tions are intended to prevent
the problem from growing
worse and to improve OW-
RD’s data about water us-
age in the region, Iverson
said.
The next step will be fi nd-
ing ways to stabilize ground-
water levels in the Walla
Walla subbasin, with the de-
partment encouraging the lo-
cal community to implement
a voluntary, long-term water
plan, he said.
Irrigators will have un-
til the end of 2018 to install
fl ow meters on their wells,
which is a year longer than
initially planned, he said.
The deadline was extend-
ed because local contractors
likely wouldn’t have enough
time to install the equipment
by the end of 2017, since
they’d have to wait until the
irrigation season ends in au-
tumn, Iverson said.
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A last-minute weed manage-
ment plan fi led by an organic
farm may be “workable” if the
farm managers follow through,
a Sherman County offi cial said.
The operators of Azure
Farms, a 2,000-acre organic
farm on the outskirts of Moro,
fi led a weed management plan
24 hours before the Sherman
County Court was scheduled
to discuss the issue. The coun-
ty had warned it would seek
a quarantine on the farm if it
didn’t get a handle on what it
describes as “rampant” nox-
ious weeds.
County offi cials, respond-
ing to complaints from neigh-
boring farmers who don’t want
their fi elds infested, said they
will spray the weeds with her-
bicide and bill the farm for the
work if necessary. The farm
says it will lose valuable organ-
ic certifi cation for three years if
it uses the chemical herbicides
conventional farmers use.
In an email, County Com-
missioner Tom McCoy said he
discussed Azure Farms’ plan
with county weed control Su-
pervisor Rod Asher.
“He is researching some of
the measures, but believes the
plan may be workable if Azure
is really willing to implement it.
So far, their follow through has
not been good,” McCoy wrote.
The Oregon Wheat Grow-
ers League urged a “prompt
and rigorous review” of
Azure’s proposal.
“From our members on
the ground, it’s become clear
that even a casual observation
of Azure’s property makes it
clear that their noxious weed
problem is severe and has been
worsening for many years,”
league CEO Blake Rowe and
growers Bryan Cranston and
Chris Moore said in a prepared
statement.”
“Neighboring farms, in-
cluding those at some dis-
tance from Azure, are being
impacted by the spread of
noxious weed seeds from
Azure’s property. The ability
of surrounding wheat farms to
continue to produce certifi ed
wheat seed and the reputation
of the entire area for produc-
ing high quality wheat, with
virtually no weed contamina-
tion, are at risk.”