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4 CapitalPress.com Friday, January 3, 2020 ESA suit draws in farm groups, 32 states By DON JENKINS Capital Press A battle over the Endangered Species Act involving 32 states and groups such as the Washing- ton Cattlemen’s Association and American Farm Bureau is shap- ing up in an Oakland, Calif., courtroom. The 19 states suing the Trump administration indicated they won’t oppose motions by 13 other states and a dozen organizations to join the suit to defend the adminis- tration’s revisions to the ESA. A hearing on the motions to intervene is set for late Febru- ary before U.S. District Court for Northern California Judge Jon Tigar in Oakland. Tigar is also presiding over two other lawsuits filed by envi- ronmental groups. All of the suits allege the Trump administration has weakened protections for new threatened or endangered species. The revisions do not change previous decisions by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. U.S. attorneys have asked Tigar to dis- miss all three lawsuits, argu- ing plaintiffs are only speculating about the harm the reforms might cause them. The farm, forestry and other private parties seeking a seat in the courtroom say they can’t rely on U.S. attorneys to fully represent their interests. Two new rules are particularly important to private landowners, according to a brief filed by the Washington Cattlemen’s Associa- tion, Pacific Legal Foundation and a Kansas rancher. One rule will require the USFWS to develop recovery plans for each new threatened species, rather than give the species the same blanket protection from “take” as an endan- gered species. The new rule will encourage landowners to work with resource agencies to move threatened spe- cies farther from endangered status, according to the brief. The other rule repealed a change by the Obama administration that made land unoccupied by a threat- ened or an endangered species more likely to be designated by the USFWS as critical habitat. Vermont and Wisconsin. The 13 states defending the changes include Idaho. The other states are Alabama, Alaska, Ari- zona, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. The groups and individuals seek- ing to intervene in the suit are the American Farm Bureau, American Forest Resource Council, American Petroleum Institute, Federal Forest Resource Coalition, National Alli- ance of Forest Owners, National Association of Home Builders, National Cattlemen’s Beef Associ- ation, Public Lands Council, Kan- sas bison rancher Kenneth Klemm, Beaver Creek Buffalo Co., Wash- ington Cattlemen’s Association and the Pacific Legal Foundation. The reversal in policy is one rea- son private groups say they need to have a say in the lawsuit. Future White House administra- tions could change again in a little more than a year. The private par- ties argue in court filings they can’t count on U.S. attorneys to stick with the case “given the vicissi- tudes of agency politics.” Oregon, Washington and Cal- ifornia are among the states chal- lenging the ESA changes. The city of New York and the District of Columbia also joined the suit. The other states are Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachu- setts, Maryland, Michigan, Min- nesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Caro- lina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, SNOWPACK Washington snowpack remains bleak Oregon snowpack well below normal heading into 2020 Owyhee Basin leads the state at 117% of normal conditions Oregon snow water equivalent YAKIMA, Wash. — Washington’s snowpack is less than a year ago and eerily similar to the start of 2015, the state’s last big drought. The statewide snowpack is 47% of normal. It was 46% of normal at this time five years ago. The U.S. Climate Pre- diction Center says the odds are good for tempera- tures slightly above normal through March. The out- look for precipitation is bet- ter than normal west of the Cascade crest and normal to the east. “It’s very reminiscent of 2015, but this year we are way behind on mountain precipitation,” said Scott Pattee, state water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Mount Vernon, Wash. Five years ago at this time mountain precipita- tion was 130% of normal, but it was wet and warm. This year, it’s dry with precipitation at 67% of normal. “It’s worrisome. It’s the third slowest start in snow accumulation statewide since the 1990s and we had one of the driest Novembers on record,” Pattee said. The biggest concern is the five mountain reservoirs serving the Yakima Basin are significantly behind in recharging, and 130% to 135% of normal snowfall is now needed in the Upper Yakima to get it back to nor- mal by April 1, he said. Elsewhere, normal snowfall from here on out would mean 70 to 80% of normal snowpack by April 1, which would be surviv- able, he said. As of Dec. 27, the five Yakima Basin reser- voirs were at a combined 269,787 acre-feet of water, which was 25% of capac- ity and 61.5% of average, according to the Yakima office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. They were at 405,732 acre-feet and 38% of capac- ity on Jan. 1 a year ago. Percent of median* 25-50% 51-70 71-90 91-110 111-129 (As of Dec. 30) *Average annual SWE, 1981-2010 By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Early season snowfall is lagging again across Ore- gon, potentially foreshadow- ing another dry and difficult summer ahead for farmers and ranchers. But as 2019 proved, things can turn around quickly, giv- ing plenty of reason for hope. According to the USDA Natural Resources Conser- vation Service, Oregon’s snow-water equivalent — the amount of water contained within snow — is just 45% of normal statewide. Every water basin is measuring below average for snow, with the exception of the Owyhee Basin in southeast Oregon, which is holding up at 117% of normal. The lowest totals are in the Hood, Sandy and Lower Deschutes basins at 25% of normal, and the Willamette Basin at 26%. Mountain snowpack is crucial for replenishing streams and reservoirs for farms and fish, especially in Eastern Oregon. As snow melts, it trickles down into creeks and rivers, sustaining healthy stream flows while providing irrigation water for crops and livestock. Scott Oviatt, snow sur- vey supervisor for NRCS Oregon, said the agency will release its first water supply outlook report by Jan. 10. Based on the current lack of snow, Oviatt said he antici- pates lower water availability earlier in the spring, though there is still time to rebound. “We’re not in panic mode yet,” Oviatt said. “It is early in the (water) year ... We can see some improvement, depending on conditions.” The water year, as defined by hydrologists, begins on Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30 of the following calendar year. November and Decem- ber are typically much cooler By DAN WHEAT Capital Press 43 25 55 63 26 41 80 82 55 85 117 57 Source: USDA NRCS and wetter months for Ore- gon, Oviatt said, however most of the state’s 90 snow monitoring sites are mea- suring less than 8 inches of snow-water equivalent. Perhaps more concerning, overall precipitation includ- ing rain is averaging just 50% of normal statewide. The Oregon Water Resources Department reports that November in particular was one of the top five driest months on record for north- west Oregon. Racquel Rancier, spokes- woman for OWRD, said that average stream flows were just 40% of normal statewide as of Dec. 30. “We certainly would like to see better and more con- sistent stream flows and a greater snowpack at this point,” Rancier said. “Condi- tions need to greatly improve in the coming months in order to have a more normal water year.” The U.S. Drought Mon- itor shows nearly 98% of Oregon listed in some stage of drought, ranging from “abnormally dry” to “moderate.” Conditions were much the same at this time last year, too, when snowpack was just 42% of normal levels in early January. Then came February, which brought drought-busting winter storms that dumped several With 250,000 sq. ft. of exhibitor space, see the latest in pleasurecraft, fishing boats, paddle boats, wake & surf boats, inflatables, personal watercraft, sailing & more! Alan Kenaga/Capital Press feet of snow at higher eleva- tions and boosted snow-wa- ter equivalent by 20-30%. With two-thirds of winter still to go, Oviatt said he is optimistic for improvement. “At this point, our mes- sage will be to watch the con- ditions,” he said. “Let’s just hope for improvement at this point.” Snow-water equivalent is measured using what is known as a “snow pillow,” made out of a synthetic rub- ber and filled with an organic antifreeze solution. As snow falls, it compresses the pil- low and a sensor measures the pressure in real time, which is used to calculate the amount of water in the snow. The data is then compared to a 30-year average between 1981-2010 to come up with a percent of normal. Between the “snow- mageddon” of February and drier-than-usual November, Oviatt said increasingly large and unpredictable swings in weather variability are mak- ing it harder for the NRCS to accurately predict water sup- plies until later in the season. That could lead to changes in modeling, Oviatt said, though he did not elaborate. “It’s a changing world,” he said. “We’re trying to keep up with technology as our partner agencies are doing. It’s an ongoing process at this point.” Washington snow water equivalent (As of Dec. 30) Percent of median* 25-50% 51-70 71-90 91-110 *Average annual SWE, 1981-2010 56 65 47 38 50 53 39 48 58 54 27 Source: USDA NRCS Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Douglas Call/USBR Bumping Lake, the smallest of five water reservoirs serving Ya- kima Basin, at 39% of capacity on Dec. 23. The gate, when open, re- leases water into Bump- ing River that flows into the Naches River and then the Yakima River. It takes most of the res- ervoirs’ 1-million-acre-foot capacity and 700,000 acre- feet of water from moun- tain snowpack to meet the basin’s annual summer irri- gation needs for 464,000 acres of farmland. Inflow to the five reser- voirs for the water year to date (Oct. 1 to Dec. 25) is 77% of average. Precipitation at the res- ervoirs from Dec. 1 through Dec. 27 was 31 inches or 98% of average and 83% of the month’s average. Pre- cipitation for the water year is 66.6 inches or 74% of average. “This fall, we didn’t see the heavy rains that usu- ally come in off the Pacific. The reservoirs really hav- en’t recovered like we would expect in a more nor- mal year,” said Douglas Call, USBR Yakima River operator. November is usually the basin’s biggest precipitation month, at 40 inches, but this year it was 10 inches, he said. “When November gives us that kind of punch, it raises eyebrows, but we’ve been bailed out in the spring before,” Call said. A lot of snow fell in Cen- tral Washington last Febru- ary, but more impressively in the lowlands than the mountains, he said. A warm body of water off the Gulf of Alaska, sim- ilar to five years ago, could be pushing weather around instead of through Washing- ton, Call said. “Cold temperatures are in place. We just don’t have the moisture,” he said. A majority of the Cas- cades are 25 to 50% of nor- mal snow water equivalent, Call said. The highest NRCS SNO- TEL (Snow Telemetry) site in the state, at Harts Pass about 20 miles northwest of Winthrop, is at 6,500 feet and is 66% of normal at 11.1 inches of snow water equivalent, half of last year. Stampede Pass, at 4.8 inches of snow water equiv- alent, is one-third of what it should be, Call said. It’s a key point for weather approaching the Yakima Basin. A bright spot is Sour- dough Gulch in the Blue Mountains at 100% of normal. For more information,visit TH ANNUAL PDXBoatShow.com Serving the Oregon and SW Washington marine and boating community for 60 years. HOURS Wed-Fri: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. DIRECTIONS Start Boating. Stay Boating. Here. JANUARY 8 - 12, 2020 Take I-5 to Marine Dr. exit or ride the MAX Yellow Line. 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