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Capital Press
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Friday, August 6, 2021
Volume 94, Number 32
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BORROWED WATER
In times of crisis, some Oregon farmers transfer and trade water
By SIERRA DAWN Mc CLAIN
Capital Press
T
ERREBONNE, Ore. —
Matt Lisignoli was run-
ning out of water.
Nearby Wickiup Res-
ervoir had hit 75-year
record lows for June and July, so
North Unit Irrigation District cut
patrons’ water allocations fi rst in
half, then to 32%, of the usual and
announced deliveries would end in
mid-August.
“I’m in trouble,” Lisignoli said.
His Central Oregon farm, Smith
Rock Ranch, grows seed, wheat,
hay, squash and has an annual pump-
kin patch and corn maze. It’s a pop-
ular destination because of its back-
drop: towers of rust-colored basalt
rising like cathedral spires out of the
high desert overlooking the Crooked
River.
Without water, Lisignoli would
have to cancel his pumpkin patch for
the fi rst time in 20 years.
Desperate, he scrambled for a
solution.
First, Lisignoli applied through
the Oregon Water Resources Depart-
ment to transfer water from his other
property in the neighboring Central
Oregon Irrigation District. But that
was too complicated.
Then he found a North Unit
neighbor who had postponed a
planned cover crop and now had a
water allotment for 18 acres to spare
— water Lisignoli off ered to pay for.
“This fell out of the sky and was
just perfect,” he said.
The farmers participated in a dis-
trict-level transaction called a tem-
porary water transfer, sometimes
called a lease or trade, a tool to move
water to areas of critical need.
Unlike a permanent transfer or
sale of water rights, a temporary
transfer is, as its name implies, tem-
porary. It typically lasts for one year,
allowing the original owner to keep
the water right.
According to the Daugherty
Water for Food Global Institute at the
See Water, Page 11
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Jim McKay and Kathy Bridges talk about the
temporary water transfer, duck hunting and
farming history in the Willamette Valley.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Jim McKay and Josh Kraemer walk beside pipes they are installing along with a drip irrigation system to irrigate McKay’s hazelnut orchard.
E. Oregon counties raise objections to River Democracy Act
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
ENTERPRISE, Ore. — At least
two counties in rural Eastern Ore-
gon are raising objections to the
River Democracy Act, an ambi-
tious federal bill that would add
nearly 4,700 miles of wild and sce-
nic rivers across the state.
The Wallowa County Board of
Commissioners opposed the leg-
islation in a resolution passed July
21, citing impacts to ranching, for-
est management, public access and
recreation.
Commissioners in neighbor-
ing Union County also sent a letter
July 6 to the bill’s architects, Sens.
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, out-
lining similar concerns.
Representatives for Wyden and
Merkley will meet Aug. 10 with
the Eastern Oregon Counties Asso-
ciation to brief commissioners on
the bill.
The association’s members
include Baker, Crook, Deschutes,
Grant, Harney, Jeff erson, Klamath,
Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Uma-
tilla, Union and Wallowa counties.
Created in 1968, the National
Wild and Scenic River System
calls for preserving certain rivers
with “outstanding natural, cultural
and recreational values.” Oregon
currently has 2,173 miles of rivers
designated as wild and scenic, or
2% of all rivers statewide.
The River Democracy Act
would roughly triple that number.
It was developed based on more
than 15,000 nominations submitted
Courtesy of Nick Smith
AFRC
Bear Gulch in
Southern Oregon
was nominated as
a Wild and Scenic
River under the Riv-
er Democracy Act
introduced by Sens.
Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley. Eastern
Oregon counties
oppose the bill.
See River, Page 11
This drought like no other, NOAA scientist says
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The West has been so dry and
so hot for so long that its current
drought has no modern precedent,
according to a National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
meteorologist.
For the fi rst time in 122 years
of record-keeping, drought cov-
ers almost the entire Western U.S.
as measured by the Palmer Drought
Severity Index, said Richard Heim, a
drought historian and an author of the
U.S. Drought Monitor.
“It’s a very simple ‘yes,’ in terms
of this drought being unprecedented,”
Heim said.
The Palmer index estimates rela-
tive soil moisture based on tempera-
ture and precipitation records. Unlike
the Standard Precipitation Index,
which measures water supply, the
Palmer index also takes into account
heat-driven demand for water.
In June, about 97% of the West
— Arizona, California, Idaho, Mon-
tana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ore-
gon, Utah and Washington — was in
water-defi cit territory, according to
the Palmer index.
Utah was never drier, while Ore-
gon and California were at their sec-
ond driest on record. Idaho and Ari-
zona were at their third driest ever,
and Nevada was at its fourth driest.
Washington was at its 10th dri-
est, while Montana and New Mexico,
where recent monsoons have brought
relief, were at their 17th driest.
Oregon and Washington state
climatologists gave their qualifi ed
endorsement for calling this drought
“unprecedented.”
“I’d be slightly cautious about
calling it ‘unprecedented,’ but that’s
probably a fair description,” Oregon
State Climatologist Larry O’Neill
said. “It’s borderline unprecedented,
or at least among the worst.”
The cumulative eff ects of the
West’s current drought, illustrated by
low major reservoirs, gives credence
to calling it unprecedented, Washing-
ton State Climatologist Nick Bond
said.
“I don’t have any real quarrel with
using that term,” he said.
The Drought Monitor, a partner-
ship between NOAA and the USDA,
has been mapping drought in the U.S.
See Drought, Page 11
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