Friday, May 27, 2022
CapitalPress.com 5
Drought likely to persist across Pacifi c Northwest
continue into summer and next fall,”
O’Neill said.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
While a cool and wet spring has
aided drought recovery in parts of
the Northwest, climate experts in
Oregon, Washington and Idaho say
conditions remain critically dry
in other areas with little chance of
bouncing back before summer.
Nearly 70% of the region is in
some stage of drought, according
to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with
20% in “extreme” or “exceptional”
drought, the two driest categories.
The most severe drought con-
tinues to be in central and southern
Oregon, eastern Washington and
southern Idaho. In contrast, all of
western Washington and Oregon’s
Willamette Valley were pulled out
of drought thanks to record April
rainfall.
Larry O’Neill, Oregon state cli-
matologist, said last year had the
driest spring on record statewide.
This year, however, he expects the
drought will be more regionally
focused.
“Much of Oregon is still in
drought, even though we’ve expe-
rienced this great springtime pre-
cipitation,” O’Neill said. “Only a
couple parts of the state received
above-normal precipitation. The rest
of the state did not receive adequate
precipitation.”
O’Neill was joined by Nick
Bond, Washington state climatolo-
gist, and David Hoekema, hydrol-
ogist for the Idaho Department of
Water Resources, during a webi-
nar on May 18 detailing the latest
Idaho
Ryan Brennecke/EO Media Group File
Prineville Reservoir in central Oregon.
drought conditions and outlook for
the Northwest.
The meeting was conducted
under the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration’s
National Integrated Drought Infor-
mation System, which was cre-
ated in 2006 to coordinate regional
drought monitoring, forecasting and
planning.
Oregon
Lingering drought across much
of Oregon is also due in part to
well below-average precipitation,
warmer weather and inadequate
snowpack over the last three years,
O’Neill said.
The big exception is north-
west Oregon, where Portland had
5.6 inches of rain in April, setting
a record. Parts of Umatilla, Union
and Morrow counties in northeast
Oregon have also mostly recovered
Smaller NW cherry
crop but good prices
and quality predicted
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Experts forecast a small-
er-than-average
Pacifi c
Northwest cherry crop for
2022, according to industry
estimates released this month.
In the Northwest, the
cherry crop is down in size in
part because of the mid-April
snowstorm that swept through
the region during bloom,
slowing pollination and dam-
aging some blossoms.
According to Matthew
Whiting, professor and plant
physiologist at Washing-
ton State University, bees
rarely fl y to do their pollina-
tion work in high winds or
weather below 55 degrees
Fahrenheit — and Washing-
ton orchards got plenty of
both wind and intense cold in
April.
The late spring storm and
accompanying cold front had
a “signifi cant impact” on the
cherry crop, Jon DeVaney,
president of the Washington
State Tree Fruit Association,
told the Capital Press. Other
tree fruit crops — including
apples and pears — were not
aff ected as much because they
bloom later than cherries.
Growers across the Pacifi c
Northwest — Washington,
Oregon, Idaho, Utah and
Montana — are predicting
a 2022 crop of 13.6 million
20-pound box equivalents,
or 136,800 tons, about two-
thirds of the average volume.
The 10-year average is closer
to 22 million boxes.
The last time the North-
west cherry crop estimate fell
below 14 million boxes was
in 2008, when the industry
had less acreage.
Crop estimates by region
are 104,500 tons for Wash-
ington, 29,200 tons for Ore-
gon, 2,000 tons for Idaho,
800 tons for Montana and 300
tons for Utah.
Though the 2022 crop is
smaller than average, that’s
not necessarily bad news
for growers. Experts predict
strong consumer demand and
high farm-gate prices.
Industry leaders also fore-
cast high-quality cherries this
year, because fewer cherries
per tree will likely mean cher-
ries that survived the storm
can grow larger and sweeter
with less competition for
resources.
“It’s disappointing to see
a reduction in the crop, but I
think that should be off set by
some consistent supply once
production gets rolling and the
expectation of good quality,”
said DeVaney.
Growers at the Northwest
Cherry Growers’ fi ve-state
meeting in Richland, Wash.,
Washington State Fruit Commission
Northwest cherry growers
expect a smaller-than-av-
erage 2022 crop after
the mid-April snowstorm
slowed pollination and
damaged some blossoms.
this month predicted har-
vest will begin between June
8 and 10, depending on the
microclimate, elevation and
variety.
Growers say they hope the
weather will cooperate this
summer, with no unexpected
heat waves or other freak
events. Last summer’s tri-
ple-digit heat wave was devas-
tating for the industry. Cherry
growers in 2021 lost 20% of
their crop, saw huge volumes
of cherries sunburned or other-
wise heat-damaged and faced
rattled markets.
Even if 2022 is a good crop
year, however, DeVaney said
cherry growers will face other
challenges, including rising
costs for labor and inputs. A
smaller crop doesn’t mean less
labor, he said. It might mean
even more work, as pickers
may have to hunt around
more carefully for cherries to
pick and may need to thin by
hand this year rather than by
machine.
from drought after receiving 125%
of normal precipitation for the water
year dating back to Oct. 1.
But in the most drought-stricken
areas of central and southern Ore-
gon, O’Neill said conditions are
even worse than last spring.
On April 29, the Bureau of Rec-
lamation reported water storage in
Prineville Reservoir was 28%, the
lowest ever recorded for the time of
year. Since then, the reservoir stor-
age has increased slightly, to 32%.
Wickiup Reservoir near Bend also
remains less than half fi lled, at 46%.
Streamfl ows in the Upper
Deschutes and Crooked River basins
are expected to range from 44% to
90% of normal through the irriga-
tion season, according to the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation
Service, all but ensuring lackluster
water supplies for irrigators.
“We expect those conditions will
If drought has divided Oregon
and Washington from east to west,
then it has done the same in Idaho
from north to south.
Gov. Brad Little has declared
a drought emergency in 34 of 44
counties — all in central and south-
ern Idaho.
“That drought declaration is par-
ticularly aimed at giving irrigators
the ability to do emergency transfer
of water rights in an expedited man-
ner so they can have one more tool
to deal with the drought,” Hoekema
said.
Hoekema said April precipita-
tion provided a much-needed boost
for several key river basins in the
region, particularly the Weiser, Pay-
ette, Boise, Big Wood and Snake
River basins, which all received
between 135% and 146% of normal
precipitation for the month.
The Snake River above Heise has
gained approximately 200,000 acre-
feet of streamfl ow into reservoir
storage, Hoekema said. However,
that was still not enough to ensure an
adequate irrigation supply given last
year’s low carryover.
“We still expect (water) shortages
across Southern Idaho,” Hoekema
said.
Washington
April was the third-coldest and
tenth-wettest on record for Wash-
ington as a whole, though Bond said
overall precipitation for the last 90
days still suggests drier than normal
conditions east of the Cascades.
Going back even farther, records
show that between May 2020
and April 2022, Grant and Lin-
coln counties experienced their
eighth- and sixth-driest conditions
on record for that two-year period,
respectively.
The chances of ending drought
across eastern Washington in the
next four months are slim, Bond
said, ranging from just 1% to 20%
as the region enters its typical dry
season.
Reclamation is predicting full
irrigation supplies for the Yakima
Basin, though Jeff Marti, drought
coordinator for the Washington
Department of Ecology, told the
Yakima Herald-Republic there
could be water restrictions in the
coming months for the Okanogan,
Spokane and Walla Walla basins.
Drought doesn’t only impact
surface water irrigation. Bond
highlighted one groundwater well
near Davenport, west of Spokane,
where the U.S. Geological Survey
has recorded water depth dropping
from just over 30 feet below ground
in 2017 to more than 45 feet below
ground this year.
“This is signifi cant, because
there are a lot of small water sys-
tems in Washington that rely on
shallow wells like this one,” Bond
said. “This groundwater also sup-
plies water for springs and small
creeks. ... These long-term declines
are another reason why we’re con-
cerned about water availability in
the summer coming up.”
Oregon gears up to combat infl ux
of grasshoppers, Mormon crickets
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Surveys are underway
on rangeland across Eastern
Oregon for grasshoppers and
Mormon crickets after last
summer’s outbreak, which
was one of the worst in 50
years.
Grasshopper outbreaks
often follow or coincide with
drought years as low rainfall
and warm spring weather
create ideal conditions for
egg hatches and the survival
of small nymphs, according
to the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
Last summer was a prime
example, with ODA report-
ing a record 10 million acres
sustained economically dam-
aging levels of infestation
on farms and ranches in
18 counties. About 40%
of the damage was in Har-
ney and Malheur counties
in southeast Oregon.
In response, state law-
makers approved a one-
time $5 million allocation
for grasshopper and Mor-
mon cricket suppression,
including $803,207 for
expanded surveys on pub-
lic and private land and
$4.19 million for treat-
ments under a cost-shar-
ing program administered
by ODA.
Todd Adams, survey
coordinator for ODA’s
Eastern Oregon Field
Offi ce in Hermiston, said
the agency is starting to
receive reports of grass-
hoppers hatching, includ-
ing at higher elevations
near Jordan Valley along
the Oregon-Idaho border.
“We are expecting to see
a similar type of year (to
2021),” Adams said.
Grasshoppers are vora-
cious eaters, and having
eight or more per square
yard is considered enough to
cause economic damage on
rangeland.
According to ODA,
15 to 20 grasshoppers per
square yard spread out over
a 40-acre fi eld of alfalfa will
eat 1 ton of hay per day,
and seven grasshoppers per
square yard over 10 acres
can eat the equivalent of one
cow feeding throughout the
season.
“In Jordan Valley, the
only thing left was sage-
brush,” Adams said of last
year’s outbreak.
While Oregon has 100
species of native grasshop-
pers, only about a dozen of
them have the potential to
create pest outbreaks, Adams
said. He highlighted a few
species, including Camnula
pellicuda, or the clearwinged
grasshopper, and Aulocara
elliotti, or the big-headed
grasshopper.
Oregon also has sev-
eral populations of Mor-
mon crickets: near Arling-
ton along the Columbia
River, Jordan Valley, Enter-
prise in Wallowa County
and a newer population near
McDermitt along the Ore-
gon-Nevada border.
Mormon crickets can
cause similar damage to
crops and forage.
They are not crickets, but
fl ightless katydids that move
together in swarms. The pop-
ulation in Arlington has been
at outbreak level since 2017.
To control grasshop-
pers and Mormon crickets,
Adams said difl ubenzuron, a
growth-inhibiting pesticide,
is used. It aff ects the insects’
molting when they shed their
exoskeleton.
Difl ubenzuron does not
kill adult insects and must be
sprayed when they are still in
their nymphal stages.
Adams said it is critical
for ranchers to look for signs
of grasshopper activity so
ODA can survey their pas-
tures and prescribe a treat-
ment plan.
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