NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Oregon water outlook a matter of haves, have-nots
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — The 2021 irrigation
season is shaping up to be a tale of
two Oregons.
River basins in the northern part
of the state are in comparatively
good shape, with snowpack at or
above normal from Mount Hood to
the Wallowa Mountains, according
to the latest outlook from the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
Southern Oregon, however, is
another story.
Exceptionally dry weather has
pushed the region deeper into
drought, threatening water supplies
for both farms and fish. Local irriga-
tion districts, facing all-but-certain
shortages, are doing what they can
to stretch what little water they have
stored in lakes and reservoirs.
“It is looking to be a pretty dire
year, particularly in Southern and
Central Oregon,” said April Snell,
executive director of the Oregon
Water Resources Congress. “It
doesn’t look like we’re getting much
moisture in those areas where we
need it.”
Scott Oviatt, snow survey super-
visor for the NRCS in Portland, said
March was particularly dry. Total
precipitation statewide fell from
99% to 90% of average for the water
year dating back to Oct. 1, 2020.
“The month itself was below
normal and below average in all
cases, just due to the lack of storm
impacts,” Oviatt said.
Though snowpack across the
Owyhee Irrigation District/Contributed Photo
Jay Chamberlin, director of the Owyhee Irrigation District in Southeast
Oregon, said the district’s board of directors approved a reduced water
allocation for growers in 2021.
well at 121% of the average snow-
pack.
Meanwhile, the Rogue and
Umpqua basins in Southwest
Oregon are at 85% snowpack,
the Klamath Basin is at 77%, the
Owyhee Basin is at 78% and the
Lake County and Goose Lake
basins are at 67%.
Oregon’s snowpack typically
peaks around mid-March, Oviatt
said. That means time is running out
to make up any significant ground.
“We’re past that now,” Oviatt
said. “Those opportunities have
gone by the wayside.”
state has held steady at 111% of
average, measurements show a clear
disparity from north to south.
On the north side, the Hood,
Sandy and Lower Deschutes
basins have 135% of their aver-
age snow-water equivalent — the
amount of water that is contained
in snow. The Umatilla, Walla Walla
and Willow basins are also well
above normal at 132%, and the
Grande Ronde, Burnt, Powder and
Imnaha basins are at 120%.
The Willamette Basin, home to
the majority of Oregon’s high-value
and specialty crops, is also faring
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Many reservoirs in Southern
Oregon are sitting well below 50%
full. Streamflows are also below
50% in some areas, ahead of the hot
summer months.
Gov. Kate Brown has already
declared a drought emergency in
Klamath County. Jackson, Lake
and Baker counties have requested
drought declarations.
Irrigators in the Klamath Proj-
ect, which serves approximately
230,000 acres of farmland in South-
ern Oregon and Northern Califor-
nia, anticipate their water allocation
will be 130,000 acre-feet, less than
one-third of historical demand.
Inflows into Upper Klamath
Lake, which feeds the Klamath
Project, were just 74% of normal
since Oct. 1, 2020, making it the
worst year on record since 1981.
Jim Pendleton, manager of the
Talent Irrigation District in the
Rogue Basin, said they are facing a
similarly critical situation.
Normally, the district stores
80,000 to 85,000 acre-feet of water
in three reservoirs — Hyatt Lake,
Howard Prairie Lake and Emigrant
Lake. This year, the three reservoirs
combined have just 17,000 acre-feet
of water, their lowest totals since
1961.
“Just running the numbers, we
may not even start the system until
the first of June,” Pendleton said.
“Even at that, I think we’ll be lucky
to make it to mid-August.”
Looking east to the Owyhee
Basin, Jay Chamberlin, manager of
the Owyhee Irrigation District, said
board members approved a reduced
Oregon reports small number of
COVID cases in vaccinated people
By RYAN HAAS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Strong winds
gradually subsiding
Sunny
Plenty of sun
Sunny; breezy in
the afternoon
Lots of sun; breezy
in the p.m.
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
50° 28°
54° 27°
60° 34°
62° 34°
59° 32°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
55° 28°
58° 24°
64° 46°
67° 36°
64° 41°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
48/31
42/21
53/24
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
49/30
Lewiston
52/29
57/28
Astoria
49/34
Pullman
Yakima 53/26
52/26
49/29
Portland
Hermiston
53/34
The Dalles 55/28
Salem
Corvallis
49/32
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
42/23
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
52/31
46/24
45/23
Ontario
59/30
Caldwell
Burns
64°
25°
63°
39°
82° (2016) 24° (1959)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
49/31
0.00"
Trace
0.21"
1.20"
0.48"
3.32"
Today
Medford
Boardman WSW 12-25
Pendleton
W 15-25
58/33
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
54/23
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
SALEM — The Oregon
Health Authority reported
a small number of cases on
Thursday, April 8, where
Oregonians who had received
their full vaccinations later
contracted COVID-19.
The state defined the
“breakthrough” cases as
instances where a person had
received their final dose of
vaccine and then contracted
COVID-19 at least 14 days
later.
Of the more than 700,000
Oregonians who are now fully
vaccinated, health officials
identified only 168 break-
through cases as of April 2.
That is equivalent to roughly
0.024% of that fully vaccinated
group. Three of those 168 died.
“It’s a reminder that while
the Pfizer, Moderna and John-
son & Johnson COVID-19
vaccines are all highly effective
at preventing severe COVID-
19 illness and death, no vaccine
is 100% effective, and vaccine
breakthrough cases will
occur,” the Oregon Health
Authority said in a statement.
The cases occurred across
the state in 25 counties.
According to health officials,
many of the people who had
breakthrough cases experi-
ence asymptomatic infections.
A small percentage of the cases
became ill enough to require
hospitalization, and three
people died. The state said
most of the cases occurred in
people who were older than 65
and who had underlying health
conditions.
“State and local epidemiol-
ogists are continuing to track
and investigate vaccine break-
WINDS (in mph)
58/29
51/18
0.00"
Trace
0.40"
3.34"
4.98"
4.36"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 39/18
51/30
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
50/28
52/31
58°
30°
60°
38°
89° (1925) 27° (2010)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
51/26
Aberdeen
45/25
50/29
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
50/34
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:18 a.m.
7:35 p.m.
6:12 a.m.
6:19 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
Apr 11
Apr 19
Apr 26
May 3
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 107° in Zapata, Texas Low 5° in West Yellowstone, Mont.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
through cases and are working
closely with the Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion to collect information
that may provide insight into
characteristics associated
with vaccine breakthrough,”
the health authority said in its
statement.
Oregon is not alone in
seeing small numbers of
COVID-19 cases after vacci-
nation. Washington state
reported a similarly small
number of breakthrough cases
at the end of March.
Health officials said people
who receive vaccination can
limit the risk of breakthrough
cases by continuing to prac-
tice basic health safety even
after being vaccinated, such as
wearing masks when around
other people, socially distanc-
ing and avoiding large gather-
ings.
IN BRIEF
Sun.
NNW 3-6
NNW 4-8
water allocation of 3 acre-feet per
acre. Growers typically receive 4
acre-feet per acre during a full water
year.
Owyhee Reservoir is currently
60% full, and Chamberlin said they
will likely draw the reservoir down
significantly in 2021.
“We’re going to empty the
tank,” he said. “That really sets us
up for a bad situation next year. We
won’t carry over any storage if we
pull it all down to cover this year’s
demand.”
The district started releasing
water on April 6, which is several
days early. Chamberlin said grow-
ers needed moisture on the ground
to allow their onion and sugar beet
crops to break through the dry,
crusty soil surface.
In addition, Chamberlin said
the district will immediately begin
pumping supplemental water from
the Dunaway Pumping Station
along the Snake River.
“We’re in a drought,” he said.
“It’s going to require us to do some
extra type of measures to make sure
we can stretch that (allotment) out.”
The National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration’s Climate
Prediction Center is calling for an
increased chance of lower tempera-
tures across much of Oregon over
the next month, and an equal chance
of increased or decreased precipi-
tation.
Pendleton said he is holding out
hope for a wet spring.
“We need something,” he said.
“Divine intervention, or whatever
it takes.”
East Oregon county declares
drought emergency
BAKER CITY — The Baker County Board
of Commissioners unanimously approved a
resolution on Wednesday, April 7, declaring a
drought disaster in the county and asking Gov.
Kate Brown and U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack to follow suit.
State and federal drought declarations could
make county property owners eligible for finan-
cial aid and other assistance, and give state water
regulators more flexibility in allocating water.
Baker County could become the second of
Oregon’s 36 counties to have a state drought
declaration.
Brown on March 31 declared a drought in
Klamath County, the first such declaration of
2021.
Baker County also declared a drought disas-
ter in late summer 2020.
Wallowa man held on
Utah sex charges
WALLOWA — A Wallowa man accused
of multiple counts of sex abuse of a child in
Utah was arrested on March 31 at his Doug-
las Street home by Wallowa County Sheriff’s
Office deputies, according to a police report.
Michael Anthony Alexis, 52, was arrested
on a nationwide felony warrant issued by the
district court in Washington County, Utah, for
four counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child.
Washington County Detective Sgt. Nate Abbott
said on Thursday, April 8, that the alleged
offenses took place over about a year’s time
from 2019-20. Although he couldn’t identify
the alleged victim, Utah law indicates anyone
younger than 14 is considered a child.
“The charge indicates it was a child,” Abbott
said.
He said after the alleged crimes, Alexis
apparently relocated to Wallowa County. When
the allegations were brought to the attention
of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in
the past couple of months, an investigation was
opened and investigators sought Alexis out.
“We reached out to him and he was uncoop-
erative,” Abbott said.
As a result, the district court there issued an
arrest warrant and Wallowa County deputies
found and arrested Alexis.
Alexis remains in the Umatilla County Jail
without bail.
— EO Media Group
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
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cold front
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