A4 THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2021
Klamath
Continued from A1
“I don’t think there are any
of us who are insulated from
this,” he said. “Everybody is
going to feel the effects, even
businesses on Main Street.”
A Canal shut down
The Klamath Project en-
compasses roughly 315 square
miles of farmland straddling
Southern Oregon and North-
ern California. The market
value of agricultural prod-
ucts sold in Klamath, Modoc
and Siskiyou counties totaled
nearly a half-billion dollars in
2017, according to the latest
USDA Census of Agriculture.
Under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act, the Bureau of Recla-
mation is required to operate
the Project so that it will not
threaten the survival of endan-
gered fish, including suckers in
Upper Klamath Lake and coho
salmon in the lower Klamath
River.
Lost River and shortnose
suckers are central to the cul-
ture and identity of the Klam-
ath Tribes, while salmon are
revered by tribes and anglers
alike downstream.
With the region suffering
through extreme drought,
Reclamation says there is not
anywhere near enough water
to satisfy its ESA obligations.
The agency initially allocated
33,000 acre-feet of water to the
Project in April, less than 8% of
normal demand.
By May, the situation had
only grown more dire. Recla-
mation took the dramatic step
of nixing water for the A Ca-
nal, leaving the majority of the
Project high and dry.
Paul Simmons, executive di-
rector of the KWUA, which rep-
resents 1,200 family farms and
ranches in the basin, said 2021
will be an “extraordinarily aw-
ful” year for local agriculture.
Looking ahead into the sum-
mer, Simmons said he expects
domestic wells will dry up due
to a lack of recharge in the A
Canal system. Dust storms will
be an issue from blowing top-
soil in barren fields, and farms
ple. Farming runs in Luther’s
blood.
“In 2001, we sold them in-
crementally and we’ll do that
again this year,” he said.
“A cow’s not a complex be-
ing. I mean, she wants to eat,
drink and raise her baby. If
we can’t provide that for her,
you’ve got to let somebody else
do it.”
Luther said it’s a buyer’s mar-
ket in the cattle industry, be-
cause so many herds are being
liquidated. He anticipates hav-
ing to sell in the next couple of
months.
“If we make it a month, I’ll
be pretty happy,” he said.
In order to have a more pos-
itive future for farming in the
Klamath Basin, Luther said
growers need certainty when
it comes to irrigation water.
Stakeholders had signed the
Klamath Basin Restoration
Agreement in 2010 to settle
water rights and usage, though
Congress failed to pass legisla-
tion enacting the agreement by
the Jan. 1, 2016 deadline.
“What the community needs
“I’m going to
feel pretty ac-
complished
if I’m still in
business in
2022,” said
Paul Craw-
ford as looks
over his farm
near Malin in
the Klamath
Basin .
Holly Dillemuth/
For the Capital
Press
will be lost — some of which
normally employ 100-200 peo-
ple seasonally.
“Many of those jobs are go-
ing to be nonexistent or lost,”
Simmons said. “The businesses
that provide agriculture with
tractors and seed have lost rev-
enue. All of those people do
business with retail business in
all these little towns, so it just
echoes all the way through.”
Buyer’s market for cattle
Luther and Candy Horsley
inherited their cattle opera-
tion in Midland, Ore., from
Luther’s dad. They have been
through their fair share of bad
droughts and worst-case wa-
ter scenarios, including 2001
when water was shut off, but
nothing like this year.
The herd has been down-
sized over the years. This year,
they are down to 57 cows and
will have to sell more than half
of them because of the drought
conditions.
Having to sell off many of
their cows is both an economic
and emotional loss for the cou-
Continued from A1
Horrell added that the dry
conditions could cause “wide-
spread and severe damage” to
a number of sectors and indus-
tries, including agriculture and
livestock, natural resources,
and tourism.
For farmers, the tight wa-
ter supply reduces the num-
ber of acres on which they
can plant crops, leaving them
less revenue at the end of the
year. A drought declaration al-
lows farmers to receive funds
through their crop insurance
plans.
Precisely how much is avail-
able varies based on the farmer
and his or her situation, said
Rob Rastovich, a Deschutes
County rancher. Rastovich
said he attempted to apply for
government assistance last
year but did not qualify. But
the amount of money wasn’t
much, he added — less than
$5,000. That sum was a frac-
tion of the amount he had to
spend to buy hay for his cows.
Rastovich said he doesn’t have
crop insurance.
“It’s very expensive. Not
many people I know pay for it,”
said Rastovich.
As farmers work to conserve
water, the irrigation districts
themselves are also at risk of
running out of their annual
allotment of water. Last year,
Arnold Irrigation District was
forced to shut off its water to
customers in mid-August due
to the low flows.
Last month, commission-
ers from Jefferson County re-
quested a drought declaration
for their county. Brown has yet
to confirm the drought status.
The dry ground and ex-
posed fields in Jefferson
County have set the stage for
dust storms that blow away
topsoil and make driving haz-
ardous.
Drought conditions exist across
much of Oregon but are especially
severe in Central Oregon, where
Deschutes County is experiencing
its driest spring in 127 years.
Making tough decisions
Paul Crawford, who grows
alfalfa, orchard grass and small
grains near Malin, said he is
farming just 40% of his nor-
mal acreage this year, focusing
on ground that he can irrigate
with wells. The rest, which
was already planted in hay and
winter wheat, will be left dry.
“I’m going to feel pretty ac-
complished if I’m still in busi-
ness in 2022,” Crawford said.
“As a small family farm, we
have fairly tight margins to be-
gin with ... Now I’m going to
produce 40% of what I’ve al-
ready invested in.”
Crawford said he typically
spends up to 80% of his annual
expenses before cutting his
first hay crop in June, months
before he will see any return on
investment.
Continued on next page
Do you have diabetes?
Drought conditions in Oregon
Drought
is some kind of balance,” Lu-
ther said. “Lawsuits are flying
... We need to get out of that
and try and find some solu-
tion, because I don’t think you
really win in courts too much.”
Are you taking non-insulin oral medications to treat your diabetes?
Are you 18 years old or older?
(As of May 18)
Legend
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Abnormally dry
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Moderate drought
Prineville
You may qualify for a clinical research study.
Diabetes and Obesity Care is investigating the
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Severe drought
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Source: National Drought Mitigation
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To fi nd out if you qualify,
call our research coordinator today at 541-639-5717
or our offi ce in Bend at Diabetes and
Obesity Care 541-388-6789.
Alan Kenaga/For The Bulletin
“I do think a drought
declaration is warranted.
Our reservoirs are really
empty and the snowpack
is melting off very quickly
without increasing the
flow in creeks and the river
much.”
— Phil Chang, Deschutes County
commissioner
“Soil blowing off the land is
more than a hardship for farm-
ers,” said Gail Snyder, founder
of Coalition for the Deschutes,
a non profit that brings together
conservationists, farmers and
others to protect the Deschutes
River. “It is a bad situation for
all of us. The dust bowl of the
1930s was not an aberration
that will never happen again.”
Phil Chang, one of three
county commissioners, said in
an email that he plans to vote
to request the governor de-
clare a drought.
“I do think a drought dec-
laration is warranted,” said
Chang. “Our reservoirs are
really empty, and the snow-
pack is melting off very quickly
without increasing the flow in
creeks and the river much.”
Chang, a career resource
manager, said multiple years
of low groundwater recharge
are resulting in “very thirsty
ground” which is absorbing
snowmelt without much dis-
charge from springs to creeks
and rivers.
Larry O’Neill, State Clima-
tologist at Oregon State
University, said drought con-
ditions in Deschutes County
are worse now compared to
a year ago, when much of the
county was in a state of severe
drought.
Deschutes County is in the
midst of its driest March to
April period on record, span-
ning 127 years, he added. The
past two years have been the
second-driest two-year stretch
during that time. The only
drier period occurred in 1932,
during the Dust Bowl era.
“This drought in Central
Oregon is not just about the
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short-term deficits, but is a
product of an extremely dry
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O’Neill. “This drought is shap-
ing up to be one of the worst
ever for Central Oregon.”
Reporter: 541-617-7818,
mkohn@bendbulletin.com
www.diabetesandobesity-care.com
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