STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
A7
Ranchers prep for another dry year
Drought declaration
could make resources
available to help
By MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
MADRAS — Preparing for
drought has become just another
part of the growing season for Jeffer-
son County cattle rancher JoHanna
Symons.
For the third year in a row, Symons
and other ranchers and farmers will
be applying for state assistance
once Gov. Kate Brown approves the
drought declaration made earlier this
month by Jefferson County officials.
Drought declarations open doors
to farmers that are usually closed.
They can graze animals on land in
conservation reserve programs. They
can pump groundwater from wells
without previous water rights, after
receiving an emergency use permit
from the state. And there are pro-
grams that help pay for the cost of
hauling water to livestock.
Symons, co-owner of the Madras-
based Symons Beef Co., said the
programs allow her and other busi-
nesses to stay afloat, but they are not
sustainable.
“The programs are better than
getting nothing at all,” said Symons.
“But from a producer’s standpoint,
we are better off with production and
profitability on nondrought years.”
Drought programs will likely soon
be available to farmers and ranch-
ers across the tricounties. Crook
County, the most drought-stricken
of Central Oregon’s three counties,
declared drought in early March, and
Deschutes County declared drought
on Wednesday, March 16.
The drought declarations come
amid low snowpack and dry soil con-
ditions across Central Oregon. They
come as farmers and ranchers pre-
pare for what could be their driest
summer yet after two years of heat
waves and emptied reservoirs.
There is typically a lag time of
several weeks after the county decla-
ration before the governor authorizes
approval. Brown has already autho-
rized a drought this year in Klamath
County. Last year, drought declara-
tions were in place in 26 out of 36
Oregon counties.
Wednesday’s declaration marks
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Rob Rastovich feeds cattle Wednesday, March 16, 2022, on his farm in Bend. Rastovich’s century-old family farm is fac-
ing a tough year after consecutive years of drought.
the third consecutive year that
Deschutes County has declared a
drought, and the first time the county
has ever declared a drought three
years in a row. Twice before the
county had back-to-back droughts, in
1991-1992 and 2001-2002.
Bend Mayor Sally Russell is
encouraging her fellow citizens
to start conserving water ahead of
summer.
“Going into this summer, it’s
going to be important that everyone
consider their water usage and con-
sider each gallon to be their last so
that we all have enough water,” said
Russell. “Each one of us is counting
on each other to make a difference.”
Deschutes County Commissioner
Phil Chang said the unanimous vote
on Wednesday could help county
farmers and ranchers get water that is
not normally available to them.
“A declaration from the gover-
nor will provide flexibility in moving
water around to where it is needed,
emergency access to groundwa-
ter and potentially to state funding,”
Chang said.
In addition to emergency use
of groundwater, irrigators can also
apply for low-interest loans from the
Small Business Administration and
potentially assistance from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Nathan
Garibay, emergency manager for the
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office,
said in an email.
But Deschutes County cattle
rancher Rob Rastovich said state and
federal programs aimed at assisting
farmers in need often aren’t enough
to offset losses.
“It will help, but it may not be
enough help,” said Rastovich.
Rastovich runs a small cattle farm
on the eastern outskirts of Bend, pro-
ducing high-quality beef from cows
that are fed barley water and brew-
ery mash. His family farm has been
in operation for over a century.
But due to low flows in the canals,
Rastovich won’t receive enough
water for his cows and will need to
buy water from the municipalities to
keep his animals alive. If the drought
doesn’t end soon, Rastovich thinks
real estate might be a better business
option than farming.
“We’ll survive this year, but one
more year like this and I might trade
cows for houses,” said Rastovich.
“Drought doesn’t seem to have
affected the homebuilding industry.”
Central Oregon is one of the worst-
hit areas in the U.S., with around half
of the area in exceptional drought,
the highest category of drought. As
of March 15, the region’s snowpack
stood at 74% of normal, according
to data from the Natural Resources
Conservation Service. Precipitation
to date for the water year is 84% of
normal.
The situation is worse in the
Klamath Basin, where the snowpack
is just 54% of normal and precip-
itation for the water year is 73% of
normal.
The lack of precipitation has pre-
vented reservoirs from filling and
most have fallen to record low lev-
els. Wickiup Reservoir, which holds
water for farmers in Jefferson County,
is just 52% full, with only two weeks
left before the start of the irrigation
season. Other reservoirs are in worse
shape. Crescent Lake is 8% full;
Prineville Reservoir is 22% full, and
Ochoco Reservoir is 9% full.
Larry O’Neill, an associate pro-
fessor at the Oregon State University
College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmo-
spheric Sciences, said the past two
water years have been the driest on
record for seven Oregon counties,
including Deschutes, Crook, Jeffer-
son and Klamath.
In addition to drying out soils
and reservoirs, the drought condi-
tions have also prevented streams
and rivers from flowing at their nor-
mal heights. In September last year, a
quarter of streamflow gauges around
the state were at record low levels,
according to U.S. Geological Survey
data.
The extended periods of hot
weather are also notable, said
O’Neill. Last year Bend had 38 days
when the average temperature was
above 90 degrees, a record topped
only in 1922 when the city expe-
rienced 50 days of 90-plus-degree
temps.
“The prolonged hot weather
increased evaporation from soils
and plants, which exacerbated the
impacts of the dry conditions,” said
O’Neill. “The rain we did get didn’t
go as far as it usually does in satisfy-
ing our water demand.”
Symons, the cattle rancher in Jef-
ferson County, said the outlook for
her ranching operations this year
looks worse than in past seasons, and
she expects just 20% of her 1,100-
acre property will be in production.
Because so few fields can be
planted with grass, she has been
forced to trim the size of her herd
from 5,000 cows down to just a few
hundred. Buying hay wasn’t much of
an option due to the soaring prices.
“It’s going to be very drastic this
year,” said Symons. “I am pretty cer-
tain our income is going to be cut
down to one-third of normal.”
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