NEWS
Wednesday, september 1, 2021
HermIstOnHeraLd.COm • A3
Irrigation water supplies holding on locally Umatilla County reports
By KATY NESBITT
FOr tHe HermIstOn HeraLd
While much of Ore-
gon’s irrigators are in dire
straits, water users in Uma-
tilla and Morrow coun-
ties have not been greatly
affected by this summer’s
drought.
Sean Kimbrel, Bureau
of Reclamation Umatilla
field office manager, said
McKay Creek Reservoir
was slightly above aver-
age for this time of year.
“Water storage in Uma-
tilla County is in bet-
ter shape than the rest of
Oregon,” Kimbrel said.
“Irrigation districts have
close to a complete water
supply.”
According to the
Bureau of Reclamation,
Pacific Northwest Region
Umatilla River Basin Stor-
age and Flow Diagram,
McKay Reservoir is 42%
full.
McKay Dam has
65,534 acre-feet active
storage capacity plus 6,000
acre-feet of space exclu-
sive for flood risk man-
agement above the nor-
mal full pool.
McKay Reservoir typ-
ically peaks the third
week of May. This year,
the maximum stored water
was 64,176 acre-feet, a bit
below last year’s maxi-
mum of 69,242 acre-feet.
“Irrigation water sup-
plies will be close to if not
completely fulfilled this
year from reclamation
facilities to contracted
water users in the Uma-
tilla River Basin, which
is much better in compar-
ison to the very limited
irrigation water supplies
across the rest of Oregon
as a result of drought con-
ditions,” Kimbrel said.
One of the reasons the
reservoir is still around
average for late August
is because the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation
haven’t released water
for fish yet.
“CTUIR is about
to ramp-up fish water
releases in the Umatilla,”
Kimbrel said.
While the Cold Springs
Reservoir is below average
right now at 12% capac-
ity, it is fulfilled by winter-
time diversions from the
Umatilla River with mini-
mum flows maintained for
fish, which are exchanged
with summertime pump-
ing from the Columbia
River, Kimbrel said.
Morrow County’s Wil-
low Creek Reservoir out-
side of Heppner is man-
aged by the Army Corps
of Engineers primarily as
a flood control facility. Its
two COVID-19 deaths
BY BRYCE DOLE
staFF WrIter
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Boaters on June 2, 2021, recreate on McKay Reservoir
outside of Pendleton. According to the Bureau of
Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region Umatilla River
Basin Storage and Flow Diagram, McKay Reservoir is
42% full.
downstream use is primar-
ily irrigation.
Tom Conning, public
affairs specialist for the
Corps’ Portland District,
said the reservoir is filled
with snowmelt and rainfall.
Its peak storage is between
April 1 and May 15. This
year’s drought has greatly
affected its levels.
“At this point of the
year, it should be close to
full, but it’s 90% below
full,” he said.
Conning said Willow
Creek is far lower than it is
even in the winter months.
“After Labor Day it
starts to draw down to
allow a larger pool to catch
large storm events,” he
said. “By Feb. 1 it starts
to refill, while releasing
any excess water coming
from a storm.”
To supply irrigators
with summer water, Con-
ning said the Corps coor-
dinates with the Oregon
Water Resources Depart-
ment to adjust inflows ver-
sus outflows.
“Once we hit 2,047
acre-feet we start to lose
the ability to release more
than what is coming in,” he
said. “We are pretty close
to that now at 2,051.”
Willow Creek is a pop-
ular fishing and camping
destination and the min-
imum acre-feet level is
maintained for fish man-
aged in the reservoir by
the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, Con-
ning said.
Umatilla County reported two
COVID-19 deaths Monday, Aug.
30, raising the county’s death toll
this month to 19.
One of the victims was 21 years
old, according to the county.
The latest disclosure puts the
county two COVID-19 deaths shy
of its all-time pandemic record for
deaths reported in a single month.
That record was set in July 2020,
when the county became the epicen-
ter of high infection rates in Oregon.
The newly reported deaths come
as the latest surge in COVID-19
cases, driven by the highly infec-
tious delta variant, continues to rock
the county, state and the nation. The
county on Aug. 30 reported 78 new
cases.
The county’s 116th victim is a
21-year-old man who tested posi-
tive Aug. 17 and died Aug. 21 in his
home. He had unspecified underly-
ing health conditions. Aside from a
newborn boy from Umatilla County
who died in January, he is the coun-
ty’s youngest COVID-19 victim.
Young people in Umatilla
County are getting sicker and are
being hospitalized more often amid
the delta surge than at any other
point in the pandemic, county health
officials and hospital employees
have said.
On Aug. 10, a 29-year-old Uma-
tilla County woman with COVID-
19 died. The week before that, the
state reported a 35-year-old Mor-
row County woman and a 19-year-
old Union County woman died after
contracting the virus.
The county’s 117th victim is a
51-year-old woman who tested pos-
itive Aug. 11 and died Aug. 27 at
Providence St. Mary Medical Cen-
ter, Walla Walla. She had unspeci-
fied underlying health conditions.
Hospitals across Oregon over
the past month have filled to the
brim with COVID-19 patients, and
Umatilla County hospitals also saw
record numbers of residents admit-
ted after testing positive this month.
The vast majority of patients were
not vaccinated against COVID-19,
hospital spokespersons have said.
Roughly 42% of all Umatilla
County residents have been vac-
cinated against COVID-19, accord-
ing to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
Though cases have declined
slightly from record-breaking
levels two weeks ago, the county
has reported more than 400 cases
for five consecutive weeks, a total
that dwarfs all previous pandemic
surges.
In early July, the county was
reporting less than 70 cases per
week. For more than five months,
the county reported at least 100
cases in a week just once.
Since the pandemic began, Uma-
tilla County has reported 11,475
COVID-19 cases, according to
county data. Roughly one in seven
residents have tested positive.
GOBHI works to ensure smooth transition of services in Umatilla County
HermIstOn HeraLd
UMATILLA COUNTY —
Greater Oregon Behavioral
Health Inc. on Friday, Aug, 27,
announced its board of direc-
tors took action to support the
continuity of behavioral health
services for Oregon Health
Plan members in Umatilla
County who are members of
the Eastern Oregon Coordi-
nated Care Organization.
GOBHI serves as an admin-
istrative services organization
on behalf of the EOCCO and
is responsible for adminis-
tering the behavioral health
benefit, nonemergent medical
transportation and for facili-
tating community conversa-
tions to improve the healthcare
system in Eastern Oregon for
EOCCO members.
GOBHI also is one of the
owners of EOCCO, the entity
the state designated to man-
age healthcare benefits for
Oregon Health Plan mem-
bers in 12 rural and frontier
counties. There are approxi-
mately 23,000 EOCCO mem-
bers in Umatilla County.
GOBHI’s announce-
ment comes in the wake of
the Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners selecting
Community Counseling Solu-
tions over Lifeways Inc. as the
county’s provider for mental
health and substance abuse
treatment.
GOBHI in a press release
reported its board on Aug. 25
voted to terminate its “Com-
prehensive Behavioral Health
Provider agreement” with
Lifeways in Umatilla County
effective Nov. 30. The board
also adopted a new agreement
with Community Counseling
Solutions fulfilling this role
effective Dec. 1. This time-
line coincides with the coun-
ty’s timeline for transitioning
providers.
In each Oregon county,
community mental health
programs offer an array of
behavioral health and sup-
port services, as well as cri-
sis response and mobile crisis
services. CCS is the provider
serving Gilliam, Grant, Mor-
row and Wheeler counties.
The GOBHI board’s
actions represent a step for-
ward in the formal process
of service transitioning from
Fire ravages hay stand near Hermiston
Lifeways to CCS.
“We look forward to con-
tinuing our work with part-
ners in Umatilla County to
make this as smooth a tran-
sition as possible,” said Karen
Wheeler, GOBHI CEO.
“We’re encouraged by con-
versations with CCS leader-
ship about their commitment
to meet the behavioral health
needs in this community. We
are aligned in our vision to
improve service delivery in
this county, particularly in the
area of crisis response for vul-
nerable residents.”
CCS will begin operating
the Umatilla County substance
use disorder services effective
Sept. 1, and mental health pro-
vider services effective Dec. 1.
Kimberly Lindsay, CCS
executive director, said in the
press release the organization
is “eager to learn more about
what has worked and not
worked, and are completely
committed to providing high
quality behavioral health ser-
vices to those we serve.”
Representatives from
CCS, Lifeways and GOBHI
are in regular communica-
tion regarding the transition,
according to Greater Oregon
Behavioral Health, “to ensure
continuity of operations and
clinical care for Umatilla
County residents, including
EOCCO members.”
“These partnerships
are critical,” according to
Wheeler. “We must not lose
sight of our common goal:
making sure Umatilla County
residents have the quality ser-
vices they need to lead healthy
and fulfilling lives. We look
forward to serving the com-
munity in the future.”
EVERYONE
GETS
700
OFF
$
Umatilla County Fire District 1/Contributed Photo
Firefighters with Umatilla County Fire District 1 responded Wednesday evening, Aug.
25, 2021, to a hay fire off of Prindle Loop Road outside Hermiston. The fire district
responded at 8:09 p.m. to the blaze and assisted in salvaging hay and containing the
fire. The fire district also reported firefighters kept a watch on the scene until Aug. 26
at 11 a.m.
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