The headgates of irrigation ditches
in Central Oregon have been open for only a few weeks. But the seasonal availability
of adequate water for agricultural use is already in doubt for several irrigation
districts, with another low snowpack and water storage deficit in several
reservoirs.
In its May 1 report, the Natural
Resources Conservation Service, a division of the federal Department of
Agriculture, noted that the Upper Deschutes and Crooked River basins snowpack
was 64% of normal. This represented a precipitous drop in a single month from
April 1, when the snowpack was 108% of normal.
As of May 20, basin reservoir storage
recorded by the Bureau of Reclamation ranged from a low of 23% full at Ochoco
Reservoir to 87% at Crane Prairie. Wickiup Reservoir, which impounds water for
the region’s largest cash crop acreage served by the North Unit district, was
only 39% full. 
Wickiup’s 77,865 acre feet stored as
of May 20 was 54% below average and 30% under the same date in 2020, which was
also a dry year.
Prineville Reservoir, which holds water
behind Bowman Dam in the Crooked River Basin was the lowest since 1974,
according to a report from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Bend field office. The inflows
as of the second week of May were at 37% of normal.
Several counties, including Jefferson
north of Bend and Deschutes County, have already pleaded for the Governor to
declare a drought emergency. Others include Klamath – long a flashpoint for the
debate involving endangered fish and water for crops – along with Lake, Baker,
Douglas, Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler.
The Central Oregon Irrigation District has issued a drought notice to its members warning that many may not have their full allocation of water, noting that, "Deschutes County is experiencing it's driest spring in 127 years... We recommend you being planning now for potential water shortages this summer."
In its capacity as the umbrella group representing basin irrigators, conservation groups and other stakeholder, the Deschutes Basin Board of Control has also asked for a drought declaration for the region.
But the optimism was short-lived, then as with this year, when early runoff did little to recharge reservoirs that have suffered from low levels for several years running.
The listing of the Oregon spotted frog under the federal Endangered Species Act has further complicated the water equation in Central Oregon.
Various stakeholders in the Deschutes Basin, including environmental groups, have signed on to a “habitat conservation plan” that adjusts water releases from Wickiup Reservoir to provide more flows at certain times. This includes winter releases, which draw down storage, and early spring flow reductions that occur at the start of the crop growing cycle.
The overall impact of the frog’s ESA listing on agriculture may take time to fully assess. But coupled with impending drought conditions, balancing water use for the species and agriculture will be a challenge well into the future.
PREVIOUS
Snowpack, water and endangered species - A complicated calculus
