Southern Oregon reaching "uncharted territory" as megadrought continues

Southern Oregon — Monday marks the first day of Spring, and it's certain to be another year of drought in Southern Oregon after another abnormally dry winter. It's likely to force irrigation districts across the Rogue Valley into some tough decisions.

"This is certainly unprecedented. This is the second year in a row that we'll likely have critically low water. We're in uncharted territory here, so we really don't know what will happen as far as the irrigation season, because we've never seen this," said National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Sandler.

He said it's possible the irrigation season will be just a few weeks long or even less. Currently, Emigrant Lake sits at about 10% of its normal level, but that is likely to drop even further in the summer months.

"It really is bad news. It's the worst drought we've experienced, I think for irrigation in Southern Oregon," he said.

Sandler said what is compounding the issue is that the summers in recent years have been extremely hot, which creates an additional drawdown in both the vegetation and the atmosphere. The problem is gotten so bad that significant rain at this point would bring its own problems.

"That's really worsened the situation. We would need a blockbuster rain and snow in next winter to get things even close to normal, and then if we see a blockbuster winter, that probably means we'd have flooding," he said.

Sandler says that means if you're a grape grower or orchardist in a Rogue Valley irrigation district, this season will be difficult.

"Even if you're not in those irrigation districts, you rely on free-flowing water, not from reservoirs. You're just not going to get enough water this year," Sandler said.

Other areas of the region are dealing with the same problems. A drought emergency has already been declared in the Klamath Basin, and the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) is preparing for another extremely dry summer.

Director of Water Policy Moss Driscoll says at this point, KWUA is anticipating a water supply that is roughly a third of the historical demand level. That is likely to mean a delayed start to irrigation possibly as far as Jun. 1 and severely reduced production yet again from Klamath-area farms.

"For a lot of folks, they're at the end of the rope, so to speak. We are trying to keep family farms in business, and that's never been more dire than this year," Driscoll said.

Last year, the KWUA received close to $50 million dollars from the federal government through programs run by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to make up for the lost revenue. Driscoll said he does not anticipate getting similar levels of compensation this season.

The KWUA's frustration is with the Klamath Project, the water management plan run by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, which Driscoll says is not realistic enough for current water levels.

"They have a plan they already can't implement, and they're saying that they're just gonna continue to follow that. That's the core issue that we see as broken, is the need for the agency to develop a new operating plan that actually comports with the hydrology," Driscoll said.