The Morrow County Board of Commissioners has formally declared a drought in the county and formally asked Gov. Kate Brown for state support.

A letter from commissioners to Brown, dated April 28, describes conditions this year as “severe” and projected to continue.

“There is a potential for Morrow County agricultural and livestock, natural resources, recreational and tourism, and related economies to experience widespread and severe damage resulting in extreme weather conditions in the County,” the letter stated. “The County is experiencing negative impacts in agriculture.”

It asks that Brown issue an executive order declaring a drought in Morrow County and that state agencies, including the Oregon Water Department, operate within their authority to assist the county in mitigating damage from the drought.

Under Oregon Revised Statute 536, if the governor issues an executive order stating that a county is experiencing a drought, it allows for increased flexibility in how water is managed, and gives farmers in that area a chance to apply for additional aid.

The resolution passed by the Morrow County Board of Commissioners, declaring the drought on a county level, states more than half the county is in severe drought and the rest is in moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions. If that continues, the resolution states, water users will have a significantly shortened season for water access, damaging the county’s economy and creating an increased risk of wildfires.

Umatilla County faces dry summer

The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners in a Tuesday, April 20, meeting moved unanimously to declare a drought disaster in the county and asked that Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack follow suit.

“We have a very large area in Umatilla County that is in the severe drought stage right now, with another equally large area in extreme drought,” Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran said in the meeting, adding that “the rest of the county is either in abnormally dry or moderate drought.”

Dorran said people in the agriculture industry have been reaching out to him and voicing concerns over the current conditions.

“Right now, there’s cattle farmers that are beginning to have to buy hay because of no early grass, and that’s a big worry,” Dorran said. “Dryland wheat farmers, where are they going to be and what kind of moisture are they looking at? Are they going to be able to sustain the crops they have until the next rain they get?”

Don Wysocki, a soil scientist for Oregon State University based in Umatilla County, said this year’s wheat crop is in dire need of rain.

“If we get rain too late, we can’t really recover,” he said. “I think it’s still at a stage where if we get rain, we’d have pretty good recovery. But another week or two and we’re going to be beyond good recovery.”

Counties like Baker and Union have already declared a drought as much of Central and Eastern Oregon is experiencing either extreme or severe drought conditions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer said he expects even more counties to join Umatilla and declare droughts in the coming weeks.

“As the summer months are coming closer and closer, I think we’re going to see some serious problems for our farmers and I want to do everything we can to protect them,” he said.

Despite the momentary relief brought by winter storms in February, the month of March in Umatilla County was the sixth driest on record in Pendleton and the second driest in Hermiston, according to Marilyn Lohman, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Pendleton. Since the first of October 2020, precipitation in both Pendleton and Hermiston has been reported lower than normal.

When interviewed near the end of April, Lohman said the month of April was shaping up to be one of the driest on record, though rain forecast for the final weekend could shift that slightly.

“If it starts raining, you’re going to hear the farmers go, ‘That’s a million dollar rain,’” Shafer said. “Because without it, it’s going to cost them a lot of money, but with that rain it’s going to bring in some money.”