Southern Oregon faces consequences of drought
By Envision Magazine on May 15, 2014
Story by Brianna Brock
Photos by Ben McBee
Malin, Oregon has that small town charm where everyone knows everyone. The Malin Country Diner is the only restaurant in town and the moment Gary Derry, a local farmer and member of the Klamath Water Users Association, walks through the doors, the hostess behind the counter welcomes him as he waves a greeting or stops to talk to the other local farmers. The greeting is just as kind for every person who walks through those doors. Unfortunately, this small town is in jeopardy to losing everything due to the severity of the drought.
“That table used to be full every morning with a row of crop potato farmers. Now I’m by myself as a row crop guy. [It] just doesn’t make sense,” said Rob Unruh, one of Malin’s local farmers. This troubling decline in population is a consequence of the severe drought plaguing southern Oregon.
On February 14, 2014, Governor Kitzhaber officially declared a drought emergency for four of Oregon’s largest counties. Approximately 1,200 farms are in jeopardy of losing everything due to the drought conditions and there is no end in sight.
Many parts of Oregon saw little rainfall as compared to a normal year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) most of southern Oregon received about 50 percent of the normal total rainfall. The Natural Resources Conservation Service reports little to no snowfall for most of the Klamath area, with Annie Springs, reporting 43 percent of normal snowfall, being the highest percent and Summer Rim, reporting 23 percent of normal, the second highest. This little amount of rainfall on top of a low snowpack means that the drought is far from over and will probably last through the summer of 2014. Malin, nestled between California and Oregon, has been hit especially hard.
Many farmers in Malin have to make decisions about which crops to plant and which ones just aren’t worth it. These decisions take a plant’s demand for water into account. For example, some farmers choose to plant alfalfa or hay instead of their usual crops, such as potatoes. The issue is that crops that require less water to grow also require less labor to harvest. When less labor is needed, families tend to leave in order to find work elsewhere. A consequence of this rise in unemployment means the children of those families will be taken out of school, which could cause the school to shut down. Inflation, another effect of the drought, has already been felt at local grocery stores. “You want a lime in your cocktail?” asks Derry. “A lime just went up three-fold.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall food prices have risen 1.5 percent in the past year, with meat products having risen as high as 5.1 percent. Prices will most likely continue to rise through summer until winter crops are planted.
The Klamath Tribes and Oregon Government are working together to try and pass the Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement that would allow farmers and ranchers to get some much-needed water from the Upper Klamath Basin. The Klamath Tribes have begun working with the Oregon government to allow some of the water from the Upper Klamath Basin to be used for agricultural purposes, riparian protection and the restoration of fisheries.
As of April 18th, the Agreement was voted upon by the Klamath tribes and signed by the involved parties. The Klamath Tribes could not be reached for comment but Don Gentry, Chairman of Klamath Tribes, said in a press release, “I am very pleased with the Klamath Tribal Council support of the proposed Agreement. It will help us restore our homeland and honor the Treaty our ancestors agreed to 150 years ago.” While the Klamath Tribes and Government have been the key players in getting the Agreement passed, one local organization has also done their part to help farmers with the ongoing drought.
“While it may not look it now,” says Derry of Malin’s expanse of green farmland, “most of this will be brown and dead by the end of the summer if the water conditions stay.” With so much uncertainty in the future, farmers will have to start making decisions to try and make it through the drought or face closing down. For now, they can only hope.
Update: This article was edited to reflect corrections as of May 28th, 2014.