Oregon Water Looks Good

Oregon Water Looks Good. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Oregon agriculture should be able to count on a decent supply of water for irrigation this summer. There is no doubt to Jim Johnson, land use and water planning coordinator with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, that having enough water for summer irrigation is key to farmers and ranchers.

JOHNSON:  Seventy to eighty percent of the value of Oregon agriculture comes from irrigated crop lands. While people may think of us, in some ways, the sub-tropics in the wintertime as much as it rains, we really are a dry state in the summer months and irrigation is vital.

It didn't look so good early on, but the weather began to cooperate in the spring this year to set up a decent water picture for the summer.

JOHNSON:  We didn't have much of a precipitation or snowpack early in the winter, but we've had a good, late snowpack- especially in the northern part of the state, the northern Cascades.

The snowpack has been melting slower that usual because of relatively cool temperatures this spring. Even with the recent warm, dry weather, most areas of the state appear to be in okay shape- the exception being southeast and south central Oregon. Avoiding long stretches of extremely high temperatures this summer will help keep everyone in agriculture happy. Johnson is hoping the summer weather will not cause additional hardship for Oregon agricultural producers.

JOHNSON: I believe the ideal situation would be we get a little more precipitation in the southeast, south central parts of the state. We don't get a real stretch of extreme hot weather. Having said that, the rest of the state looks pretty good, so a normal summer would look real good to me right now.

Johnson says the latest US Census of Agriculture shows an overall decline in irrigated acres in Oregon. Some counties are seeing dramatic drops, partly because of pressure on agriculture from urban growth and development:

JOHNSON: I am concerned a little bit in some of the urbanizing areas of the state that we are not only losing land but the water that goes with that land that is earmarked for agriculture.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.