ODA Report Card and Water Concerns

ODA Report Card and Water Concerns. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Those of us that are not all that fond of snow have been happy this winter but that may just turn into a bad thing come summer when water is in short supply. Meteorologist, Brad Rippey talks about the growing concern.

RIPPEY: The big concern in the west has been the failure of the first half of the wet season. We have seen very little snowfall so far this year. Some of the worst conditions are occurring in the Sierra Nevada, such a key watershed area for California’a agriculture. We have that same situation as we move up into the southern parts of the Cascades; especially across Oregon. Concerns beginning to grow that we just won’t get enough snow by the time we get to April 1st to make for very much runoff this year.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has given itself a B+ on their annual invasive species report card. The report card from the Oregon Invasive Species Council (OISC) is intended to assess how Oregon is doing in the battle against unwanted invasive species. In addition, the report card offers recommendations on how grades can be improved in each category. The report card includes assessments on the state’s success at:
•  keeping the 100 worst invaders from creating a home in Oregon; 
•  maintaining a reporting system for invasive species; 
•  outreach and education initiatives; 
•  the statewide action plan; and 
•  administering the council’s trust account. 

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.