Drought has been declared in Deschutes and Grant counties. Find out more here.

By: Hailey Dunn of KOIN

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Gov. Tina Kotek declared a drought emergency in both Grant and Deschutes counties on Friday.

Kotek issued an executive order that directs state agencies to prioritize resources and access drought-related emergency tools for the impacted areas.

The two counties are experiencing extreme drought conditions as the average precipitation recorded in the area has been well below average, Kotek said. Similarly, the counties’ streamflows are reported to be below average with Deschutes recording 78% and Grant 44% of its average streamflow.

Additionally, Kotek said in a…

Central Oregon’s drought conditions remain the worst on record. Learn more here.

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN

Cate Casad started noticing the for-sale signs pop up over the last year on farms around Central Oregon, which has been mired in water shortages amid a yearslong megadrought.

Casad and her husband, Chris, are first-generation farmers and ranchers who started off with just a few acres of land east of Bend, then moved north in 2017 to scale up their farm. Now, the couple manages around 360 acres of farmland in Jefferson County, where they grow organic food and raise cattle, heritage breed hogs…

The region is technically still in drought, even with this rare April snow. Learn more here.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Climatologists say rare April snow, along with rain sweeping across the Pacific Northwest this week could increase water supplies, slow snowmelt and lengthen the irrigation season.

Impacts, however, will vary by region, and experts predict drought conditions will persist, the Capital Press reported.

Washington state climatologist Nick Bond said irrigators will benefit from April storms, but it won’t be enough to end the eastern Washington drought.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in eastern Washington it would take 159% to 368% of normal precipitation levels over the next two months to end the…

Low snow pack in the mountains and low water levels in the reservoirs are prompting local farmers to request a drought declaration, the earliest on record.

Eight irrigation districts in our area are seeking the drought declaration, because they don’t expect water storage to improve before summer’s heat sets in.

Central Oregon farmers and ranchers and the irrigation districts who serve them already know there’s not enough water in the mountains to keep irrigation canals full during the normal growing season, April through October.

That’s why they are filing drought declarations early.