Drought
Latest Stories
Experts warn that drought will impact Northwest this summer
Drought is expected to impact much of the Pacific Northwest this summer, including areas in Eastern Washington, Southern Oregon and Southern Idaho.
Endangered fish and waterfowl find refuge at the Klamath Basin’s Lakeside Farms
An innovative restoration project at Lakeside Farms is a hopeful demonstration of cooperation in a region that has seen bitter fights between tribes, farmers and wildlife advocates over who gets scarce water.

In drought-ravaged California, water use is up dramatically
California’s water use jumped dramatically in March, state officials said Tuesday, as one of the driest stretches on record prompted a wave of homeowners to start watering their lawns earlier than usual in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pleas for conservation amid a severe drought.

Vegas water intake now visible at drought-stricken Lake Mead
The water supply for Las Vegas has marked a milestone, with a water intake breaking the surface of drought-depleted Lake Mead and the activation of a new pumping facility to draw water from deeper in the crucial Colorado River reservoir.

Climate scientist says we’re not measuring the right things to predict drought
Andrew Schwartz, manager of the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory for the University of California Berkeley, says researchers across the West are using outdated models and measurements to predict drought.

Water is the ‘lifeblood’ of Oregonians. How will the next governor manage a future of drought?
Across the Klamath Basin, water is drying up in aquatic ecosystems home to endemic endangered species, along with several national wildlife refuges meant to support the bulk of western North America’s migratory birds. Native American tribes, farmers and environmental groups are engaged in a bitter tug-of-war that signals future water conflicts throughout the West.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declares drought in 4 more counties
A drought state of emergency blankets more than half of Oregon by land.

Farmers, tribes in Klamath Basin get the grim news on this year’s water restrictions
Farmers who rely on a federal irrigation project on the California-Oregon border will get one-seventh of the Klamath River water they would receive in a wetter year as historic drought grips the U.S. West.

Klamath irrigators vote for water deliveries even if it puts federal drought funding at risk
A group of farmers and ranchers in Southern Oregon have voted in favor of trying to access water in the parched Klamath Basin, even if it puts their access to federal drought funding in jeopardy.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/opb/YHDDWCW7OAX5VKBTR7PO7BEMTQ.jpg)
Forage seeds sold out, cattle sales up amid impending second year of West-wide drought
There was a major drought last year that shortened crop seed supply. Now, a deepening drought this spring paired with a dearth of forage for cattle, is causing a Western-wide run on crop seed. Meanwhile, hay is in short supply. And Northwest cattle operators are surveying their empty, dried-up watering holes, calculating how much grass they’ll have this spring.