Oregon could have really used some April showers.
Unseasonably warm temperatures and minimal precipitation this spring have left the landscape parched pretty much statewide, setting up what鈥檚 almost certain to be the and perhaps a century.
The from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of Oregon shows snowpack, stream flows and reservoir levels all on the decline. The entire state as 鈥渁bnormally dry鈥� or worse as of May 4, and parts of Southern and Central Oregon qualify for 鈥渆xtreme鈥� and 鈥渆xceptional鈥� drought.
鈥淯nfortunately, in this time, with these conditions, people need to be prepared to deal with less water available,鈥� said Scott Oviatt, the snow survey supervisory hydrologist for NRCS Oregon.
Oregon typically has very well-defined wet and dry seasons. The water year starts Oct. 1, which is when the state starts building its water supply through rain and high-elevation snow for the following summer.
But this year鈥檚 wet season wasn鈥檛 very wet, which has left Oregon trying to play catch-up. Even the highest water-year-to-date precipitation totals in Oregon .
鈥淚f you鈥檙e not reestablishing the groundwater and you鈥檙e not building up those stream flows going into winter, you鈥檙e starting in deficit mode,鈥� Oviatt said. 鈥淲hen you have adequate or normal snowpack, you鈥檙e still going to be behind.鈥�
Many river basins did have adequate or, in some cases, above-normal mountain snowpack heading into the spring. However, the warm temperatures that delighted many an outdoor recreationist also contributed to a 鈥渧ery rapid meltdown鈥� of snowpack.
As of Saturday, the snowpack in the Malheur and John Day basins had , and many others were on track to melt out earlier than normal.
The outlook report urges water managers in most Oregon basins to prepare for significantly reduced water supplies this summer.
Nine Oregon counties have, as of early May, from Gov. Kate Brown, which free up additional resources to help water users and managers make it through the year. Brown has Klamath, Lake and Jackson.
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