Spring 2001
In This Issue
Governor Kitzhaber Talks Agriculture
Director's Corner
ODA Names New Assistant Director
Industry Development Manager
Agriculture Plays Big Role in Oregon's 36 Counties
Commodity Commission Spotlight
Big Agricultural Operators Step Up to the SB 1010 Plate
Keeping Ag Viable Project
ODA & Governor Look to South of the Border
Then & Now:
The Egg Industry
"Right-to-farm" law in Oregon
Thirsty Oregon Agriculture Braces for Dry Year
Invasive Species Catch ODA's Attention
Thirsty
Oregon Agriculture Braces for Dry Year
"It was wet. Now it's dry."
Asked recently to sum up the 2001 water outlook in Oregon for the State Board of Agriculture, longtime hydrologist Stan Fox of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) succinctly puts it in six little words that carry a big impact. Winter rain and snow in the mountains failed to materialize the past few months. Barring a miraculous and wet recovery in the spring, there won't be enough water to meet all the needs of farmers, recreationists, municipalities, and fish.
"I guess it's possible to catch up, but actually there is no way we want to right now," says Fox. "That would mean flood problems."
The numbers cranked out by Fox's office are sobering. After a fairly good month of precipitation in October, it simply dried out at the time Oregon traditionally receives its wettest weather. Fox calls the mountain snowpack mother nature's reservoir. Heading into the spring planting period, the statewide average for snowpack is 50%—one of the lowest figures since the last big drought year of 1977 when that statewide average was just 20%. That is the year some are beginning to use as a comparison to what the state may face in 2001, especially when they see statistics like snowpack for the Columbia Basin, which is the second lowest on record.
"We have a good shot at setting a new record," says Fox. "I sure hope we don't."
While Fox calls 2001 close hydrologically to 1977, there are some real key differences that perhaps make this year's lack of water more critical.
"We have 25 years of additional people. Energy costs are much higher. We are dealing with threatened and endangered species as well as the Clean Water Act. Societally, it's a much different time."
Fox can point to a couple of visuals to make his point. One would be a trip to Detroit Lake, which has dropped 33 feet below normal, exposing tree stumps and leaving moored boats literally high and dry. Another visual is a map he often shows while speaking to groups. It's a colored map indicating precipitation, snowpack, and streamflow with blue meaning wet, red meaning dry.
"The year 2000 map was a good one with lots of blues and greens," he says. "This year's map is all red."
If and when it does rain this spring, the dried out soil will soak up the moisture like a dry sponge. That will mean less water making its way into rivers and streams. The melting snowpack will not be enough. Irrigators—especially those east of the Cascades—may find June, July, and August to be cruel months. The one saving grace could be Oregon's irrigation reservoirs, which have carried a good supply of water over from the previous year. But that also means a dry 2001 might not leave much carryover for 2002.
"I'm already thinking about next year. This year's lack of moisture is setting us up for problems next year," says Fox.
Hopefully the dry winter of 2001 will be a one-year wonder.
Invasive
Species Catch ODA's Attention
Oregon's constant battle against various invasive species of plants, plant pathogens, and insects is kicking into high gear this spring with a pair of proposed gypsy moth eradication projects and some extensive detection programs for both bad bugs and noxious weeds.
At the heart of activity for the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Plant Division is the gypsy moth—both the European variety and its more sinister cousin, the Asian gypsy moth. Six European gypsy moths were trapped last year in Ashland, prompting a proposed eradication program of a 160-acre site utilizing an aerial application of the biological insecticide B.t.k. The proposed project is similar to other treatments performed by ODA in communities throughout Western Oregon since 1984.
In Portland, a single Asian gypsy moth was trapped last year within Forest Park. That has led to a proposed 910-acre eradication project that covers a larger geographic area but impacts fewer residents. The seriousness of the Asian variety stems from the ability of the female to fly—something her European cousin cannot do. It also voraciously feeds more on a wider variety of conifers and broadleaf trees and shrubs. Only one other time, in 1991, has an Asian gypsy moth been detected in Oregon.
Over the course of the next couple of months, ODA's massive detection program will kick into high gear. Traps will be set for not only gypsy moth, but a variety of fruit moths and beetles. Of particular interest are a couple of exotic wood boring insects that have been detected only recently in Oregon. Tetropium castaneum is a longhorned beetle originating in Europe which showed up near The Dalles. No other place in North America has reported to have found specimens. Three other exotic tree-attacking beetles, now found in Oregon but still in small numbers, are a concern: Xyleborinus alni, Xylosandrus crassiusculus, and Xylosandrus germanus.
There will be another effort to detect glassy-winged sharpshooter, a tiny leaf-hopping insect that poses a grave threat to Oregon's wine industry and other agricultural growing, urban, and rural environments, should it become established. The bug is a known carrier of the bacterium that causes Pierce's Disease—a killer of grapevines. Seven sharpshooters were found last year leading to a statewide quarantine against the pest.
The U.S. Forest Service has provided ODA with $25,000 for survey work in the search for sudden oak death, a disease that has killed oak trees in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It has not been found in Oregon yet and now is considered a threat to rhododendrons and huckleberries.
ODA will also be on the lookout for two exotic weeds that made headlines last year. Kudzu—an overwhelming ivy-like plant—was found at two sites last year. That was the first time the "scourge of the south" had been detected west of Texas. Also, small broomrape posed potentially huge problems for Oregon's clover seed industry. A recent USDA grant will help with detection and control efforts.
All in all, 2001 should be a very busy year for ODA as the agency tries to hold the line against unwanted invaders.