2022 Already Shaping Up To Be Extremely Dry In The Southern Pacific Northwest
It may be early March, but officials area already worried about water availability this summer, especially in southern portions of Oregon and Idaho. Larry O’Neill with the Oregon Climate Office said the most concerning issue is the total lack of precipitation over the past two water years. He noted between October 2019 to September 2021, Oregon has experienced its 3rd driest period on record dating back to 1895.
“There are some parts of the state that have been worse hit than others, and central and southern Oregon have kind of bared the brunt of this dryness. We have seven counties in Oregon that have experienced their lowest precipitation amount on record, and another four counties that have either experienced their 2nd or 3rd driest. So, these counties within central and southern Oregon are the ones we’re most worried about coming into this summer.”
O’Neill noted that stream flows have been hit very hard. In fact, as of the last week of February, 10% of all stream flow gauges across Oregon were at record low levels.
And things doing look any better in Idaho. David Hoekema with the Idaho Department of Water Resources says he does not have an expectation at this time the Snake River Basin will reach an adequate water supply this summer.
“So there are going to be some shortages. And so, we’re really at this point, the message that we’re getting out is that we expect southern Idaho to continue in drought. If we have some wetter [months] we may end up with a more mild drought than last year, but we could also see drought intensifying.”
Hoekema said the Boise River Basin could be OK this summer, but that will only happen if the region receives at least average during the rest of the winter and spring.
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