Emigrant Lake – Then and Now
Above is how Emigrant Lake near Ashland, Oregon looks today. But Back in October 2015, I visited the drought-stricken lake after two years of minimal…
Pacific NW Drought
Wickiup Reservoir is Full Again
Compare the above photo of Oregon's Wickiup Reservoir, taken in June 2017, with the photo below taken in September 2015, when we reported on the…
Lake Abert Recovers
As you can see from the above photo, taken in February 2017 (posted here courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management), Lake Abert in southern…
Better News for Wickiup
From the Central Oregon Farm Fair, held February 3 2016, we hear better news (finally) about the drought in Central Oregon. According to Deschutes Basin…
So Far, El Niño Acting More Like “El No-No” in the Pacific Northwest
Earlier this fall, there was a lot of media hand wringing about the extreme El Niño forecast for the winter of 2015-2016. Certainly El Niño made…
Not Much Left of Emigrant Lake in Southern Oregon’s Drought
By October of every year, Emigrant Lake near Ashland, Oregon is usually quite low. Irrigators have spent six or more months drawing water, while the…
Drought Leaves Prineville Reservoir at Less than 30% Capacity
A popular boating, water skiing and fishing destination, Central Oregon's Prineville Reservoir was offering little of any such activity in October. The lake's water depth…
Lake Abert is Dying. Again.
During the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, Oregon's Lake Abert dried up completely. In the decades since, the lake has shrunk and expanded many…
Wickiup Reservoir at Just Nine Percent
As of late October, Wickiup Reservoir was at nine percent of its normal capacity. That’s a record. Wickiup is situated about 60 miles southwest of…
What We’re Working On: The Pacific Northwest Drought
Is it climate change? Part of our normal cycle? A combination of both? Whatever the catalyst, we are in the thick of an extreme drought across…