It's Not Even August, and Oregon's Tied for Its Worst Drought Since 1992

It's been more than a month since we briefed you on Oregon's worrisome drought situation. It's time we caught up.

When last we checked, Oregon was cruising into its worst drought in nearly 15 years. Now we're tied for the worst drought in about the last 25, and it's not even August yet. Governor Kate Brown yesterday said she was officially adding three counties—Hood River, Curry, and Union—onto the list of areas experiencing a drought emergency, bringing the total number to 23. That means the state looks like this (all of the brown counties have drought emergencies declared by the governor).

But even that dire picture is actually a bit sunny. While we Northwest Oregonians aren't declaring any emergencies just yet, we have crept into drought status, according to the folks at the US Drought Monitor. The last time Oregon saw 23 counties under drought emergencies was 2002. The worst drought in recent history came in 1992, when 35 of the state's 36 counties sought that designation.

But we're seeing plenty of historical firsts nonetheless. Call up the state's Water Resources Department and they'll volunteer a litany of worrisome records. According to spokeswoman Raquel Rancier:

• This was the first time since recording began in 1966 that no snow was measured on Mount Ashland on April 1.

•The Illinois River in Southwest Oregon had the all-time low average flow rate in May—220 cubic feet per second when it's typically 935 cubic feet per second at that time if year.

•The Salmon River on Mount Hood is also flowing at its lowest levels since measurements began in 1911.

•A gauge on Hood River recorded its lowest flows since 1965. The Umatilla River's at its lowest flows since 1905.

"Most of these rivers peaked much earlier than normal," Rancier says. "That's because we had a warmer winter than normal."

Which is a problem. Even without a statewide drought, many of the state's water systems rely on the slow trickle of melting snowpack during the summer months. "Rain moves through these systems relatively quickly as opposed to snowmelt moving slowly," Rancier says. Summer rains, if they ever come, would help. But only a bit.