The group that advises Gov. Kate Brown on Oregon's worsening drought has asked her to expand emergency declarations into two more counties.

On Thursday, the Oregon Drought Council voted to forward emergency requests from Baker and Wheeler counties on to Brown. The governor has already declared drought emergencies in Malheur, Lake, Klamath, Harney and Crook counties.

After four straight years of drought conditions, Oregon water managers say this summer will be the most brutal. So brutal, in fact, officials in charge of mapping Oregon's water shortages plan to take the rare action of bumping areas along the California border into the driest category on the charts.

In the 15 years since the U.S. Drought Monitor launched, Oregon has been dry enough to warrant an "exceptional drought" designation only one other time.

"It's really meant for those absolutely exceptional droughts," said Kathie Dello, associate director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute. This year, she said, is shaping up to be "really bad."

Look anywhere East of the Cascades, and the story is the same: No snow anywhere but the highest peaks, streamflows far below normal in a time of year when rivers should be rushing at peak strength, reservoirs nowhere near full and little hope for a rainy spring.

Nearly all of the state east of the Willamette Valley is already facing certain or likely drought this summer, and the valley is inching toward similar status. Southeastern Oregon is experiencing the worst effects, while higher snowpack levels have created slightly better conditions in parts of Northeastern Oregon.

Water users in counties that have already been approved for state aid have begun applying for emergency groundwater permits that would allow them to offset low surface water levels by pumping more groundwater.

Other counties are lining up for help. Representatives from Jackson and Josephine counties have said they plan to request relief in the coming weeks, and the drought council is expecting requests from local governments in the Umatilla Basin, too.

Already, Wheeler County Judge Patrick Perry said, wildfires season has begun in his 1,400-person community northeast of Bend.

"We wouldn't even have dreamt of responding to a range fire in March, and we've already experienced that this year," Perry said. "It just seems like the calendar has kind of twisted back and we're two months ahead of schedule of where we would be on a dry year."

Streamflow in the John Day River forecasted at less than a fifth of normal, and low water levels have left boat ramps high and dry.

The drought council, which meets monthly, will almost certainly be considering more emergency requests when it next meets on May 14.

There is a shred of good news amid the ominous outlook. Cool temperatures and steady rainfall the past few days have dropped snow on the state's highest peaks and helped moisten soil at lower elevations. But the weather is expected to turn within days.

"Any snow we do accumulate, we're not likely to hold onto for very long," said Andy Bryant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland.

--Kelly House

khouse@oregonian.com

503-221-8178

@Kelly_M_House