Oregon Irrigators out of Water as Drought Persists

In the third year of a drought, reservoirs in far Eastern Oregon are low, and farmers are running out of irrigation water.

South of Ontario, Jay Chamberlin of the Owyhee (oh-WEYE’-hee) Irrigation District in Nyssa (NIS’-uh) says he’s been telling farmers who still have some of their allotments that they should use the water wisely.

He told the Ontario Argus Observer that later on the irrigation district will have trouble providing water.

There was hope that the Owyhee Reservoir would be able to supply water into the first week of August. But Chamberlin said it hasn’t made it through the middle of July.