美国国家公共电台 NPR Deepening Drought In Western U.S. Costs Ranchers Money And Heartache

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LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

A drought is deepening over much of the West, and it's costing ranchers a lot of money and causing a lot of heartache. They're already hauling water to thirsty cattle in remote parts of Oregon. The Northwest News Network's Anna King reports that it's happening much earlier in the season than usual.

(SOUNDBITE OF COWS MOOING)

ANNA KING: Your next steak or burger probably started out life on a ranch¹ similar to this one in southeast Oregon's Harney County. And before these cattle can be let out to graze on summer range, the young animals have to be branded, castrated and vaccinated².

(SOUNDBITE OF CALF³ BAWLING)

KING: Wayne Evans' ranch spreads over 100,000 acres. He's part cowboy and all business. His profits are tied to rain and snow. In a good year, there's little rainfall here, 11 inches average.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER TRICKLING⁴)

KING: Evans points to irrigation water trickling from a culvert.

WAYNE EVANS: That'll be dry in two weeks.

KING: And that's the problem. This ditch is 9 feet deep. And last year, it was so full, water was flowing over the road. But this year, light snowfall, fewer storms and warm spring days have brought one of the worst droughts Evans has seen.

EVANS: This is not normal for what we normally have here. This is a lot drier.

KING: Drought stretches across the West. Oregon has already declared drought in several counties, and it's going to cost Evans. He'll have to truck in water for his cattle to drink and hay for them to eat.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK RATTLING)

KING: Down the road, Evans stops at a waterhole his cattle use in spring and fall. He says it's usually full now. But this year...

EVANS: You could ride a horse across there and wouldn't even get your feet wet (laughter).

KING: Evans has about 50 waterholes, and most of them are dry. That means he'll have to hire someone to truck 8,000 gallons of water up to his cattle in the mountains every day. He'll pay for the diesel⁵, a full-time⁶ employee, constant repairs to the truck and at least 10 big, expensive tires. On top of all that, when cows have to walk further for water, and they have less grass to eat, they produce less milk for their calves⁷.

EVANS: So when those cows don't milk, those young calves don't grow like they should.

KING: Lighter⁸ calves means at the winter stock sale, Evans could make $60,000 less than in a good year. And he already sees signs that his water problems might stretch beyond this year. The aquifer⁹ here is stressed, and the state isn't handing out new water rights until it knows more. Fact is many Western aquifers¹⁰, wells and rivers are coming up dry.

ERICK BURNS: We can't continually take more water than is going in. Otherwise, we'll drain it.

KING: That's Erick Burns with the United States Geological Survey. He's leading a large study of aquifers in the West, including in eastern Oregon. He says the volcanic¹¹ rock and soils here don't store much groundwater. In places like this, 90 percent of the water is used for agriculture.

BURNS: So when you want to think about how you want to use your water as a state, as a people, as a community, agriculture has to be a part of that discussion.

KING: A discussion of what to curtail¹² - agriculture, city growth, wildlife or industry.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK RATTLING)

KING: Rancher Wayne Evans is still working at 71. He says it's pretty stressful sometimes. But it's the life he wants.

EVANS: I've got my kids and my grandkids. I'm trying to leave something for them. It's a great place to raise kids.

KING: Bit of rain could help.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAIN HITTING WINDSHIELD)

KING: Almost on cue, a flash storm pelts¹³ his truck. Evans grips the steering¹⁴ wheel more tightly.

EVANS: We need a lot of rain. We don't just need a half inch of rain. You know, we need several inches of rain to make it good.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAIN HITTING WINDSHIELD)

KING: In minutes, the shower blows past, and the dry winds pick up again. For NPR News, I'm Anna King outside of Riley, Ore.